Colonel Stephens could be seem as one of the pioneers of the light railways in the United Kingdom. At the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries he was responsible for the surveying, building and running of no less than sixteen light railways. Given this it would only be right for any look at the light railways would need to start with a look at the man himself. Born on 31 October 1868 in West London, Holman Fred Stephens, known as Holly, was born to Frederick and Rebecca Stephens. Although better know for his work in the pre-Raphaelite movement, his father Frederick undertook some work with the railways earlier in his life during the 1840’s. this has brought discussion with those interested in Holly as to whether the gift of a working steam engine was an indication of his father past or his interests at an early age.

At the age of 13 in 1881, he was an apprentice in the workshops of the Metropolitan Railway, going on to be an assistant engineer on the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway in Kent, which was completed in 1892. Soon after this he became an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, allowing him to build railways. The railways he went on to build were generally of light construction which would keep down costs and enabled railway links in areas that might not have the interest or the capital to gain the Act of Parliament required to for a full standard railway. This is probably the reason why his first two railways, the Rye and Camber and Hundred of Manhood and Selsey, were not technically railways, but Tramways. This allowed them to circumnavigate the legal requirements and save money ion construction and operation. this could cause its own problems with the operations of the railways, one example of this is the fact that where the railway (or tramway) crossed a road, the train had to stop and ensure the way was clear and stop traffic to allow the train across, whereas on a railway there was a crossing guard to do this ready for the trains arrival. This was one reason that was given by both the investors of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, and the Southern Railway when they each looked at buying the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway (HoM&ST) in the 1920’s and 1930’s. the cost of upgrading the crossing points to meet the legal requirement were too much. Amongst other aspects. Opportunities opened for Holman Stephens further with the introduction of the Light Railways Act 1896. His first, and possibly best known, project using this new legislation was the Rother Valley Railway, later known as the Kent and East Sussex Railway.  

In the year 1896 Holman Stephens signed up as a Second Lieutenant in the 1^st Sussex (Volunteer) Royal Engineers. Where he steadily rose through the ranks until finally becoming Lieutenant Colonel, it is unknown when he exactly gained his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. But he was known as Colonel Stephens from about 1915.  In 1916, he transferred to the Territorial Reserves to concentrate on managing railways. He was involved in the construction of many of the railways that he ran, but not all. One well known example would be the Ffestiniog Railway (FR), which he took over as civil engineer and locomotive superintendent in 1923. His method of management was one that was very strict, and he liked to keep his workers on their toes. This caused mixed feeling from those under his command, as a rule those in England, saw him as benevolent, if not curt, boss and the are examples of his generosity known today. These include the paying of medical bills sometimes and sending food parcels to some while they were serving in France. The same cannot be readily said for those who worked in Wales. People working on the FR, would send warnings up the line when he was on his way to carry out one of his surprise inspections. One reason for this was probably the way he insisted that his railways were run.