Operation Sittingbourne

‘Victor’ stands with a train alongside the platform at Sittingbourne Viaduct station. The wooden platform will be replaced with a concrete version that is taller and slightly wider. You can see some of the blocks and beams behind the platform.

Autumn 2024 sees the next phase in the reconstruction of the platform at Sittingbourne Viaduct station but we need your help!

Over the next two months, the platform will be rebuilt and this takes a lot of work and you know what they say about that – many hands make light work – so please come to Sittingbourne Viaduct station on the dates below and help us build the new platform before Santa returns to the Railway in December.

The project has received a boost from building product supplier Ibstock, a leading UK manufacturer of a diverse range of building products and solutions. The Group has eight core product categories, including flooring & lintels and rail &
infrastructure. Ibstock’s factory in Sittingbourne generously topped-up an existing grant from Swale Borough Council providing concrete beams for the new beam-and-block concrete platform which sits on top of cast concrete piers and also provided pre-cast concrete platform edging. All these concrete products were delivered free of charge by Seymour Transport Ltd.

A massive thank you to Ibstock, Swale Borough Council, Swale Vehicle Enthusiasts Club and private indidivuals for their donations towards this project as well as those who donated their time last year and those volunteering this year. If you’d like to get involved, please email info@sklr.net and we’ll make the necessary arrangements.

We will be working at Sittingbourne Viaduct station from about 10am until about 3pm on the following dates:

  • Wednesday 2nd October – Network Rail volunteers will be dismantling the old wooden platform
  • Saturday 5th – first day of a nine-day Work Week to forge ahead with the construction of the new platform, digging the trenches and preparing the shuttering for the piers that hold up the new platform
  • Sunday 6th
  • Monday 7th
  • Tuesday 8th
  • Wednesday 9th
  • Thursday 10th
  • Friday 11th
  • Saturday 12th
  • Sunday 13th
  • Saturday 19th
  • Sunday 20th
  • Saturday 26th
  • Sunday 27th
  • Saturday 2nd November
  • Sunday 3rd
  • Saturday 9th
  • Sunday 10th
  • Saturday 16th
  • Sunday 17th
  • Saturday 23rd
  • Sunday 24th
  • Saturday 30th
  • Sunday 1st December

Here are some photos of the first phase work carried out in Autumn 2023:

The original wooden platform at Sittingbourne Viaduct station with its shelter

The original wooden platform at Sittingbourne Viaduct station with its shelter

Concrete walls have been built to carry the new platform deck

The old wooden platform has been removed and new concrete supports constructed ahead of the arrival of the platform deck

Beams are positioned on the piers onto which the blocks are laid to create a floor

The concrete surface is laid over the blocks in sections and finished with a textured surface

Coping stones are added along the front edge of the platform (these are door steps in the Ibstock catalogue!)

The first phase was completed before December 2023