The Dwarves of Steam Gala at the Kent and East Sussex Railway, sponsored by local model railway company Rapido Trains UK, promises to show that small can be mighty with special visiting locomotives operating alongside three of the railway’s smallest and much-loved residents.
The K&ESR heritage line is no stranger to small locomotives both in its heyday and as part of its 50-year preservation life. Dwarves of Steam will celebrate the unique characteristics of humble little engines that were the backbone of the Railway system, in works depots and as shunters, keeping the wheels of industry turning.
Alongside K&ESR favourites – Peckett No.1631 ‘Marcia’, Southern Railway No.2678 ‘ Knowle’ and Hunslet No.469 ‘ Hastings’ – we will welcome two very special guests.
W G Bagnall No.2572 ‘Judy’ was specially commissioned in 1937 to work in Par Harbour, Cornwall, linking the Cornish Mainline with the China clay works. ‘Judy’ and sister locomotive ‘Alfred’ were some of the last working steam engines in Cornwall, and were immortalised by the Rev. W. Awdry as ‘Bill’ and ‘Ben’. ‘Judy’s’ visit to the K&ESR will be the locomotive’s first ever appearance in the South East, courtesy of the courtesy of the Bodmin Railway.
‘Judy’ will be accompanied by guest Kerr Stuart No.3063 ‘Willie The Well Tank’, built in 1918 for the National Shipyard at Chepstow where it spent all of its working life.
Together, these five pocket-sized locomotives will operate on the stretch of line from Tenterden Town Station to Wittersham Road before returning up the steeply inclined bank between Rolvenden and Tenterden.
Gala visitors will be able to enjoy an intensive two-train service on Saturday and Sunday 26th and 27th April 2025. The service will operate regularly between 1000 and 1600 and will feature two carriage sets in operation – one formed of three Victorian 4-wheeled carriages and one formed of two larger 1960s bogie carriages.
The Gala is part of the K&ESR’s celebrations for Railway 200.