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I hoped to tick off as many of the Kentish lines as I could in 2023.
Bold = Haulage, Red = Winner, All others are sightings.
The plan was simple.
The day after Boxing Day I'd get up early and tick off the line from Swanley to Ashford International, the line through Bat and Ball and head home. What happened in reality was I got to Selhurst and the train was diverted to West Croydon. OK so no promel so far. On to a tram to East Croydon and one look at the departures board told me all I needed to know. I wasn't going to be completing any of my plans!
Back to home and a day in the house
Fast forward to today.
After checking X (formerly known as Twitter) and not seeing any delays I set off. I got to the srtation in time to catch 2J09 Selhurst to East Croydon 377302, 377307 non winners [0m 77ch]. At East Croydon there were some delays and cancellations. I skipped one train and caught 9T06 East Croydon to London Bridge 700127 non winner (but cleared the target of 20 miles) [10m 28ch].
My intention was to catch the 09:10 to Ashford International but I was in plenty of time so I made a snap decision to catch 1U08 London Bridge to Maidstone East 375618, 375821 non winners (but cleared for target 10 miles) [37m 00ch]. We arrived in to Maidstone East 2 minutes late but I was glad I made the decision to go on that train.
Maidstone East is a strange little station. Platform 3 is a bay platform. Platform 1 is the up line and platform 2 is the down line. There is a through road as well but this does appear it has not been used in a long time (rusty rails).
At the country end of platform 2 are a set of points that lead in to a very short stretch of track and a set of buffers. They look like they are used as catch points.
My next train was 1U14 Maidstone East to Ashford International 377508, 3775512 non winners [19m 31ch]. On platform 2 at Ashford the waiting room has some old train seats in there. I have no idea what they are from but I would hazzard a guess of them being from a Eurostar set. The mens toilets were so awful that I walked and straight back out. They seriously needed a clean and a lot of air freshener!
Back along the platform nd on to 1U80 Ashford International to Otford 377508, 3775512 non winners [35m 21ch].
Otford is a nice station and on the down platform there are two information boards about the history of the station. Well done to the Darent Valley Community Rail Partnership et al.
It began to rain so I was pleased when my train came in, 9Y25 Otford to Bat And Ball 700002 Non winner [1m 45ch]. Bat and Ball has been a station that I have wanted to visit for no other reason than the name and it is the only station on the very small branch line. Station Page
Thirty mintes later I boarded 9T27 Bat And Ball to Sevenoaks 700060 non winner [1m 18ch].
At Sevenoaks it was out and in to Coasta for lunch then back down to platform 4 and 9Y32 Sevenoaks to Elephant And Castle 700060 non winner [26m 32ch]. I would have gone al the way to Blackfriars on the train but we had to detrain due to the Emergency Services being called to a person being taken ill on the train.
A swift crossing of platforms and on to 2Y83 Elephant & Castle to Blackfriars 465164, 465913 non winners [1m 12ch].
At Blackfriars I swapped over to catch 9J37 Blackfriars to East Croydon 700020 non winner [11m 50ch]. After grabbing something for dinner I caught 2J42 East Croydon to Selhurst 377305, 377309 non winners [0m 77ch].