13th February – Station revisiting in Kent

 13^th February – Station revisiting in Kent

I decided today would be a good day to resume my station revisiting challenge to revisit stations I’ve previously visited but have no photos of (plus some stations where I do have photos, but they are not the best).  The majority of my station needs are in Kent (plus some in Cornwall and on the Isle of Wight) so with a rough plan in hand, which was changed throughout the week taking into account the never-ending weekend engineering works in Kent.  I had previously put the challenge on hold for the winter months where days are short and temperatures can be low.

 

When I first did the plan, it was to take into account that I did have a hotel booked in Chatham later in March for a weekend trip, but that trip got cancelled due to needing to free up the Saturday to take my car for its MOT.  Anyhow the first train of the day was a triple 159 from Andover which took me to Waterloo, arriving a good 10+ minutes early due to timetable padding (caused by the 2-track operation timetable).  After getting some food from Tesco I headed towards Waterloo East and turned down a couple trains (noticing that a couple Hastings trains were single units), before the Ramsgate via Dover train arrived.

 

Annoyingly this was a pair of the high density 3+2 seated 375/9s (luck of the draw), which I took to Sandling, making a connection to the next London train to take me to Westenhanger, where I had a little walk via a couple footpaths, going underneath the HS1 line before walking alongside it, sadly my timing with a Eurostar service wasn’t the best as it passed when I was behind hedges.  I needed to rush at the end due to the timing as it took longer than expected, but I made it to Westenhanger, doing a long walk because whereas the Folkestone bound platform can easily take 8 coaches, the Ashford bound platform can’t, so the SDO is limited to front 5 coaches, even though the entire train fits.

 

Platforms at Westenhanger station

 

Next train was a pair of 375s which was taken to Folkestone West for no reason other than wanting to step back to the Dover Javelin which was behind it to take me to Dover Priory.  At Dover I changed over to the opposite platform to take a seat on the London Victoria train for the run towards Bekesbourne, which is the station where the hourly trains pass at, so I had planned an hour fester here (well after doing a walk in the local area).  I decided to change my mind and walked along the road towards Adisham instead, not the nicest of roads to walk, but it wasted some time.

 

At Adisham I took the next Dover train to Kearsney where once more I had a little walk, this time heading to the Abbey Gardens, which had a nice lake, but I was soon back at the station to take the 375s to Selling, where my plans changed for 2 reasons.  Firstly, the footpath I was considering taking was closed for bridge works, but secondary because the rain had finally arrived.  Selling has one of those waiting shelters which can only be described as a waste of metal for it was useless against the rain due to having a large gap at the top.  Anyhow soon enough the next train arrived, and I was surprised when it turned out to be a pair of 465 Networkers out on a day trip to the coast.

 

Platforms at Kearsney Station

 

 

I took these 465s to Canterbury East, for a short wait before a delayed pair of 375s arrived to take me to Faversham, where a gamble didn’t pay off as another pair of 465s on a Victoria fast had been delayed and I was expecting them to go out first to tick off Sittingbourne, but the 375s went out in front, meaning I had to ditch Newington (which is where the fast 465s passed the stopper on the short 4 track section).

 

A Dover bound pair of 465s depart Canterbury

 

I alighted from the Victoria fast train at Rainham (in the rain), where I couldn’t help noticing that where the main ticket office building on Platforms 0/1 had working ticket barriers, there was a wide open gate from platform 2 (where I did notice a few passengers crossing over the bridge to use).  Next up was another 395 to take me to Sittingbourne where I had a nervous few minutes as the next Dover train was getting later & later, cutting down my connection at Teynham from a comfortable +12 to a shaky +4.

 

Thankfully I made that connection via the footbridge onto the pair of 465s from Dover, which I remained on until Longfield.  A wait in the rain before the next Dover train arrived to take me back a couple stops to Sole Street, the last station I was revisiting on this trip.  A short wait in the rain before a final couple of 375s to take me back towards Victoria, but due to engineering works were diverted after St Mary Cray towards Chislehurst.  I think there was some issues with points as the train lost a bit of time here as it crossed over to the slow lines just beyond Chislehurst station to follow a stopper (I guess in the timetable it would have used the fast lines to cross over before Hither Green).

 

No trip to Kent is complete without a Javelin Photo

 

 

This delay meant I had missed a connecting Southern service at Victoria, so I jumped on the first train towards Clapham and when at Clapham popped out to visit the little Sainsburys for something to eat for dinner before a pair of 159s arrived to take me back towards Andover.  Although in a way I’m glad I was delayed as the Salisbury train I missed was a single unit, and that could have been a bit cosy.

 

A successful day in Kent, it was nice to be back out with my camera to revisit stations, the end is in sight with rough plans made for the remaining stations, engineering works dependent.

 

Dover station