Bluebell Railway General Discussion

A couple from me from a very damp Sunday morning at the Working Steam Weekend. A very nice touch putting the traction engine in the freight formation!

 

A reminder that this weekend 29-30 June it's our annual Model Railway Weekend, with lots of layouts, traders and live steam miniature railways, mainly at Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes stations. At Kingscote station, there will be a 71/4 inch miniature steam railway running. Exhibitions will be open from 10am - 5pm on Saturday and 10am - 4pm on Sunday.

The weekend will also be the first occasion for the public to view inside our brand new locomotive maintenance shed at Sheffield Park, where some of the exhibits will be located. Atlantic House will also be open for those interested to see progress with the construction of our new Brighton H2 Atlantic.

We will be running an intensive service with three steam trains over the weekend to this timetable.

Tom

 

Timings for the Chesham Set back to Bluebell on Thursday http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K62049/2019/06/27/advanced

 

Blimey, how many coaches in the Chesham set are there? They have the trailing load as 715 tonnes

 

Ha! I think that's a quirk of Real Time Trains and the parameters put into the Network Rail programme to generate a realistic schedule. For the record, there are four Mets with a combined tare of 80 tons. I think (but might be wrong) that they are limited to either 40 or 50mph on the mainline.

Tom

 

Thanks for that Tom, I did wonder if it was a typo.
As an aside, but still on the subject of carriages, as a nipper in the mid 1960's I remember there being one or two (?) grounded wooden coach bodies in the bit of woodland just to the north of the road junction between Cinderhill Lane and Station Approach at HK. IIRC they were blue and white, has anyone got any info on these ?
Thanks,
Chris

 

We have tickets. Are the loco allocations done yet?

 

Tom
A belated query about your last 13 length relay.

When the Laserdozer was blading the formation and the bottom ballast how low below sleeper bottom was the blade set?
How much lift was required at opening to traffic?

Another cracking job.

 

From the .co.uk website " No promises yet, but with BR 2-6-4T No.80151 having had a boiler test and moved around Sheffield Park station under its own steam last Thursday, and with more test runs and fettling expected this week, it could potentially be in service as early as the coming weekend, if everything goes well".

 

I believe it will be "Camelot" on Set A (Mark 1s); the Maunsell Q No. 541 on Set B (Bulleids / Maunsells); the O1 No. 65 on Set C (pre-grouping bogie coaches).

Tom

 

Thanks

 

Thank you for this. Went out to see it at Dormans. Lovely light albeit nearly 90 minutes late. Obviously, 2x73 on the front isn't as exciting as Met No. 1 or even Sarah Siddons and it is an ECS working, but it still is quite an incredible sight to watch these marvellous old coaches running on the main line - perhaps for the last time.

 

There is a slightly surreal photo (currently on the "What's new" page) showing the Mets at Clapham Junction. Even though they have been up and down to London before, it is still remarkable to think that sending 120 year old carriages up a four track electrified mainline into the busiest rail network in the world has become so routine as to almost pass without comment!

Tom

 

An update on OP4, concentrating on the remodelling of the down yard at Horsted Keynes that will give access to the new shed. It includes a handy reference for the existing and new track layouts within the yard.

https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/inf_update_june19.pdf

Tom

 

I love the way all those people on the platform are paying it not the slightest attention whatsoever, like a Victorian train passing through is a perfectly normal sight at Clapham junction!

 

Confirmed on the website now as well.

 

The Standard 4 tank has been out on test. Here, in a scene reminiscent of SP in the early 50s, 80151 prepares for a loaded test run (photo by John Sandys):

Also, a link to a lovely video taken today by Nick Dearden:

 

Another OP4 update, covering further work both on the building and the track work in the yard, up to the end of June:

https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/op4_update_3jul19.pdf

Tom

 

Spotted 80151 out on test today at Horsted Keynes, it looks very smart!



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From the “what’s new” page:

Bluebell locomotives have now run 1.5 million miles since we started operating in August 1960! This is made up of passenger trains, filming, shunting, including visiting locomotives. The mileage information is taken from our loco driver's record cards, completed after each day's work. This is the equivalent to three return trips to the Moon, or 60 trips around the Earth!​

Tom