Britannia Points Halt railway station was a short-lived conditional stop on the

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, for about two years from the start of 1929 to approximately 1930.

History

As a 'conditional stop' Britannia Points (or "The Britannia") has historically been referred to as a 'station' merely for convenience, as conditional stops are not really stations at all in any formal sense, but are simply trackside locations where trains will stop in response to a hand signal given to the driver. The conditional stop at this location first appeared in the timetable for 1929, but working experience showed that very little use was made of the facility. The conditional stop was withdrawn from the railway's timetables about 1930. The name "Britannia" was derived from a nearby public house. Although the original pub has been demolished, a replacement (bearing the same name) was constructed near to Dungeness station, and is still trading.

Britannia Points

Britannia Points are the points controlling the balloon loop at Dungeness. From 1928 until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

they marked the point of divergence of the two running lines. From 1946 (when the line was reduced to single track operation) to the present day they have taken the form of spring-loaded points allowing the single track to return onto itself through the loop. Britannia Points now form a token section on Intensive Service Days, which enables three trains to be in the New Romney to Dungeness Section at any one time.

Photogallery

File:Britannia Points Halt railway station; Train from Dungeness in the loop.JPG, A train in the loop out of Dungeness waits at the points File:Britannia Points Halt railway station - a train approaching from New Romney.JPG, A train approaching the junction from New Romney {{coord, 50.91873, 0.97371, type:railwaystation_region:GB_source:npemap.org.uk-enwiki, display=title Disused railway stations in Kent Heritage railway stations in Kent Transport in Folkestone and Hythe 1928 establishments in England Lydd Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1928 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1930