Celebrate 200 Years of Railway History!
Introduction
In 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened the world’s first passenger railway station on Tuesday 27th September — a milestone that transformed travel forever. Steam locomotives carried passengers and goods at unprecedented speed, sparking a transport revolution that connected towns, boosted industry, and shaped modern Britain.
This special SideTracked Railway 200 event at Tenterden, St Michael's is part of a nationwide celebration running from Wednesday 24th to Tuesday 30th September 2025. All finds and hides from this event count towards your SideTracked statistics, and a unique profile badge will be created especially for this event. Whether your chosen location is old, disused, miniature, or still bustling today, it’s part of a railway story that’s been 200 years in the making.
Having researched other disused railway stations / tracks etc in the area - there were several I found, Headcorn, Goudhurst, Hartley near Cranbrook - but none had any reasonable parking or if it did, it was a lot to pay simply for a shortish get-together - so I chose the location at St Michael's - mainly because folk should be able to park close by.
However- please note :- this is not the most luxurious of event settings - No cafe or pub nearby, no benches, no great view - simply a cycle track on what was an old railway line in fact you can't really see much of the old station either !!!
If the weather isn't great please bring appropriate attire and maybe an umbrella. If the weather is too extreme I will look for an alternate location nearby and will make an announcement.
About this disused station
Tenterden, St. Michael's was a railway station on the Kent and East Sussex. It was opened in 1912 to serve the local community of St Michaels on the outskirts of Tenterden. The station was situated on the southern side of a level crossing to the south of St. Michael's tunnel, one of the line's main civil engineering features.
St. Michael's was little more than a halt station consisting of no more than a single platform made of sleepers and, for some time, a small corrugated iron hut which served as a ticket office. So modest were the facilities that the wooden picket gate leading from the road for the use of passengers has been described as "more obvious than the halt itself". By August 1938, the ticket office had closed and passengers were obliged to purchase their tickets on the train; the station had also become run-down and the track weed-strewn. It had fallen into a dangerous and decrepit state by 1953, the condition of the platform sleepers having seriously deteriorated. Regular passenger services on the line were withdrawn after the last train on Saturday 2 January 1954. The line was engineered and operated by Colonel H F Stephens. The only tunnel on the line the 31 yards long "St Michaels Tunnel" was located just north of the halt.
Closed in 1954, nothing remains of St. Michael's today: a footpath and cycleway runs through the site.
The event is held at the spot where the station was situated.
Whether you are an old steamer or a brand new locomotive, make tracks down and join others to chat about the old railway and all things geocaching.
Parking can be found along Grange Road and Orchard Road.