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ELHAM VALLEY MILITARY RAILWAY 77

motor trolley to each station where they were engaged in
painting and general maintenance. Ethel, Nell, Elsie,
Winnie, Gladys and Doris kept the wheels in motion as
well as keeping the spirits high of the many British and
allied troops who passed through the Elham Valley during
those bleak days. ’

For a short period during 1943 the EVMR became a
training railway as well as an operational one, taking the
overflow from Longmoor in Hampshire. There were about
twenty trainees at a time for which two extra goods trains
were run per day. As the SR would not permit these extra
trains access to and from Canterbury West, engines had to
be watered at Lyminge from a hose affixed to the station
tap, which took almost half an hour to fill each loco-
motive.

By the end of the year all the railways guns were with-
drawn and the units, disbanded in 1944-, left their local
HQ, the ‘Plough & Harrow’ at Bridge, taking their beer-
stained piano with them.

Other than the official shots of ‘Boche Buster’, few
photographs exist of the railway at this time. However,

Arthur Wells remembers seeing armoured 2—4—-2T engines
in the sidings at Canterbury South whilst Gordon Young
recalls the long military trains with a locomotive at each
end, which made an impressive sight winding up the valley,
their exhausts echoing back from the hillsides.
In March 1944 an inspection was made of the line by
the SR shortly before it was officially derequisitioned by
the War Department. Subsequently they drew up a list of
necessary repairs and compensations in order that they
could reinstate their goods and possibly passenger service.
The cost of restoring the key token system was put at
£128 2s. 9d., the removal of surplus sidings at £1,165
and repairs to bridges and buildings £2,120. In addition,
£100 was needed to repair damage to Lyminge station
caused by firing practice which had brought down most
of the ceilings as well as damaging some 8 ft of platform
coping. Besides the numerous panes of glass and broken
locks which needed replacing at the other stations, the
floors at Elham had to be renewed as they were saturated
with oil. It was plain the SR would be taking a long hard
look at the future of the line.

I

ELHAM VALLEY LINE
Main particulars of traffic dealt with for 12 months ending September 1940
Bisbops- B .d CGm¢"‘b”".’)/
Lyminge Elbam Barbam baume " ge Sour}.-‘
. . 321
No. of passenger tickets issued 16.548 1,755 1-408 1-355 57 4
Season tickets issued 43 3 T _ 5 _ _
Platform tickets issued 5 4 '20 7 _ 24
Dog, bicycle tickets _101 3 5 20 1 3 1 3 1
Excess fare dockets 50 50
Tickets collected 372 1 53 713
(excluding platform tickets) 7»433 1 r916 E60 2 _ 17
Cloak Room tickets 10 £1 342 93 28 35
Parcels forwarded 646 767 1 225 206 922 4
Parcels received 2,129 .~ 10 __ _
Horses forwarded 3 ' 2 1 1 3. _
Horses received 3 23 1 _ 7 208 _ _
Cans of milk forwarded 312 31936 _ '_ _ _
Cans of milk received 2-747 »
General merchandise 329 34 3- -
forwarded (in tons) - 38 1:: 180 78 76. _
General merchandise received 231 S77 32 _ 1,694,, 5,103.
Coal, Fuel received (tons) 1,307
STATION DEBITS
£64 £25 [,9 £3 1
Passengers £571  _ _ __ £17
Season tickets 5:: £50 £55 £76 £5 [.7
Parcels etc. _ iizs £110 £538 £54 __ _
General Merchandise £3 _ _ __ ._
Coal coke etc. — _ —
v ' __ gm £30
Livestock £84’: 7 9d 35 6d — —- 10s. 10d.
Lmmry receipts 115.0 ' £316. £291 £160 — £153’
Cash remitted during month 51.410 4 1 1 1 1
staff employed, number 3

‘Figures shown are fo

r 12 months ending December 1938.