Dumpton Park
Sadly, this station
has seen declining fortunes from the outset. It formed part of the Southern
Railway’s rationalisation of the Thanet lines, when the former SER and LC&DR
lines were joined by a 1½-mile connecting loop, which subsequently saw these
company’s respective Ramsgate stations close. Dumpton Park was a northern suburb
of the expanding Ramsgate and a station, a considerable distance inland for
holidaymakers, was provided here. The SR purchased enough land here for the
building of two island platforms, as outlined in the original plans, but it soon
became clear that the additional space would not be required. However, the
company tried to remain optimistic and in doing so built a wide island platform
following the curvature of the track, protected by the same design of
riveted-steel canopy which appeared at Herne Bay in the same year. This in turn
protected brick-built waiting facilities. The lines here were located down in a
cutting, which necessitated the station building to be built at a higher level
than the island. It was positioned perpendicular to the lines and linked with
the platform by means of an enclosed footbridge, this of which was glazed and
provided with a lift – certainly a luxury for a station which would see little
traffic. The main building followed the outlines of that erected on the ‘’down’’
side at Broadstairs, but as will later be discovered, it was not so lucky.
Despite the seemingly generous provisions at this station, there was some
modesty: a small timber hut acted as the site’s signal cabin, being positioned
immediately at the end of the island’s eastern ramp, in the company of a
similarly sized structure housing train lamps. The new Thanet stations came into
use on 2nd July 1926, excepting Dumpton Park, which instead saw it first
passenger services seventeen days later, as an economy measure during a coal
strike – a bad omen it was indeed.
The station never experienced the levels of traffic its building company had
hoped, fundamentally because it was positioned too far inland to make it
practical for those heading for the beach. Ramsgate’s main station was also
located a noticeable distance from the coast, comparatively speaking, but being
the resort’s prime stop, this factor did not affect its patronage. The vacant
land at Dumpton Park, which was initially sidelined for a second island
platform, was left for nature to take over – it is perhaps initially surprising
that this was not put to use as rolling stock storage or for the laying of goods
sidings, but such facilities were readily available at nearby Ramsgate. Decline
of the station began in 1959 with the closure of the diminutive signal cabin in
response to the Kent Coast Electrification, it going out of use on 19th July of
that year. The 1970s was a bad decade for Dumpton Park and the opportunity was
taken to degrade the site’s facilities in every possible way. The canopy was
virtually demolished in its entirety and only four original struts were retained
to support a meagre pitched roof replacement of corrugated metal construction.
The elevated station building was razed to the ground and the footbridge lost
the whole of its glazing, became devoid of a roof, and lost its adjacent luggage
lift. Tall metal lampposts appeared centrally on the island and the vacant land
on the ‘’up’’ side became even more overgrown. Situated on a curve with a 30 MPH
speed restriction, sadly, Dumpton Park has been transformed into one of the
county’s most bleak and uninviting stations.
25th February 2006
Un-rebuilt Battle of Britain Class No. 34067 ''Tangmere'' rounds the curve as it enters Dumpton
Park on 25th February 2006 - thankfully just passing through! The land in the immediate foreground
was formerly host to the timber signal and lamp huts, whilst the overgrown area on the extreme
right was originally designated for an additional platform. The footbridge is now merely an empty
shell, lacking all of its previous luxuries of roof and glazing. The small canopy and tall lampposts
are also in evidence. David Glasspool
June 1985
4 Cep No. 1620 is observed leading another member of its class through the cutting at Dumpton
Park, on a Ramsgate to Victoria service. This unit was originally numbered 7205 and was ordered
as part of the sixth batch of 4 CEP units (Nos. 7205 to 7211) on 25th July 1961. John Horton
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