The East Kent Railway (EKR) is a heritage railway in Kent, England. It is located at Shepherdswell station on the London and Chatham to Dover mainline. The line was constructed between 1911 and 1917 to serve the Kent Coalfields. See East Kent Light Railway for details of the original lines.^[1] The Kent Collieries were mostly a failure with only Tilmanstone on the line producing any viable commercial coal and commercial traffic over the line. The line is operated by heritage diesel locomotives. It is home to a collection of heritage diesel locomotives including a British Rail Class 08, DEMU and electric multiple units including an in service British Rail Class 404 built in the 1930s and a more modern British Rail Class 365, which is to be used as a restaurant and a major events venue.

Quick Facts Locale, Commercial operations ...

East Kent Railway (heritage)
NS687 sits at Eythorne behind the old Selling signal box as a bus leaves for the Dover Transport Museum during a joint event in 2015.
Locale	Kent, England
Commercial operations
Built by	Colonel Stephens
Original gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Owned by	East Kent Railway Trust
Operated by	East Kent Railway Trust
Length	2.4 miles (3.9 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1911
Closed	1988
Preservation history
Headquarters	Shepherdswell

Close

v t e East Kent Light Railway
Legend
Kent Coast line to Ramsgate Richboro Port (never opened) River Stour Kent Coast line to Dover Priory Sandwich Road Roman Road Poison Cross Woodnesborough Hammill Colliery Ash Town Staple Wingham Colliery Wingham Town Wingham (Canterbury Road) Extension to Canterbury (abandoned) Eastry Eastry South Knowlton Tilmanstone Colliery Halt Tilmanstone Colliery Eythorne Guilford Colliery Golgotha Tunnel ( 477 yd 436 m ) Chatham Main Line to Faversham Former main line connection Shepherdswell Shepherds Well Chatham Main Line to Dover Priory

At Shepherdswell, there is a large cafe, a large 15-acre (6.1 ha) woodland area with walking routes, a 5 in (127 mm) gauge miniature railway, a 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge woodland miniature railway, a model railway and a small museum. Shepherdswell is where the railway undertakes it maintenance and overhaul works and is very much a working railway yard.

At Eythorne, there is a Class 365 EMU that has been converted to a restaurant and bar. There is a General Utility Van built by BR that used to carry elephants which is in the process of being converted to a small holiday let. The old Selling Signal Box is also here with a history of the East Kent Railway both past and present inside along with the original Faversham signalling panel. Eythorne Station plays host to a variety of features on special event days. Eythorne is the picture of a pretty countryside station.

The railway holds special events throughout the year, ranging from railway enthusiast events to beer festivals along with family fun weekends.

On the line there is Golgotha Tunnel (situated between Shepherdswell and Eythorne), 477 yards (436 m) long, making it the eighth longest tunnel on a UK Heritage Railway in Preservation. The tunnel was built in typical Colonel Stephens style by building double track portals but only excavating a single track internally to save money.^[2]

A preservation group was formed in 1987 to preserve part of the abandoned line as far as the old coal mine at Tilmanstone. By 1989 a majority of the lineside vegetation had been cleared and by 1995 the first heritage train was run.

Following the reopening of the railway, a new platform was constructed on the site of the former equivalent at Eythorne and the former signalbox from Selling was moved to the northern end of the platform in the mid 1990s. The railway also owns the Barham Signal Box from the closed Elham Valley Line which houses a detailed mural painting of the old East Kent Railway route, this can be found at Shepherdswell.

The EKR operates on most Sundays and Bank Holidays between April and September.

The EKR also owns an extensive ancient woodland known as "The Knees".^[20] The railway uses The Knees as an educational resource, woodland walks - the bluebells in spring are a popular attraction and for special events such as halloween.

The railway hosts other groups, including the Southern Electric Group, 400 Series Preservation and the 427 Locomotive Group. The Network SouthEast Railway Society also have a facility here in the form of a display container which is splendidly painted in the classic Toothpaste Livery.

The railway hosts two apprenticeship schemes for Permanent Way and Civil Engineering training. The railway also hosts other organisations and offers facilities for 3rd parties to undertake training.