One persons account from the accident.

"Trinity Pilot Smith, my friend Margaret's father, managed to bump into the King's Ferry Bridge whilst navigating up the river Swale, cutting off Sheppey from the mainland. This bridge lifted its span high up to the Sheppey side, sending down a cascade of dirt and stones whenever ships needed to pass through, mostly to Ridham dock. This caused considerable delays, for the narrow road and rail were one.
It was a toll bridge, perhaps a penny for pedestrians and cyclists, definitely threepence for our three-wheeler, and sixpence for Walter Coles Rovers.
This accident left only one railway engine on Sheppey, which operated on the Sheppey Light Railway. We were lucky to have it. Food and everything else had to come by water. The first cold trip was chaos. We travelled to the Ferry, then the porters took steps from carriage to carriage helping everyone down - there was no "Halt" Station then. Next we walked over duck-boards placed on the mud, to the Swale, and at first there were not enough of these, taking to little rowing boats to be ferried across the water. It took ages. The same procedure took place on the mainland and eventually we arrived late for school, to be acclaimed heroines by the headmistress.
Later we had a pontoon and all sizes of boats, including one far too large to be of use when the tide was down, to try and speed things up. As repairs progressed the lifting span was lowered, and we had to walk to and fro. The weather was atrocious, and I sucumbed to a chill which kept me at home for two weeks. But before that we had great fun with no carriage order, and several of us took the opportunity to travel with the nicest of the Borden Grammer School boys, and a good time was had by all."