the plaque unveiled at the SNBR 21st birthday event by the Mayor of Swanley.
a Brief History of the line
The Swanley Narrow Gauge railway openned as a private venture in 1986. This ran over half the
present route, using 1 engine in a push pull system. The initial operators had massive plans, including to build a big boy steam engine. The original track design also included a 30' turntable to be located between the signal box
and the carriage shed. funds and other better ideas, like putting the turn table at the end of the station meant this turn table was never built. The big boy plan never proceeded either.
In 1987 the railway came under council
control and was renamed Swanley New Barn Railway (the park was then called New Barn Park).
By the end of 1987 the railway was changing control into the present operators the
Swanley New Barn Railway Society after the then council were considering closing the railway due to the costs of operating the railway with paid staff.
In 1987 the railway was completed as a circuit with a 3
platform terminus one end and a Halt the other (adjacent to the main car park). The railway
has improved every subsequent year to point that the early pioneers may well forget how
far the railway and society have come along. With one of the largest engine and carriage
fleets in 7 1/4" gauge and more on the way.
Other bits of History and odd facts!
The first engine used on the railway was Redrum (although un-named until 1996). This engine was sold to a member in 2013 and is now called Frank and is being completely rebuilt.
The most used engine is Tulyar, and is still in service today, and is also the longest working engine in the fleet (1987 to present)
The first steam engine based at the SNBR was Great Northern (privately owned), and the first society owned engine was Romulus (sold in 2014).
The first engine built at the SNBR was Steptoe (petrol powered), the first steam engine built partially on-site was Siusaidh, with Prince Sheian being the first steam engine completely built on site
Both Owd Rosie and Mallard have appeared in adverts. Owd Rosie in a photo shoot for Kia cars, Mallard for Sky Movies TV advert.
The known record for passengers carried in a single day is 1992 passengers set in 2002.
The most powerful steam engine in the fleet is Suisaidh, while it is believed Tulyar is the most powerful diesel
2012 and onwards
In 2012 the railway purchased two new diesel engine in the realisation that the old engines were now heavy on maintence. With the arrival of the two new engines (Western Enterprise and "new" class 47) both County of Kent and the Hymek were retired from service and put up for sale. Also in 2012
a new contract negoiation was commenced with the council and signed in 2013. This new contract was the catalyst for large changes within the railway. Including the station name changes, Lakeside becoming New Barn, while New Barn Halt became Swanley Parkway. New Barn Station also had a massive
face lift and was turned into a Southern Railway looking station, painted in cream and green. The other large change was the naming of Lakeside signal box after our founding member Chris Johnson. Chris who passed a few years before had always stated he never wanted anything named after him. The railway
respected his wishes (sort of) by renaming Lakeside signal box to Holborn Crossing. Chris while employed by BR was the area manager for Holborn Viaduct all the way to Swanley. In recognition of Holborn being a 3 platform terminus in the 1990's, it was felt fitting to use Holborn, but we didn't have a viaduct. However
the signal box is next to a crossing. So Holborn Crossing was chosen as the name. It is our way of remembering Chris Johnson, while respecting his wishes.
