 Between 1863 and 1926 Ramsgate Harbour was served by its own railway station, and from 1936 to 1965 the harbour was linked to the railway at Dumpton Park by the Tunnel Railway underground railway system.Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate was a chief embarkation point during the Napoleonic Wars, and for the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, when 4,200 ships left Ramsgate Harbour to rescue men from the Dunkirk beaches during World War II.On 24 May 1990 the 50th anniversary of the evacuation of the Dunkirk evacuation was remembered when some 80 of the original 'little ships' gathered at Dover and Ramsgate to repeat the now historic crossing of the channel.