Rye And Camber Tramway

The Rye and Camber Tramway was a three foot gauge railway in Sussex, United Kingdom. It opened in 1895 and closed in 1946.

Route
the line began at Rye Station, and ran to Camber, by the harbour on the river Rother. later on this station was renamed Golf Links Halt and a new station was built closer to the coast, named Camber Sands.

Locomotives
The first Locomotive on the Line was built by WG Bagnall and Co. and was delivered for the opening of the line in 1895. It was named Camber and was of 2-4-0 wheel arrangment. A second Locomotive, Victoria, was built, also by Bagnall to the same wheel arrangement to aid with the growing traffic, but eventually, to cut costs, a petrol tractor was built by the Kent Construction Company which proved so successful that Victoria was sold for scrap. The tractor ran the line almost exclusively until closure, with Camber rarely in steam. upon closure both were sold for scrap.

Carriages and Wagons
Two passenger Wagons served the line- the first was built for the opening of the line, by Bagnall, the second was built at the same time as Victoria, by the Rother Ironworks co. and both remained until closure. There were a few wagons, used during construction and then for sand traffic that never really materialised, and two were converted for passenger use (by placing planks across the middle). these were fully converted in 1927, and also served until closure.

Preservation
Despite frequent bail-outs from the golf club, the little line soldiered on until the Second World War, when the line was requisitioned by the Admiralty. after the war, the stock was in such poor condition the line closed. One coach survives, in part, and was stored at Amberley until recently, when it was sold into private ownership.

There is a society that aims to restore the line- the Great British Narrow Gauge Railway Society. they have plans to construct three steam locomotives (replicas of Camber, Victoria and a new build, Rye) as well as two petrol tractors, Colonel Stephens and'' River Rother. ''at least four carriages are planned, including the survivng frames of one of the original, and the whole line will be restored.