A view of St. Mary's Bay railway station looking towards DymchurchRomney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway No. 1 "Green Goddess" storms through St. Marys station non-stop with the 2.15pm departure from Dungeness
Situated off Jefferstone Lane the station has two platforms, one of which (the 'down' platform) is without station buildings. The other (the 'up' platform) has three buildings. The first is a booking office and when the station is staffed, a passenger waiting room, which also houses the control equipment for the adjacent level crossing. This building is joined to an open-fronted platform shelter with passenger seating. The third building is a toilet block, although this has been out of use for some years.
The station is currently used largely by local residents and passengers alighting here for the sandy beach.
Also in St Mary's Bay, about a quarter of a mile further north down Dunstall Lane is the now-closed Golden Sands Halt railway station, formerly used by the Maddieson's Golden Sands holiday camp.
Historyedit
When first opened this station was named "Holiday Camp" after a nearby camp run by Allnatt Limited - later to become 'The School Journey Centre'. It has also been known as "Jesson" (Jesson Lane being the former name for Jefferstone Lane) and "Holiday Camp Jesson". Since 1946 it has been known as "St Mary's Bay" apart from a period from the early 1980s until the end of 2000 when it was renamed "Jefferstone Lane". In 2000/2001 the station was refurbished in the current colour scheme of green and cream. A small garden was also established by the booking office.
Until the end of the 1990s this station was fully staffed during the summer period. Since then it has been staffed only on special event days or when surplus staff have been available. Generally passengers are now expected to purchase their tickets at their destination.
Although no longer a block post for train control purposes, it was able to be used as such until 2000. The station had a single-aspect signal installation in the 'starter signal' position on the 'down' platform. The one displayable aspect was 'danger' (red). This was unusual in a non-block station. This signal had the outward appearance of being two-aspect, but this was an illusion, as one apparent signal aspect was in fact the repeater flashing light to indicate to train drivers that the adjacent level crossing (with Jefferstone Lane) signals had operated correctly to stop road traffic.
A short distance south of St Mary's Bay station a signal box was originally erected to control movements in and out of sidings provided to serve Allnatt's holiday camp, and is marked as such on the title deeds for this part of the station site. When it fell into disuse (and in fact whether it was actually used at all) is unknown. No trace of it can be found today.[1]
The station was refurbished and repainted in 2009 by a small group of volunteers, helped by the railway's paid staff, with the aim of the station being opened on special events with small, but appropriate, photographic displays within the booking office. This has already happened during the 2008 and 2009 "Home Guard" weekends.
Once the upgrading work on the level crossing has been completed, which involves the installation of level crossing barriers, there are plans to establish the station as a 'Haven for wildlife'. This will include the building of a dead hedge on the up platform, from the end of the toilet block to the Dymchurch end of the platform. Also the garden area will be replanted to encourage local wildlife along with the current assortment of bird feeders and bird boxes that are already present.
The station became a request stop in the early 2010s.
Referencesedit
^Title deeds held by the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Light Railway Company
mary, railway, station, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, apr. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources St Mary s Bay railway station news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message St Mary s Bay railway station is a small station in St Mary s Bay Kent England between the larger stations of New Romney and Dymchurch on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway St Mary s BayStation on heritage railwayA view of St Mary s Bay station looking towards New RomneyGeneral informationLocationSt Mary s Bay Folkestone amp HytheEnglandGrid referenceTR087277Managed byRHDRPlatforms2Key dates1927Opened1940closed1946reopenedA view of St Mary s Bay railway station looking towards DymchurchRomney Hythe amp Dymchurch Railway No 1 Green Goddess storms through St Marys station non stop with the 2 15pm departure from DungenessSituated off Jefferstone Lane the station has two platforms one of which the down platform is without station buildings The other the up platform has three buildings The first is a booking office and when the station is staffed a passenger waiting room which also houses the control equipment for the adjacent level crossing This building is joined to an open fronted platform shelter with passenger seating The third building is a toilet block although this has been out of use for some years The station is currently used largely by local residents and passengers alighting here for the sandy beach Also in St Mary s Bay about a quarter of a mile further north down Dunstall Lane is the now closed Golden Sands Halt railway station formerly used by the Maddieson s Golden Sands holiday camp History editWhen first opened this station was named Holiday Camp after a nearby camp run by Allnatt Limited later to become The School Journey Centre It has also been known as Jesson Jesson Lane being the former name for Jefferstone Lane and Holiday Camp Jesson Since 1946 it has been known as St Mary s Bay apart from a period from the early 1980s until the end of 2000 when it was renamed Jefferstone Lane In 2000 2001 the station was refurbished in the current colour scheme of green and cream A small garden was also established by the booking office Until the end of the 1990s this station was fully staffed during the summer period Since then it has been staffed only on special event days or when surplus staff have been available Generally passengers are now expected to purchase their tickets at their destination Although no longer a block post for train control purposes it was able to be used as such until 2000 The station had a single aspect signal installation in the starter signal position on the down platform The one displayable aspect was danger red This was unusual in a non block station This signal had the outward appearance of being two aspect but this was an illusion as one apparent signal aspect was in fact the repeater flashing light to indicate to train drivers that the adjacent level crossing with Jefferstone Lane signals had operated correctly to stop road traffic A short distance south of St Mary s Bay station a signal box was originally erected to control movements in and out of sidings provided to serve Allnatt s holiday camp and is marked as such on the title deeds for this part of the station site When it fell into disuse and in fact whether it was actually used at all is unknown No trace of it can be found today 1 The station was refurbished and repainted in 2009 by a small group of volunteers helped by the railway s paid staff with the aim of the station being opened on special events with small but appropriate photographic displays within the booking office This has already happened during the 2008 and 2009 Home Guard weekends Once the upgrading work on the level crossing has been completed which involves the installation of level crossing barriers there are plans to establish the station as a Haven for wildlife This will include the building of a dead hedge on the up platform from the end of the toilet block to the Dymchurch end of the platform Also the garden area will be replanted to encourage local wildlife along with the current assortment of bird feeders and bird boxes that are already present The station became a request stop in the early 2010s References edit Title deeds held by the Romney Hythe amp Dymchurch Light Railway Company Preceding station nbsp Heritage railways Following stationDymchurch RHDR Warren Halt Historical railways Golden Sands HaltLine open station closed RHDR Warren HaltLine and station open 51 00 41 N 0 58 28 E 51 0115 N 0 9745 E 51 0115 0 9745 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Mary 27s Bay railway station amp oldid 1171309016, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
