News - Thursday 12th February 2004

It was all up in the air at Tenterden Station from the early hours on Thursday morning when heavy haulage contractor, Engineering Services from Essex arrived. Two low-loaders crept down Station Road at 2am, avoiding any traffic. One, a 75 foot-long truck was empty, the other carried a replica tram that had last resided at Bybrook Barn Garden Centre, Ashford. A massive 100-ton crane from Southern Cranes, Horsham arrived on site at 7am. The scene was now set.

The plan to carry out three procedures went without hitch. The first, to move No.10 “Sutton” from its static display position to the Pullman dock was achieved by 9 o'clock. The second manoeuvre, to lift the BR Mk 1 carriage, CK87, that had served as a commercial store for the past seven years, from its location at the rear of Tenterden Station yard onto the hitherto empty low-loader was completed by 1.20pm.

Then came the positioning of the eagerly awaited replica tram. Built by Balfour Beatty apprentices in the early nineties as a project to appear at various shows as a hospitality catering outlet, the tram is to serve as a supplementary outlet for the Catering Department in the space left vacant by Sutton.

All was achieved by dusk but a few people remained until 6.30pm to witness the low-loader carrying the CK emerge from the station yard and pull straight forward down the hill into Rogersmead. It then reversed the whole length of Station Road onto the A28 and onwards to Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. It's believed the new owner will either restore the coach or put it to commercial use.