Death of the Driver of the First Train to Sheerness
This is an article
from a newspaper. June 9th, 1939.
We regret having to record the death of Mr. John
Atkins Hope, which took place on Wednesday, at the ripe age of 78 years, at
his residence at 113, Cromwell Road, West-Minster, Sheerness, where his wife
died a week previously, her funeral taking place on Monday last.
Mr. Hope was the
driver of the first train into Sheerness Railway Station (the present
Dockyard Station) half-a-Century ago, and upwards of 45 years was the driver
of the Sheerness-Sittingbourne train, during which period he piloted
millions of passengers over King's Ferry Bridge, which crosses the Swale,
the arm of the sea dividing the Island of Sheppey from the mainland of Kent.
Mr Hope was a very careful driver, and was respected by his fellow employees.
He retired from the Company's service in May, 1907, through advancing years.
Mr Hope was an active man for his age, and only a
short time ago we noticed him at work on his allotment at the side of the
railway, near West-Minster, which he retained after leaving the Company's
service. Much sympathy will be felt for Miss Hope in her double
bereavement.
THE LATE MR. HOPE
The funeral of Mr J.A. Hope, the first
engine-driver on the Sheerness-Sittingbourne Railway, took place at
Queenborough on Wednesday, amid manifestations of respect and sympathy.
Several representatives from the railway attended, including Mr. Durant, the
chief engineering officer of the S.E.C.R. in the Faversham district.
There were a number
of beautiful wreaths. Mr. Hope's remains rest by those of his wife.
