RYE & CAMBER TRAM
It was Sunday
and Weeks had the day off so Russell decided to catch the train down to Compass
Point. The line ran close to the end of the unmade track where he lived so it
was a short walk to the low wooden platform by the narrow gauge railway line.
He stood in front of the simple shelter, waiting for the 10.15. He was
whistling Freight Train. Aggie sat obediently
at his feet looking up at him in the hope of a treat. Russell kept a supply of
her favourite biscuits in his pocket and she didn’t mind at all that they were
sometimes covered in fluff or tasted vaguely of cough candy twists.
The one time Rye and Camber has long been an inspiration in my modelling, and now in my writing. It plays a key part at Compass Point, which is my interpretation of Rye Harbour. Using artistic licence, I moved the railway from the east bank to the west bank and made it the terminus. In reality Golf Links station, pictured above, was the intermediate station between Rye to the north and Camber Sands to the south.
The railway lasted from 1895 until 1939 when the Government took it over and used it for supplying materials for the PLUTO pipeline. After the war when they returned it the line was in such a parlous stated that it was scrapped
Apart from some track set in concrete, all that is left is the Golf Links station building. Sadly, it is now used as a store by the golf club. Even sadder, the weather vane features a golfer, when it should be a locomotive. You might have guessed I'm not a fan of golf.
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