Rye and Camber Tramway - 'Victoria' with train crosses Broadwater Bridge (1914)

Rye and Camber Tramway - Rye Station (1910s)

Rye and Camber Tramway - 'Camber' at Rye with the Bagnall coach (1895)

Rye and Camber Tramway - Original Rye Station (1895)

The Rye and

Camber Camber may refer to a variety of curvatures and angles: * Camber angle, the angle made by the wheels of a vehicle * Camber beam, an upward curvature of a joist to compensate for load deflection due in buildings * Camber thrust in bike technology * ...

Tramway was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

railway in East Sussex. It was of

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

, relatively unusual amongst

British narrow gauge railways There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railwa ...

. It operated from 1895 until 1939, connecting Rye to the coast. It was about in length, and had three stations - Rye, Golf Links and Camber Sands. It operated mainly to transport golfers to the

golf links A links is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. Links courses are generally built on sandy coastland that offers a firmer playing surface than parkland and heathland courses. The word "links" comes via the Scots langu ...

and holidaymakers to the coastal dunes.

History

The railway was constructed between January and July 1895 and ran entirely on private land. It was the first designed by consulting engineer Holman F. Stephens, who went on to build and run small railways all over the Country. The line was built to convey golfers to the Rye Golf Club and ran from Rye (R&CT) station to the golf club. In 1908 the first extension to Camber Sands station was opened and the intermediate station renamed "Golf Links". Camber Sands terminal was moved to a more accessible site and a tea hut was opened at the end of summer 1938, but this only used for a few months as the war intervened the next year. Although initially quite successful, increasing competition from automobile and bus transport eventually caused the tramway to enter a gradual economic decline, as was the case with many small railways. Passenger service was ended at the outbreak 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 opposing ...

but it was extensively used by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

to convey parts for the P.L.U.T.O. (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) project for which a special siding leading to a new pier near Golf Links Station was constructed by Canadian troops. The line was in such a run-down a condition by the end of the war that it was deemed irrecoverable and was sold for scrap in 1947. The Rye & Camber Tramways Co. Ltd was liquidated in February 1949.

Remains

A number of relics, including the frame and bogies of one of the carriages, can be seen at the Colonel Stephens Museum at

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

. Golf Links station building survives virtually intact. Some track is embedded in concrete near the station as the trackbed was used as a roadway during wartime. Most of the route is a footpath, although a short section has been destroyed by gravel workings. The line plays a prominent part in several novels by Rye resident E.F. Benson.

Rolling stock

Locomotives

There were two small Bagnall steam locomotives, "Camber" and "Victoria", but in later years a small petrol locomotive was used exclusively.

Carriages

The tramway had two enclosed carriages, one built by Bagnall and the other by The Rother Iron Works, Rye. Two four-wheel wagons were also fitted with seats for passengers and several locally-built four-wheel wagons were used to convey sand from the beach for local builders. Several temporary sidings were constructed at the Camber end for this purpose, where the dug-out dunes can still be seen.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Colonel Stephens Museum R&C page

A Talk on the Camber Tram by Ken Clark

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rye And Camber Tramway History of East Sussex Rail transport in East Sussex 3 ft gauge railways in England Rother District Railway lines opened in 1895 Closed railway lines in South East England Railway lines closed in 1939 HF Stephens