Bowaters Paper Railway

{{unreferenced section|date=December 2024}}

File:Bowaters Paper Railway-old map.jpg

The manufacture of paper at Sittingbourne dates back to the seventeenth century. The paper mill was originally supplied with raw materials by barges that sailed to wharves at the head of Milton Creek. A short horse-hauled tramway moved pulp to the mill. Two steam locomotives were introduced in 1908.

In 1913, as Milton Creek began to silt up, the paper making company began work on the construction of Ridham Dock, a deepwater facility on the Swale estuary, where seagoing ships could unload raw materials and load finished paper products. At the start of the First World War the railway and the dock was taken over by the Admiralty and the railway was extended to connect the dock. After the end of the war the railway was returned to the paper company. In 1924 a second paper mill opened at Kemsley Down, and further extended in 1936. By this time, the railway reached its maximum length of {{convert|10|mi|km}}. There was also a Standard gauge system around Kemsley and Ridham Dock that was connected to the Sheerness line near Swale.

In 1969, a time and motion study by the then owners, The Bowater Paper Corporation (Bowater), resulted in the closure of the railway. By this time the railway was the last industrial narrow gauge railway in Britain operating steam locomotives and, until withdrawn from 30 September 1969, had operated a scheduled passenger service for its employees between the Sittingbourne mill and Ridham Dock.Journal of the Stephenson Locomotive Society Dec 1968 p.380 Bowaters had a "handing over" ceremony to the news lessees, the Locomotive Club of Great Britain (LCGB),{{cite web |url=http://www.lcgb.org.uk/ |title=Home |website=lcgb.org.uk}} on 4 October 1969 but continued running its goods trains until the final one on 25 October 1969. The LCGB was granted a lease of the southern portion of the railway between Sittingbourne and Kemsley Down in 1970. Much of the rest of the equipment went to form the Great Whipsnade Railway. The LCGB formed the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway Company to operate the railway. The company operates the railway under the name Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway (S&KLR).

{{-}}

• British narrow gauge railways
• Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway

• {{cite book| author=Thomas, C.S.| year=1995| title=The Whipsnade & Umfolozi Railway and the Great Whipsnade Railway| publisher=The Oakwood Press|isbn=0-85361-478-4}}
• {{cite book|author1=Mitchell, Vic |author2=Smith, Keith |name-list-style=amp | title=Kent Narrow Gauge| publisher=Middleton Press| year=2000| isbn=978-1-901706-45-1 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.ngrm.org.uk/narrow_gauge/narrow_gauge.php?railway_id=86 |title=Narrow Gauge Railway Museum article on Bowaters Paper Railway}}

• [http://www.sklr.net/ Sittingbourne's Steam Railway], Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway Limited official website

{{coord|51.35018|N|0.74071|E|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title|format=dms}}

Category:2 ft 6 in gauge railways in England

Category:Industrial railways in England

Category:Rail transport in Kent

Category:Transport in Swale

Category:Railway lines opened in 1906

Category:Railway lines closed in 1969

Category:Sittingbourne

Category:1906 establishments in England