Selling to Canterbury WEST, 1944?

[Man_in_seat_61]

Powell & Pressburger's 'A Canterbury Tale' (1944) is one of my all-time favourite films. The fictitious 'Chillingbourne' is one stop on the London side of Canterbury West, so I always thought Chillingbourne was based on Chartham, but in fact the role of Chiilingbourne (complete with Charles Hawtrey as station staff) is played by Selling.

The train the main characters take into Canterbury arrives at Canterbury WEST which I initially assumed was just dramatic licence - Chillingbourne being fictitious after all! But Selling to the West station WAS technically feasible using a chord that linked the Faversham-Dover line to the Ashford-Ramsgate line near Harbledown, just before Canterbury, removed in 1953. However, chords like this are often there only for freight, empties and diversions.

Does anyone know whether any regular passenger service ever operated over that Canterbury chord, making a Selling to Canterbury WEST journey a normal scheduled possibility?

 

[30907]

Welcome to the forum, Mark (you get enough mentions here...)
The chord was put in during WW2 as a precaution, closed soon after but not lifted, and reopened in the aftermath of the 1952 flooding at Reculver. So it existed when the film was made, but I'm not sure how much use it got.
AFAIK that's the only time it had a regular passenger service, and I doubt they stopped at Selling as the Faversham-Dover route was open as normal.

 

[Man_in_seat_61]

Thanks 30907 - so it does indeed seem like a purely diversionary chord, and i hadn’t realised it was so short-lived. I can live with the film employing some licence!

 

[Dr Hoo]

Thanks 30907 - so it does indeed seem like a purely diversionary chord, and i hadn’t realised it was so short-lived. I can live with the film employing some licence!

Another welcome, Mark. The chord was originally created in the First World War, probably to facilitate access to Richborough, which was one of the major military supply ports for the Western Front. It fell into disuse afterwards but was reinstated in the Second World War. I have a vague recollection that I've read that it was principally to enable movement of large rail-mounted guns around Kent as part of the defences against invasion although it isn't clear that it was actually used for that purpose.
I also seem to recall reading that it was used temporarily during repairs to or rebuilding of the bridge carrying the LC&DR line over the SER line, not connected with either war. That might well have led to a short term 'local' connection between Selling and Canterbury West (in lieu of East).
But I'm also sure that the film was simply a piece of licence or a 'goof', as commonly listed by film buffs.

 

[32475]

I'm not sure if Selling signal box features in the film however it was moved from the station in the 1990's to its new home at Eythorne Station on the East Kent Railway. Under normal circumstances the signal box is open to the public and serves as a small museum. Oh how I wish a had a signal box like this in my garden!

 

[Taunton]

Was the wartime chord actually used as such? A number of the ones put in (Yeovil Junction and Lydford were a couple of others) were installed, in case of bombing on a key route, but not actually opened, given that they would require one or two additional signalboxes to be staffed.

 

[32475]

The chord opened originally in May 1918 for military traffic to and from Richborough Port and closed in November 1924. It was then reopened for military traffic between March '41 and October '51. Then in 1953 following the flooding on the north Kent coast, it was open again between February and May and this time it served passenger trains (the Canterbury to Whitstable line also reopened during this period). There are talks about opening the chord yet again for passenger trains and to build a new Canterbury station where the east line crosses over the west line, rather in the style of Worcestershire Parkway. Watch this space but probably for a very long time!

 

[30907]

Was the wartime chord actually used as such? A number of the ones put in (Yeovil Junction and Lydford were a couple of others) were installed, in case of bombing on a key route, but not actually opened, given that they would require one or two additional signalboxes to be staffed.

Interesting question!
Lydford was under the control of the existing (joint) box.
Yeovil S Jn box controlled the double crossovers between the GW and SR. It was certainly used by diverted WR trains post nationalisation, no idea whether it was normally switched in.