We did indeed have a schools train but it's not run for a long time.
I dont think the 101 has got closer to the RHDR than Rye station for about 5 years.
The bus does follow the route along quite well from Dungeness all the way to Hythe. Used it back last January and it's a good way of getting to the RHDR if the walk from Sandling station isn't ideal in bad weather.
Since the last Great kent Bus Cuts theres one service per hour from the Pilot Inn Dungeness to Dover via Hythe per hour and one main coast bus per hour that from Dover goes to Lydd along New Romney high Street direct to Lydd Camp where it exchanges refugees wishing to travel to Sussex with a 100 bus which has come from Hastings. Both the Dover to Pilot Inn and Lydd Camp are service 102
I was thinking of the 100
Whether those two are or aren’t heritage is an interesting question but can confirm that, growing up in Port Erin, this was quite common. (Especially when it was only a bit more expensive than the bus)
Well... when we had a family holiday at Butlin's at Minehead a few years ago ( Butlin's is not my choice of a holiday!! ) we used the train to Taunton then a taxi to Bishop's Lydeard and then the West Somerset to Minehead - and the same process in reverse on the way back...
The Rhyd Ddu path is accessible from the WHR and a more interesting walk - we’ve done that.
When I use to go to the Status Quo Fan Club convention, I'd love to have gone their my train but I needed to arrive on a Friday and depart on a Monday and on one or both of those days, there was no service, so it never happened.
Several times I've used the Isle of Man Steam line to travel between the airport and Douglas. I have to admit it's not as convenient or frequent as the bus, but I just like the concept of a steam powered airport connection.
IIRC that was in the very early days of the West Somerset (mid '70s) when there was an aspiration to run an all day DMU service. The bus drivers in question had been recruited from railway staff who had been made redundant when the line was closed.
Yes, it was a long-running event. I believe there were several places around the country like Taunton where the busmen were members of the NUR, which all went back, of course, to when the buses were once run by the Great Western Railway (the proper one). The union branch was Taunton but the actual issue was their smaller depot at Minehead, which like many in comparable places hung on by a thread, and the only worthwhile route it had was of course the one to Taunton, paralleling the WSR. The preservationists didn't help themselves by continuing to emphasise how a reopening through to Taunton was going to be a local transport resource, with all-year dmus, as well as a steam railway tourist attraction. The extension was dependent on running onto the BR route from Norton Fitzwarren into Taunton, about 2 miles, in various iterations on the main line tracks, alongside these where the Up Relief used to be, unfenced, or fenced.
Is it run by the League of Gentlemen?
.It did.
I believe they had a DMU built, partly for this reason. Seem to remember is was named "Shelagh of Eskdale". No idea if it's still on the railway, but I can recall seeing it parked up in the station when we travelled on the railway (a looong time again now).
IIRC, 'Sheelagh of Eskdale' was a diesel loco rather than a DMU.
Yes saw what looked like a student with a suitcase wandering around the SVR station looking lost if l could help, asked me when is the next train to Birmingham. Directed her to the mainline station.
Oh yes. Run on the Special fuel with Edward Tattsyrup as the guard and the buffet car serves 'special' sandwichesIs it run by the League of Gentlemen?
