The railways of Kent have a long and illustrious history and in Classic Southern Region Volume 1 we chart the rise and fall of three classic Kent branch lines:
The DVD starts with the Westerham Branch. This pretty little branch left the main line at Dunton Green, barely 20 miles from Charing Cross.
Each of the stations, Chevening Halt, Brasted and Westerham are shown with a wealth of archive photographs and over 10 minutes of vintage cine film.
The second line covered is the Hawkhurst Branch. Again each of the stations, at Paddock Wood, Horsmonden, Goudhurst, Cranbrook and Hawkhurst, are seen through vintage photographs and cine film.
Hop Pickers specials from London, as well as school trains to the nearby Benenden School for Girls helped to create the unique flavour that could be found on this branch, which could boast the famous Colonel Stephens as its Engineer.
Again archive photographs and cine film help to recreate the charm of this rural byway.
The DVD concludes with a look at the unusual history of the line to Port Victoria and Allhallows-on-Sea.
Once again archive photographs and cine film help to bring the fascinating history of the branch to life.
Unlike the other lines featured however, the branch to Grain still survives and various scenes of ballast and container trains with class 33, 37 and 47 diesels complete the modern scene.
In all the DVD has nearly 30 minutes of archive cine film and is accompanied by a full commentary giving the history of each line.
Produced by - Branch Line Video
Running time - 60 Minutes
DVD only
