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Hastings Miniature Railway | |
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The eastern terminus, Rock-a-Nore, with a train in the station in 2011. | |
Locale | Hastings, East Sussex, England |
Preserved operations | |
Preserved gauge | 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) |
Commercial history | |
Opened | 1948 |
Website | |
www |
The Hastings Miniature Railway is a 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge miniature railway located on the seafront at Hastings, a seaside resort, town, and ancient cinque port, in East Sussex, England. Opened in 1948, it remains a popular tourist attraction. The line was re-opened in the summer of 2011 after a period of reconstruction and restoration, which coincided with a forced closure of the eastern part of the line, to facilitate building work on a new art gallery adjacent to the railway.
The railway entrepreneur Captain J.E.P. Howey, who built and owned the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, had a great interest in miniature railway locomotives generally and acquired several locomotives of assorted gauges. One was a 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge model Great Western Railway pannier tank which Howey had rebuilt as an 0-6-0 tender locomotive named 'Firefly'. He also acquired a scale model Royal Scot engine of the same gauge. Although these engines were of too narrow a gauge for his railway, they did briefly operate after the second world war on a short length of track re-gauged for the purpose, near New Romney. [1] They also operated (particularly Firefly) near Dymchurch, on a section of 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge track established alongside the main 15 in (381 mm) gauge running lines just before the outbreak of war, and continuing there until 1947. They were then relocated to St Leonards-on-Sea where Howey operated a small miniature railway for less than a year. Local complaints led to the line being relocated to Hastings and sold to Ian Allan and Jim Hughes, [1] which was the beginning of the Hastings Miniature Railway, opening in 1948.
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The railway's headquarters and engine sheds were constructed in 1948 [2] at Rock-a-Nore, an urban area of old Hastings, dominated by the fishing industry, and the line ran from here along the beach (known locally as 'The Stade') to a railway station near the lifeboat station.
In 1959 the line was extended to a new terminus at Marine Parade, [3] provided with a single-platform station and run-round loop, and taking the full extent of the line to a little over 600 yards.
In 2008 the railway's old passenger carriages (still in regular use) were repainted in a standard livery (they had previously been painted assorted colours since the late 1980s) and a new railway logo was applied. [8] Eleven passenger carriages were then available - seven in the main articulated set, and four spare vehicles. The locomotive Swee' Pea was rebuilt to a less angular design. [2]