The 10 1/4 inch gauge Hastings Miniature Railway is a short walk from Hastings station and first opened in 1948. It is 600 yards long and has three stations at Marine Parade (opened 1959), East Beach Street Halt and Rock-A-Nore.
The station at Marine Parade had a single platform and run-round loop as well as a ticket office and shop.
East Beach Street Halt was the original terminus before the extension to Marine Parade opened but is not used on a regular basis. It has a passing loop which was re-instated in 2010.
Rock-A-Nore station has a single platform, sheds and turntable. There is also a shed/tunnel and sidings adjacent to Rock-A -Nore where the line passes beneath a building.
Trains were being hauled by No 4 ‘Speedy Fizzle’ a 4+4 DH Bo-Bo built by RVM Engineering between 2009 and 2011 and D801 ‘Vanguard’ a 4+4 DH which previously operated at Knebworth Miniature Railway.
‘Speedy Fizzle’ on the Hastings Miniature Railway. Picture by Jonathan James.
Ex-Knebwort Miniature Railway ‘Vanguard’ at work on the Hastings Miniature Railway. Picture by Jonathan James.
A number of other locomotives were on display outside the sheds at Rock-A-Nore including No 2 ‘Jerry Lee’ a 4+4 DM rebuilt in 2011 (in InterCity livery), No 5 ‘Uncle Jim’, a 4+4 DM built by Jim Hughes in 1968, No 7 ‘Tilby’ an 0-4-0 tram engine built by RVM Engineering in 2013 plus the much-travelled 0-4-0 steam loco ‘Edmund Hannay’.
‘Jerry Lee’ on the Hastings Miniatuyre Railway. You can just see the spectacle plate of ‘Edmund Hannay’ on the right. Picture by Jonathan James.
The Hastings Miniature Railway also operates a 7 1/4 inch gauge line at Alexandra Park in Hastings, plus there are also two cliff railways at Hastings, so well worth a visit. Report by Jonathan James.
