My Grandfather drove this train until its closure in 1961. I was on the footplate around 1960 at the age of ten!!!! Absolutely fantastic to see. Brought tears to my eyes.The signalman is my great uncle.!
I remember as a teenager sometimes cycling down to Westerham from home in southeast London and seeing the little train come into the station. I also remember being saddened at its closure as I never had a chance to ride on the line. This video evokes memories of summer afternoons in years gone by of the world in which I grew up, but that no longer exists.
The edge of Brasted station platform is now the edge of the hard shoulder of the M25 ,he station platform railings are still there and the station site is now a maintenance depot though the station masters house still survives as a private residence.
And I have missed a lot too. When our attempt to make the line into a Preservation Line was thwarted by the use of much of it's route for the M25 and we had to stop trying - it left me the time to film many more journeys over many lines - some of which have since closed. So you could say I'd preserved them on film - which later I converted to videos, which I've since uploaded to TH-cam for anyone to see, and, I hope, enjoy. And that's as well as having a career on BR!
@@AlanSnowdonArchive Not strictly true. The society wanted a Bluebell type lease agreement, which BR did not want to grant, but wanted and outright sale. This was done on the basis that a commuter service was to be provided, allowing BR to cease its subsidies of bus services which were now over-subscribed following the closure of the line. Later on Kent County Council did buy the line from BR under powers of compulsory purchase. They were prepared to grand the society a lease, on condition that the society rebuilt the bridge at Chevening, that was demolished following the building of the A21 Seven Oaks by pass, at the time. This the society could not achieve and so the line was in 1976 used as part of the road bed of the M25. IIRC the society merged with the Kent & East Sussex Railway society.
Thankyou very much indeed for all of your video's . Excellent commentary with equally good commentary , good humour & spirit and never going on too long . As a child I visited the Plaistow works , and one particular memory was off a school day trip ( large comprehensive ( about 1,200boys ) where the whole school travelled by steam train to Yeovil then up to Wells , visited the cathedral & the Caves in Cheddar Gorge . Later memories include travelling on the North Cornwall line to Port Isaac Road . So please keep up the good work. Huge thanks to you and everyone involved .
Wonderfully evocative of that time. I was 13 when the line closed, but had travelled on it , first in about 1954, when it was much as this video shows, and a little later when I remember rather luxurious green ex southern carriages.
What a wonderful memory for anyone who rode this at the time. I was a resident of Chevening ( Chipstead Village ) for all my childhood and learned of this service that had sadly ceased by the time I was able to take public transport.....oh those were the days! Thank you for every effort to share this very interesting and nostalgic footage!
Sad loss, this - happened all over, stopping local train and trolley service to make way for motorways. Was delighted when West Croydon got that tram line down from Wimbledon.
This line starred in a TV series "the old pull and push" which was shpwn on childrens TV. There was a scheme to preserve it which sadly came to nothing. It would have been a splendid heritage line.
What a lovely Railway Branch Line, and now that damn M25 now runs along some Sections of the Route of this Line, the Internal combustion Engine has indeed cost us dear.
Wonderful stuff. I live in Dunton Green and never knew this branch line existed. Has opened up a whole new understanding of the area and these videos are so evocative. Thanks for posting!
Hello Alan - I hope you have already but you do realise that these films should be lodged with the National Railway Museum? They're a wonderful record, not only of the trains and railways but the local scenery of that time - and they're in colour. They should be stored and preserved, no question about it. If you haven't already, I do hope you consider it. Thanks.
I visited the stations on this line after closure, possibly late 1970's or late 60's and as far as I can recall Brasted stion was in use by car mechanics, who were using the old platforms to make a pit to get under the cars being worked on....anyone remember this too?
In the past we may have looked at these usually middle aged men with their cameras and wondered why the were doing this. We now know what a great debt society as a whole owes to them for recording what would be our lost past but for them.
I was in my 20s when I shot this as film - don't think that made me a "middle aged" man ! And althrough film was then costly for me, ""society as a whole" has never paid me anything for it.
Yes Peter, indeed I was. Back in the early 1960s I devoted most of my free time to it, riding down to Westerham by bus or Green Line every weekend and often on an evening during the week, to attend a Committe Meeting. (I'd no car and of course no train service I could use!). Looking back, in later years, I realised that when we had to give up, due to part of the M25 being built over the route of the Westerham branch - it left me free to film lots of other lines, several of which WERE CLOSED - so at least I was able to film the journeys over them - which many years later could be uploaded as videos on TH-cam. That has been my contribution to Railway Preservation !
Not strictly true. The line closed as it was un-remunerative in October 1961. It was a Branchline Committee closure. A preservation society tried to lease the line from BR, and run it as a heritage railway, like what happened with the Bluebell but BR wanted an outright purchase of the line. Kent County Council stepped in and used its compulsory purchase powers as it was building the A21 Sevenoaks by pass, that required a bridge at Chevening to be demolished for widening the road. Kent CC were happy to lease the line to the preservation society on condition that they funded the rebuilding of the bridge. They could not raise the required funds so the matter lapsed. Some 15 years later in 1976 contracts were let at Dunton Green to build the east and west sections of the M25 Orbital motorway.
My Grandfather drove this train until its closure in 1961. I was on the footplate around 1960 at the age of ten!!!! Absolutely fantastic to see. Brought tears to my eyes.The signalman is my great uncle.!
I remember as a teenager sometimes cycling down to Westerham from home in southeast London and seeing the little train come into the station. I also remember being saddened at its closure as I never had a chance to ride on the line. This video evokes memories of summer afternoons in years gone by of the world in which I grew up, but that no longer exists.
The edge of Brasted station platform is now the edge of the hard shoulder of the M25 ,he station platform railings are still there and the station site is now a maintenance depot though the station masters house still survives as a private residence.
What a fabulous film, steeped in history. Thanks so much for showing. I missed so much growing up.
And I have missed a lot too. When our attempt to make the line into a Preservation Line was thwarted by the use of much of it's route for the M25 and we had to stop trying - it left me the time to film many more journeys over many lines - some of which have since closed. So you could say I'd preserved them on film - which later I converted to videos, which I've since uploaded to TH-cam for anyone to see, and, I hope, enjoy.
And that's as well as having a career on BR!
@@AlanSnowdonArchive Not strictly true. The society wanted a Bluebell type lease agreement, which BR did not want to grant, but wanted and outright sale. This was done on the basis that a commuter service was to be provided, allowing BR to cease its subsidies of bus services which were now over-subscribed following the closure of the line. Later on Kent County Council did buy the line from BR under powers of compulsory purchase. They were prepared to grand the society a lease, on condition that the society rebuilt the bridge at Chevening, that was demolished following the building of the A21 Seven Oaks by pass, at the time. This the society could not achieve and so the line was in 1976 used as part of the road bed of the M25. IIRC the society merged with the Kent & East Sussex Railway society.
Thankyou very much indeed for all of your video's . Excellent commentary with equally good commentary , good humour & spirit and never going on too long . As a child I visited the Plaistow works , and one particular memory was off a school day trip ( large comprehensive ( about 1,200boys ) where the whole school travelled by steam train to Yeovil then up to Wells , visited the cathedral & the Caves in Cheddar Gorge . Later memories include travelling on the North Cornwall line to Port Isaac Road . So please keep up the good work. Huge thanks to you and everyone involved .
Lovely little line. I went down to Dunton Green and rode to Westerham just before it closed
Another superb film from Alan Snowdon. This film of the Westerham branch and the film of the Hawkhurst branch 1958 are fascinating to watch.
Wonderfully evocative of that time. I was 13 when the line closed, but had travelled on it , first in about 1954, when it was much as this video shows, and a little later when I remember rather luxurious green ex southern carriages.
What a wonderful memory for anyone who rode this at the time. I was a resident of Chevening ( Chipstead Village ) for all my childhood and learned of this service that had sadly ceased by the time I was able to take public transport.....oh those were the days!
Thank you for every effort to share this very interesting and nostalgic footage!
Thank you for sharing, i used to work at Aqua Lisa in Westerham and never new it was the original site of Westerham Station
My father lived at Westerham and the railway was down at the bottom of his road called Railway Terrace
Sad loss, this - happened all over, stopping local train and trolley service to make way for motorways. Was delighted when West Croydon got that tram line down from Wimbledon.
This line starred in a TV series "the old pull and push" which was shpwn on childrens TV. There was a scheme to preserve it which sadly came to nothing. It would have been a splendid heritage line.
Great video this, oozing with history in my local area, thanks for sharing :)
What a lovely Railway Branch Line, and now that damn M25 now runs along some Sections of the Route of this Line, the Internal combustion Engine has indeed cost us dear.
Wonderful stuff. I live in Dunton Green and never knew this branch line existed. Has opened up a whole new understanding of the area and these videos are so evocative. Thanks for posting!
What a great video. Thank you for sharing this piece of history.
Hello Alan - I hope you have already but you do realise that these films should be lodged with the National Railway Museum? They're a wonderful record, not only of the trains and railways but the local scenery of that time - and they're in colour. They should be stored and preserved, no question about it. If you haven't already, I do hope you consider it. Thanks.
As kids, we used to go to the disused Brasted station before it was bulldozed for the M25
I visited the stations on this line after closure, possibly late 1970's or late 60's and as far as I can recall Brasted stion was in use by car mechanics, who were using the old platforms to make a pit to get under the cars being worked on....anyone remember this too?
@@davecollins8696 I will ask my older siblings as I was too young to remember that
Anyone know what the two coaches are?
It would have made a superb Heritage Railway. Instead, we have the world's longest car park...
In the past we may have looked at these usually middle aged men with their cameras and wondered why the were doing this. We now know what a great debt society as a whole owes to them for recording what would be our lost past but for them.
I was in my 20s when I shot this as film - don't think that made me a "middle aged" man ! And althrough film was then costly for me, ""society as a whole" has never paid me anything for it.
When you made these cine films, could you foresee how valuable they would be in years to come?
Like Great
Alan, were you the Alan Snowdon actively involved in try to save the Branch Line and working with the Volunteers working on the Line?
Yes Peter, indeed I was. Back in the early 1960s I devoted most of my free time to it, riding down to Westerham by bus or Green Line every weekend and often on an evening during the week, to attend a Committe Meeting. (I'd no car and of course no train service I could use!). Looking back, in later years, I realised that when we had to give up, due to part of the M25 being built over the route of the Westerham branch - it left me free to film lots of other lines, several of which WERE CLOSED - so at least I was able to film the journeys over them - which many years later could be uploaded as videos on TH-cam. That has been my contribution to Railway Preservation !
Alan, fantastic record of the Westerham branch - thanks for sharing your video. Did you film the SER main line north and south of Sevenoaks as well?
No, sorry I didn't.
Thanks for letting me know, Alan.
A wonderful film of a now lost branch line. Unfortunately some moron built what become the M25 over most of the route. Such a waste.
Not strictly true. The line closed as it was un-remunerative in October 1961. It was a Branchline Committee closure. A preservation society tried to lease the line from BR, and run it as a heritage railway, like what happened with the Bluebell but BR wanted an outright purchase of the line. Kent County Council stepped in and used its compulsory purchase powers as it was building the A21 Sevenoaks by pass, that required a bridge at Chevening to be demolished for widening the road. Kent CC were happy to lease the line to the preservation society on condition that they funded the rebuilding of the bridge. They could not raise the required funds so the matter lapsed. Some 15 years later in 1976 contracts were let at Dunton Green to build the east and west sections of the M25 Orbital motorway.
i was actually looking for dutch branchlines, but i cant really find them; anyone have recomondations?
Suggest you look in Holland. :)