HISTORY

This page has been made possible by using some of the research carried out by Jonathan James. Over the last few years Jonathan has spent hours going through Council minutes and other sources to try to unravel the complicated history of the railway, with the eventual aim of publishing a booklet about this and other miniature railways that ran locally. Should you have any photographs or other information relating to the Strand Miniature Railway, the Woodland's Park Railway at Upnor, the Elm Court Railway at Gillingham, or the short lived miniature railway in Chatham Dockyard then Jonathan would be pleased to hear from you. To contact him please email via this LINK.

The Strand Miniature Railway came into being as a joint venture between Gillingham Council and the Broadstairs Model Company. In January 1948 the BMC approached the Council to see if they might construct a 9" gauge railway at the Strand. The Council agreed and a deal was struck whereby the Council would provide the track, storage, and station while the BMC would provide the train (a diesel electric loco and several two seat carriages), and the operators.
The line was single track extending eastwards from the First Aid hut alongside the putting green and tennis courts. On reaching the end of the tennis courts the line turned sharply left and ended at a buffer stop about 20feet from the edge of the River Medway. The fares were 6d (2½p) adult and half price for children.

The railway was obviously succesful but there were complaints about the lack of a proper steam engine so when the Council were offered the chance to buy a steamer they became very interested. The locomotive in question was a 7¼" gauge Bassett-Lowke LNWR George V, and the owners, Aresco Amusements of Sheerness, were willing to part with it for £150. Given the scarcity of any other locomotives in 9" gauge the Council decided to regauge to 7¼" and re-equip with new rolling stock to match their latest acquisition.

The 'new' railway opened in 1949 but it was not all smooth running and there were several problems with vandals, including severe damage to the locomotive when it hit a concrete block which had been placed on the track. The reapirs to this and other damage no doubt contributed to a financial loss for 1949.
The picture left was taken by J.H.Meredith in 1951 and shows 'George V' at Strand Station ready to leave. The site of this station can still be pinpointed by the first aid hut just beyond the end of the platform which is still in existence today. (picture courtesy S.Townsend)

By 1955 the single steam locomotive was getting very tired and efforts were made to cost a second engine. The only offer on the table was for £750 and the Council considered this to be too high, so 'George' soldiered on for another couple of years until in 1957 the situation had got so bad that another steam engine was eventually acquired. This was reproted to be a Great Central Railway 4-4-2 purchased secondhand from Mr Dingle of Cornwall. Picture right shows the 'George' nearing the end of the line near the Medway in about 1955. The railway has now been resited to run between the avenue of trees and the novelty golf course now sits on the old roadbed. The wide sleepers are probably left over from the regauging in 1949.
Within three years of acquiring the second steam locomotive both engines were out of service and the 1960 season terminated early. This led to much head scratching by the Council but the locos were patched up and ran for a couple more seasons before the constant stream of breakdowns got the better of things. In 1963 the Council agreed to spend £700 with David Curwen to purchase a 'simulation diesel locomotive'. This came in the form of the popular 'Warship' class of locomotive and was really a petrol hydraulic using a 250cc BSA engine. Following problems with this power unit the loco was eventually converted to diesel hydraulic by Dick Cushing of Rainham (Kent). As part payment Curwen took the remains of the two steam locomotives and the Strand settled down to internal combustion. This certainly made it easier to find suitable drivers! By now the passing loop and points at the Strand Station had been removed and the line was a simple single line out and back. Over the winter of 1974/5 the aluminium Fenlow track was replaced with steel rail and sleepers and consideration was given to extending the line into a complete circuit of about 400 yards. In 1980 repairs to the track were again repaired - this time due to settlement and the following year it was decided to replace the ageing 'Warship' and coaches with something more modern. The eventual choice was a Mardyke petrol hydraulic High Speed Train locomotive with five other similar stlye coaches. The train was supplied by Wright Engineering at a cost of £6,593 and the Warship and train were immediately put up for sale. They were eventually purchased by a 7¼" gauge enthusiast and the loco now resides at his private railway. The 5HP HST soon proved unreliable and needed a new engine in 1983. Other periods of unreliability followed and in 1986 it was decided to purchase a more powerful engine and keep the HST as a spare. Again a Mardyke product was chosen although this time it was powered by a 10HP Kubota diesel rather than the 5HP Briggs and Stratton in the HST. With the new American style diesel came five ex-demonstration coaches and the total package came to just over £8,500.
In 1987 the station was moved to a new site at the Chatham end of the line and thought was given to a more secure storage shed for all the stock. Unfortunately the option of a proper locomotive shed alongside the track was turned down and the eventual solution was to build a new shed using corrugated iron sections on the site of the old tunnel. This did and still does cause problems with security of stock when the railway is running because the shed has to remain open as it forms a tunnel over the mainline. The picture right shows USA 112 with train in July 1988 approaching the then station. My thanks to Peter Scott for letting me use the picture. Over the years there have been lots of development plans for the Strand and considerable hope that steam would one day reappear. the last time it did was in 1990 when the locomotive from the short-lived Chatham Dockyard line ran on several occasions during the season. This was a 2-4-0 2-4-0 Meyer type engine which had been started with the intention of it running on a special line at the East Kent Light Railway's Shepherdswell Station.When this failed to materialise it was acquired by W.Hedges who finished it and used it at Chatham and the Strand for a couple of years.	The last major work on the railway took place during 1991 / 2 and saw the mainline relaid using Mardyke aluminium 'Supatrack' on steel sleepers. A new loop was included and the station moved to its present position to allow two train operation. The picture left which was sent to me by Paul at Black Lion Leisure (my landlords) shows 112 on the original formation around the putting green (now a novelty golf course). Note that the driver drives from the rear of the loco as opposed to the current position in front of the engine. Also this is one of the few pictures showing all five USA cars in use.
If you are able to add anything to this please dont hesitate to email us using the link at the top of the page......................

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