Frederick Hester : A brief history in pictures - Page 14 : The Mono Rail
Named after a Race horse, Tattenham Corner
remains to this day
After enticing people from London to South Benfleet railway station, Frederick had to transport them from the Ferry to his nearby Winter Gardens complex to buy land from £5 a plot. You could walk along the old sea wall which today is Wintergardens Path (above - now through a golf course), or why not take a ride on a brand new invention - the Mono Rail!
Postcard of Hester's Horse Drawn Mono Rail
In 1904 a single track caillet-type "mono-metal tramway" was laid from Canvey Ferry to the Wintergardens and then all the way to Shell Beach on the south of the Island. People have memories of the driver being dressed in Dutch uniform to emphasise the Dutch history of the Island. It occupied a strip of land 30-40ft wide which can still be found marked on many old building deeds. The plans had been drawn up in 1903 by Mansfield Owen & Co of Westminster.