Bluebell Railway General Discussion

From the Funding Director, via the Bluebell e-Newsletter:

Funding for the Future Update

As we come the end of 2014, the torrent of donations to Cash for Cover (CforC) has slowed, but I want again to say a big "thank you" for the 1,445 donations that, with Gift Aid, have contributed £366,000 to the appeal.

Having passed the initial targets of £250,000 and £350,000, your generousity will see Operation Undercover 4 (OP4) off to a tremendous start.

Both CforC and Keep Up The Pressure (KUTP) are part of our overall fundraising strategy of Funding for the Future. Although these two appeals have met their initial targets, both are ongoing.

OP4 is a massive project, more than just a roof, while the need for money to return "out of ticket" locos to steam is constant. The proceeds from Track Trek 2015 will be split equally between the two appeals, so put the date of 24 May, 2015 in your diary and look out for Track Trek details in Bluebell News and this eNewsletter.

Donations to both appeals still can be made at justgiving.com/KUTP and justgiving.com/cash-for-cover.

For both, standing orders are most welcome because they help with planning. You can download a Standing Order form for CforC here and for KUTP here. Forms should be sent to my attention at Sheffield Park Station, East Sussex TN22 3QL.

Please note that although you can set up a Standing Order online, snail mail is preferred. We still require a name and address to keep track of donations plus authorisation to claim Gift Aid should you be eligible.

Other ways of contributing to Funding for the Future are:

• The Bluebell Railway Lottery
• By shopping online at easyfundraising

If you create an easyfundraising account and use it to log on to your favourite shops, this service will donate part of your purchase payment to the Railway. In the case of John Lewis and M&S, it's 2.5% on which we can even claim Gift Aid if you tick the appropriate box. For insurance renewal or motor vehicle breakdown renewal, it can be as much as 20%. That's a £30 (£37.50 with Gift Aid) donation to the Railway on a £150 premium--and it costs you nothing!

This is my last contribution to the eNewsletter for 2014, so I close by showing my appreciation to everyone who has made a donation to any Bluebell Railway project this year. Best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

By Roger Kelly, Funding Director

 

It's a shame to see that the plan is for the Obo to go into semi-retirement in the near future, she seems to have been a major part of the operation of the line forever

 

Where are you getting this from? She is currently in the works going through an intermediate overhaul.

 

Postings on the Yahoo Group, talk on there is that once the work is completed she's not going to be seeing as much use as she has done up to now and will spend a lot of time living in the shed at Sheffield Park

 

She was in traffic for the Santa trains last weekend, but apparently needs to return to the works for the last touches to the paintwork. The suggestion next year is that she will not see such regular use as in the past, probably special events, bank holidays and maybe one other weekend per month. Though that still offers a rather better odds of riding in a pre-WW 1 carriage than a lot of other lines! Hard to imagine that she is over 100 years old now.

Tom

 

Agree, Obo has given sterling service, and generated the supplement income during regular use over all those years.
If other vehicles are preferred, or if the car needs resting, can other vehicles in the timetabled train add extra capacity to replace that revenue?

Someone in Bluebell C&W told me that the way to keep a carriage in traffic was to allocate it regular work, and it seems the work described
will hopefully do just that allowing it may find some further use being a one of a kind observation car in Bluebell's active fleet.

 

I hope you had his/her permission before you started to do any work and still give it a home.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sH_eSFu4F3ykaZ9v4Ohbn0w!2e0

Or was it down to the content of the brown bag to win it over.

 

Just a heads up that the Bluebell will be running a two-train service every day between Boxing Day and January 4th inclusive.

The A train (09:45 / 12:15 / 14:45 ex-SP) will be Bulleids / Mark 1s; the B train (11:00 / 13:30 / 16:00 ex-SP) will be the Maunsells and the return to regular traffic of the LNWR Obo.

Not sure about motive power but I suspect probably 847 and B473.

Merry Christmas and a happy and steamy new year to one and all!

Tom

 

Special Events 2015 : -


Sat 2 May: Toy & Rail Collectors' Fair

10 - 11 May: Southern at War

27 - 28 June: Model Railway Weekend

18 - 19 July: Toy & Rail Collectors' Weekend

Sat 25 July - Sun 9 Aug: Summer Festival

8 - 9 Aug: Vintage Transport Weekend

31 Oct - 1 Nov: Giants of Steam

 

Not only Giants but might also be in a position to field engines which genuinely ARE giants for the first time in a while?

I seem to recall the last few involved the Dukedog and the O1. Which aren't giants in any respect other than personality.

 

Might be a similar case for 2015 as the only Giants will be 73082, 847 and hopefully 1638 with maybe 592, 30541 as medium locos and possibly a visitor.

Are any locos being hired again for next year? L150 I assume will be part of the Tube runs once again but not sure if it's staying or off somewhere else at the end of the year and presumably 5643 will head home.

 

From a post on the Bluebell Yahoo group it appears Britannia is the visiting loco.

 

A small selection of photos of the S15 taken yesterday and this morning - http://paulsimpson.zenfolio.com/p845419727. A lovely frosty start this morning.

 

That was something I have been wondering about. If 5643 isn't needed at the Bluebell in 2015, I wonder if anyone has any idea where it will be going next. Seems one or two lines are a bit short of motive power at the moment and a loco like 5643 is a pretty useful loco for the hire circuit.

 

On the FRT Facebook page, they say that the loco is heading to the Ribble Steam Railway for winter maintenance. They also say they have had several expressions of interest about a hire for next year, but nothing has been formally announced.

With regard the Bluebell, it looks like next year, for the first time in seven or eight years, we won't have an engine on long-term hire: at least that is the current plan. The next issue of Bluebell News (due imminently) will have some info about the workshop plan for 2015 and early 2016.

Tom

 

From the various hints and work already started I would imagine 80151 and 65 will be the next ones through the shops, in addition to Archie and Stowe. Noticed on Monday that all the firebox backhead fittings and cladding has been removed from 80151.

Regards,

Dan

 

That will be good news as you will save money from hire fees, which can be spent on the overhaul of the home fleet.

 

80151 in March and 65 after Camelot finished.Reading Bluebell news on 1.15 from EG.

 

I haven't seen BN yet, but assuming the piece hasn't been edited(!), this is what we wrote - this was the plan as of late November when the article went to press. Obviously repairs to the running fleet over and beyond those detailed below may also come into play: I think B473 may need some P&V work fairly soon, for example.

"The works plan for 2015 is as follows:

- Complete the boiler repairs to C class 592 between January and March
- Complete some running repairs to 323 “Bluebell” in January and February
- Once repairs to 592 are completed, 80151 will enter the works for the start of its mechanical and boiler overhaul, probably commencing in April
- The boiler from 73082 “Camelot” is due to return from LNWR Crewe in January, and reassembly of the loco will then take place between January and around May.
- SECR O1 No. 65 will then enter the works once Camelot is completed, with the overhaul taking place during the rest of 2015 and into the beginning of 2016
- Work will continue on the boiler repair of 928 “Stowe”.

Subject to unforeseen circumstances, the above programme should see an operational fleet of 847, 1638, 541, B473, 263, 592, 323, 178 and 3 available for the start of daily operations around Easter, with 73082 strengthening the fleet ready for the peak summer period.

At this moment we can be fairly certain about 2016, where work will continue on 80151, 928 and 34059 when the boiler repairs are completed, as well as commencement of the overhaul of another small or medium locomotive. Unfortunately 1638 is likely to be withdrawn from traffic at some point in 2015 after 9 years in service.

All of the above is of course subject to the necessary funds being available! Although the fundraising focus recently has been on the very successful “Cash for cover” appeal, the “Keep up the pressure” campaign is still running, with any monies raised going towards the boiler repair for 34059. Separately, the Maunsell Locomotive Society are continuing to raise money for the repair of Stowe’s boiler, where additional expense will be incurred due to the need to replace the whole throatplate – a piece of steelwork that is both heavy and complex to form! All donations are thus gratefully received: they can be sent to the railway c/o Roger Kelly at Sheffield Park, or via www.justgiving.com/KUTP/. If every household who receives Bluebell News were to text "KUTP59 £3" to 70070, we would receive approximately £25,000 for our Keep up the Pressure campaign – about the price of a single pint of beer or cup of coffee. "

I have no immediate information about the suggested overhaul of another "small or medium locomotive" probably starting in 2016. However, at some point we will have to overhaul Fenchurch, so it is definitely running in 2022 (the 150th anniversary); the O1 essentially acts as a replacement for 592 (which will probably not last beyond 2017), but B473 will also need replacing within about 4 years; so I wouldn't be surprised if the "small or medium" loco actually turns out to be the Dukedog, with Fenchurch done later. But that is speculation on my part.

Tom

 

Although it's not mentioned in the 2015 special events page of the website, I saw in Bluebell News that there is talk of two Deltics being brought down for a short stay on the line "to run on a Friday and Saturday in March" (Quote). This was a complete surprise to me. I can see the logic of a diesel gala when you already have a 33 in situ along with two shunters and a short-term hired in DMMU, but there are costs to bringing down two high-profile locos like this and it certainly marks a gear change from the Bluebell's previously cautious attitude to diesel events. I just hope there are sufficient Deltic fans willing to travel down to Sussex for it to pay off.