Rails Across the Harbour – Folkestone and its Branch Line is a book from publishers Ferry Publications and covers the details of Folkestone’s railway history and its branch line.

This paper-back book is written by author John Hendy and has over 70 pages full of information and photos.

Measuring in at 21cm square, this handily sized book can be purchased from Ferry Publications for around £13 by clicking here.

The book sets out the history of Folkestone and its railway history; most visitors to Folkestone will not have any idea of the vast history it has and was a vital link with the Continent.

This compact book details the story of the Folkestone Harbour branch line, its station and pier. It also tells the story of the locomotives, trains and even ships which was associated with the branch line.

The opening of the Channel Tunnel led to its closure in 2001, but the line survived as a siding up until 2014.

I found it incredibly fascinating to see how Folkestone used to look, with a lot of detail and lots of images crammed into such a small book.

The book is well laid out, and the text is easy to read, with the images being full-page, or large enough to inspect the finer details about the Folkestone Harbour Railway.

In summary, this is a really interesting read. Detailed information and plenty of photos make this an easy to read book, and with the size and weight so small, this is an ideal book to take in your bag to read on the train, on a bus etc.

The book is available to purchase from Ferry Publications, retailing (at the time of writing) around £13.

Plus, profits from the book sales will be donated to the St Peter’s Church in Folkstone.

We would like to thank author John Hendy for providing RailAdvent with a copy of the book for review.