Thoughts on saving the Scenic Railway

[Vince, Charlie & Sam]

Our hope is that Dreamland will stay open for next season, and for many years to come.

However, we have to face the prospect that this may not happen. It seems to be a "done deal".

Whatever happens, it seems vital to us that the Scenic is preserved. Demolishing it would be like crushing a 1920 car or a 1920 railway engine.

Could it be moved? I would be willing to get up there with a crowbar and a claw-hammer, to dismantle and then re-erect it myself if this was possible. Could it be re-built? Many of the early coasters moved around in this way. Could we pressurise Thanet Council into forcing it to be rebuilt somewhere else?


I have to stress that saving the whole of the Dreamland complex would be the best option. But if this can`t happen, would there be any interest in keeping it elsewhere locally, and sufficient manpower to make this happen?

Surely we can`t just allow it to be pulled down by a JCB and then burnt.


Vince, Charlie & Sam.

[Nick]

We have spoken to several of the Scenic Railway engineers (including people who maintained the ride 20 years ago) and the consensus is that, unfortunately, it cannot be moved. When they replace old timber, they literally have to rip it out to replace it with new wood. The only wood that could be realistically salvaged is recently-replaced timber. It would therefore be very expensive to move the Scenic, approximately as much as building a new ride.

This really demonstrates how important it is that the ride is saved. We have to concentrate our efforts on ensuring the ride stays put. Remember, it is a listed building and, as at the time of writing, no application has yet been made to remove it. We certainly don't want to lose the UK's oldest roller coaster (and the world's third oldest scenic railway) to the bulldozers.

Nick