Westerham Valley Railway Association (failed Heritage Line attempt)

This preservation attempt has always fascinated me. Killed of by politics and the M25, the railway would have linked a sizable town to the National Network and i being so close to London i think would now have been one of the major players, especially being on the scene so early it probably would have saved some interesting rolling stock.

If history had played different imagine a H class on a set of Birdcages on the run to Dunton Green, at 4.5miles the whole line was a reasonable size. The Westerham Valley Railway Association did have a lease on the station at Westerham for a short period. The line lease was at one point was offered at £30000, this was changed to a sale price of £53000 which was to high for the Association to raise. Then came the plans for the M25 and all was sadly over.

Now i know its a long time ago but did the line/society actually own any stock? Did they produce any newsletters?

 

A Mr David Kitton had acquired three Metropolitan Dreadnought coaches which are now on the K&WVR. http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/metbrake.htm http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1083 http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1081 http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1082
also Mr Roy Edwards acquired this one as well http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/3554.htm

 

An interesting question, and one that it would be good to know more about. One observation, however. Having lived in the general area, and been around Westerham a few times, I would hesitate to describe it as a "sizeable" town, then or now.

 

Yes, thinking about it sizeable is not the correct discription. But the station was fairly well situated, so if the line had been saved the town would now have a fairly busy local economy from the visitors brought in. With Chartwell down the road, a vintage bus link in the Summer could have done good business if marketed correctly (through tickets). This line was a lost gem. After the scheme failed i beleive that various personel went off to help the KESR, IOWSR*, and the North Downs Railway (which inturn failed but helped the Spa Valley).

*I seem to remember reading somewhere that when the appeal started for the Wight Locomotive Society as it then was. The founder members were to young and fund rasing initually was via the WVRA through a member who lived in Bromley. NOTE: this is from memory so i stand to be corrected.

 

From memory (I moved away from Orpington 10 years or more ago), the discretionary part of Westerham's economy is not doing badly today! I agree that, had, preservation proved possible, it could have been quite a good scheme although I think it would have suffered more than many from the challenges of trying to balance preservation with engineering and tourist necessity given its location and facilities.

 

The H-Class 263, now at the Bluebell, was intended for this scheme when first preserved.

When the scheme was abandoned the WVRA formally merged with the KESR Preservation Society, becoming the KESR Association.

 

Another reason why it's sad the Westerham Valley project foundered is that there is currently no heritage SE&CR line. Each pre-grouping company had its own idiosyncracies in terms of station design, signalbox design, etc and most heritage lines are very aware of their pre-grouping heritage even if they don't necessarily have any pre-grouping carriages or locos. Admittedly, the SE&CR hasn't done too badly, with 8 locos preserved (6 on the Bluebell, one on the K&ESR and the lovely "D" no.737 in York museum), while the K&ESR has some ex-SE&CR signalboxes and there are ex-SE&CR carriages on the Bluebell, Isle of Wight, K&ESR and one on the Worth Valley line. Admittedly, the stations on the line hardly represented the best of SER practise - both Brasted and Westerham were typical single-story weatherboarded buildings beloved of the company throughout much of its existence and Cheveing was only a tiny halt, but even if none of the stations on the branch could be compared to such SER gams as Battle, Frant, Cuxton or Wateringbury, it's still a shame that there is no SER/LCDR/SECR heritage line. (I'll admit to a bit of bias here - my grandfather began his railway career in 1919 on the SE&CR at Ashford as a cleaner)

 

At around the same period the KESR preservation society were offered the Hawkhurst branch. However the stations were a long way from the communities they were built to serve and perhaps wouldn't have been a success.

 

As a heritage project I don't think that would have been an issue. The Bluebell did just fine running from Sheffield Park (in the middle of nowhere) to Horsted Keynes ( station a mile and a half from a small village.)

 

No different from the K&ESR then

 

I had not considered the fact that there are no ex SECR preserved lines, the Spa Valley being ex LBSCR and the EKR being ex Colonel Stephens. Hawkhurst would have been a nice what if. I seem to remember talk of a failed scheme on the Isle of Grain.

 

My book on the controversial closure of the Westerham line and the even more controversial story of the failed preservation attempt is due in the next three months or so. It contains a few shocks and surprises about what really went on back then.

 

The C Class (592) and the O1 (65) were also bought with the intention of working on the Westerham line too.

 

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Will you let us know when your book is available please? I would be interested in a copy. thanks

 

Well that's two copies sold. Who is publishing please?

 

So what was controversial please? You haven't said quite enough to sell it to me yet

 

Was there not a former Blackpool tram intended for the Westerham line, seem to remember seeing a picture of the tram at Robertsbridge goods yard in the sixties with a plackard saying so, might be mistaken but seems to ring a bell so to speak.

 

Could well have been, I remember now seeing the photo in either the Railway Magazine or the Railway World magazine a couple of months after the Westerham branch closed also the H class now on the Bluebell was photographed there [robertsbridge] as well with a similar plackard if not the same one.