Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Locomotives

Locomotives in service[]

Including engines serviceable, under overhaul, awaiting overhaul, or reserved to shunting or engineering duties.

Loco No.	Loco Name	Livery	Power type	Wheel Arrangement	Manufacturer	Build date	Whistle	In Traffic?
1	Green Goddess	LNER Apple Green	Steam	4-6-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1925	Small Chime	Yes
2	Northern Chief	Brunswick Green	Steam	4-6-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1925	Bulleid	Yes
3	Southern Maid	SE&CR Green	Steam	4-6-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1926	ex-Isle of Wight Hooter	Yes
4	The Bug	Improved Engine Green	Steam	0-4-0T+T	Krauss, Munich	1926	RH&DR	No (Awaiting Overhaul)
5	Hercules	Midland Railway Maroon	Steam	4-8-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1927	GWR Hall	No (Awaiting Overhaul)
6	Samson	Prussian Blue	Steam	4-8-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1927	US Crosby	Yes
7	Typhoon	Southern Railway Malachite Green	Steam	4-6-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1927	BR Crosby	No (Under Overhaul at the Vale of Rheidol Railway)
8	Hurricane	Caledonian Railway Blue	Steam	4-6-2	Davey Paxman & Co.	1927	Chrome LNER A4	No (Under Overhaul)
9	Winston Churchill	Maroon with yellow lining	Steam	4-6-2	Yorkshire Engine Company	1931	Crosby	Yes
10	Dr. Syn	Black with Yellow lining	Steam	4-6-2	Yorkshire Engine Company	1931	LNER A4 from 4491 'Commonwealth of Australia'	Yes
11	Black Prince	DB Black/Red	Steam	4-6-2	Krupp, Essen	1937	Fowler	Yes
12	J.B. Snell (formerly John Southland)	Black/Yellow	Diesel-Mechanical	Bo-Bo	TMA Engineering	1983	2-Tone Horn (AirChime, Ltd)	Yes
14	Captain Howey	Blue/Silver	Diesel-Mechanical	Bo-Bo	TMA Engineering	1989	2-Tone Horn (AirChime, Ltd)	No (dismantled for spares)
PW1	Simplex	Green	Diesel-Mechanical	4wdDM	Motor Rail Ltd. (Simplex Wks)	1938	None	Shunting only
PW2	Scooter	WD Grey	Petrol-Mechanical	0-4-0PM	RH&DR	1949	Ex Fire Engine	Shunting only
PW3	Red Gauntlet	Red	Petrol-Mechanical	0-4-0PM	Jacot / Keef	1964 / 1975	Halfords	Shunting only

Gallery[]

Locomotive names[]

Nameplates are usually in upper case.
No 1 was named Green Goddess after the 1921 stage play by William Archer, which Captain Howey had enjoyed.
Nos 2 & 3 were to be called Northern Chief and Southern Chief and these nameplates were fitted at the works; however No 3's name was changed to Southern Maid.
No 4 was sold in 1934 after construction because the proposed shunting and freight trains for it to work did not materialise. It ran in Belle Vue, Manchester, then Belfast with the new name Jean. The engine regained its original name on return to the RH&DR and restoration in the 1970s. It bears the colloquial name Basil the Bug in its role as mascot of the railway's children's supporter group.
Nos 5 & 6 were to be called Man of Kent and Maid of Kent, but due to their high tractive effort (having smaller coupled wheels than the Pacifics) the names Hercules and Samson, with their allusion of strength, were substituted during construction. A decade later, Henry Greenly, the designer, was involved in the construction of a locomotive on the nearby Saltwood Miniature Railway, and this engine took the Maid of Kent name.
Nos 7 & 8 were constructed with an extra third cylinder for express passenger services and were given their names Typhoon and Hurricane for speed. The third cylinder was later removed from each due to unreliability. The locomotives were originally to carry the Samson and Hercules nameplates, but Howey gave the Mountain classes these names before the three-cylinder locomotives had arrived.
Following a mishap when Howey was at the controls, No 8 was renamed Bluebottle between 1938 and 1946, apparently as a punishment.
No 9 was originally Black Prince, but exchanged its name with No 10 in 1931. Its name became Winston Churchill in 1948 for a tour of Canada, and remained so afterwards. At the same time the name Doctor Syn was transferred to No 10 and the name Black Prince fell into disuse.
A brass name plate survives suggesting one of the Canadian outline locos was originally to have been called Black Devil. In the event this name was never used. George Barlow, the railway's operating manager, received a brass rubbing of this from an enquirer. When offered up to the cab side of Doctor Syn the bolt holes on the rubbing matched those in the loco's cab side perfectly.
Some confusion exists over which locomotive actually carried the name Doctor Syn at any particular time. If the real Doctor Syn was out of service for any reason Howey often had its nameplates switched onto the other Canadian outline locomotive.
No 11 took over the redundant Black Prince name upon transfer to the RH&DR in 1976, in place of its German name Fleißiges Lieschen (Busy Lizzie). The name was chosen after a competition run by a local newspaper in which Spitfire scored heavily, but was considered rather undiplomatic given the loco's origins.
No 12, originally named John Southland after the founder of the local secondary school in New Romney, has since been renamed after the railway's long serving managing director John Bernard Snell.
No 13 was never assigned, probably due to superstition. Another engine of the same class as Nos 12 and 14 was built in the years between them and exported to the Shuzenji Romney Railway in Japan where it is No 3 in their fleet and carries the name John Southland II.
No 14 ran nameless for 12 years until it was named after the line's founder, Captain Howey.
PW1 carried the fleet number 4 for about ten years from 1961 as a replacement for the Rolls-Royce engine, which in turn had inherited the number from The Bug which had been sold. The engine was renumbered PW1 shortly before the return of The Bug, leaving fleet number 4 available again for its original holder.
PW2 was constructed in 1949, mainly by the rebuilding and re-use of a former War Department locomotive which had been in service since 1929. Popularly known as The Scooter it has recently acquired nameplates showing this name.
PW3 Redgauntlet was built c1964 by Michel Jacot and using a modified Austin 7 engine originally ran on paraffin. It ran trials at both the Ravenglass & Eskdale and Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch in the late 1960s and was acquired by the RHDR in the early 1970s.

Locomotives out of service[]

This list includes engines sold, scrapped, failed in trials, or otherwise withdrawn. All engines were internal combustion locomotives.

Name or designation	Wheel Arrangement	Manufacturer	Build Date	Withdrawal date	Notes
Theakston Fordson	Bo′2'	Theakston	1928	c. 1935	Very early experiment with internal combustion. Large passenger locomotive with fully enclosed 2-seater cab. Operated on winter passenger services. Judged too slow, and ugly in appearance.
Super-Scooter (JAP Scooter)	Ultra-light 4-wheel scooter	RH&DR	circa 1929	c. 1945	Light, open-cabbed, track inspection scooter, powered by 6 hp JAP motorcycle engine. Captain Howey recorded New Romney to Hythe in 8 minutes, light engine.
War Department Locomotive	4-wheel scooter	War Department	1929	1949	The only privately owned locomotive to have seen long-term service on the RH&DR. Stabled at Hythe engine shed, worked the War Department branch line. Remained in RH&DR service briefly after the branch line closed. Used extensively as the basis for construction of locomotive PW2.
Rolls Royce Locomotive	Bo′2'	RH&DR	circa 1932	1961	Built out of Captain Howey's Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost motor car. Large, fully enclosed cab, 2-seater, express passenger engine. Fully rebuilt in 1946 with sleek body-work. Re-engined (with Ford engine) in 1947. Tested at 60 mph with (possibly) empty coaches. This engine was numbered 4 in the locomotive fleet (three engines have used that number at different times) and briefly carried the name Bluebottle from 1947.
Firefly	0-6-0	HCS Bullock (rebuilt RH&DR)	1936 (rebuilt 1945)	1947	Although a 10.25in gauge engine, Firefly was liveried and lettered as a RH&DR locomotive, and operated the post-war shuttle service when part of the line from New Romney to Warren Halt was temporarily re-gauged to 10.25in gauge. From 1947 the engine formed part of Howey's alternative project which became the Hastings Miniature Railway.
Motor Cycle Scooter	Ultra-light 4-wheel scooter	RH&DR	circa 1949	c. 1952	Light, open-cabbed, track inspection scooter, powered by motorcycle engine. The only RH&DR locomotive ever built of which no known photograph exists. Its existence is attested by former railway staff.
Royal Anchor	B-B	Charles Lane of Liphook	1956	1956	Diesel Hydraulic double-ended (two cabs) locomotive, built for RH&DR service (as the Rolls Royce locomotive was near withdrawal). Royal Anchor failed trials due to lack of power. The project was abandoned and the locomotive returned to Liphook. It operated on the R&ER 1960–1977, and then at Carnforth 1977–2000. It is now operating privately in the USA.