Bluebell Railway Giants Of Steam: 14th - 16th October 2022

Looks like 76017 will be arriving by rail, no reversal anywhere so will be facing EG: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U66172/2022-10-13/detailed

 

Seemingly WCRC 33 haulage for a locomotive (76017) newly registered on TOPS as 98417.

 

A warning to anyone planning to visit the Giants of Steam event by car, arriving at Sheffield Park from the north.

Besides East Sussex currently living up to its reputation as the country's top spot for temporary traffic lights and road closures, the wooded areas of the High Weald are populated by ever-increasing numbers of fallow deer. This time of year is "the rut" when the bucks (males) are keenly seeking a female to mate with and tend to do silly things in consequence such as running out in front of cars.

I mention this because I ran into one on the A275 last Saturday, very close to the Bluebell Railway. Thankfully, my car was only slightly dented and I think that the unfortunate animal survived, but I do know of cars being written off in this area after a deer collision. There are a lot of wooded areas adjacent to the roads near the railway - particularly the northern section - so the deer can just appear in front of you suddenly - seemingly from nowhere. This is what happened to me last Saturday and it happened early in the afternoon. For most of the year, deer are most likely to appear early in the morning and at twilight.

I very much hope that all visitors to "Giants" arrive and return home safely, but I was rather shaken up after my collision, so thought I ought to warn people. If my warning proves to be superfluous, I will be delighted.

 

Not a pleasant experience. One of my Uncles had his car written off by a nasty deer collision. Totally caved in the front of the car.

Note that there may also be engineering works on the ML for people intending to arrive at the Gala by train (SWR ticket site says that there may be engineering works).

Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

How did the test go?

 

It passed. It was let lose on the 15:30 departure from SP that day.

 

Victoria - Clapham Jn - Windmill Bridge Jn (East Croydon) shown as blocked all day. Train services diverted to and from London Bridge.
https://www.southernrailway.com/tra...k?date=2022-10-16#engineering-departure-board

Cheers, Neil

 

I'm leaving this forum as soon as I can find a way, as I stated what an intolerant forum this is, completely dissing anyone's POV that doesn't go along with their own!

I'm not attacking the Bluebell Railway for their choice of locos for a gala, just stating that £37 for me personally is a lot of money to ride behind a single locomotive I was interested in. I was a BRPS member for over 10 years and supported all their events and galas as well as taking my family on the line countless times all adding to the railway's revenue. I only gave up my membership when they decided not to run trains for 5 months of the year which made membership a marginal benefit.

Fine. As far as I'm aware you're not an airline, you don't need to announce when you are and aren't going somewhere. If you don't want to go, just don't go. Attacking the railway because you don't want to go to the event they're holding is just pathetic

see above

I'm not obliged to support heritage railways!

goodbye, I fully expect a tirade of personal abuse from all of you!

 

Keep out the ‘oss Road old pal.

 

Opinions aside. I'm sure the price will appeal to some and probably not others. Each to their own. I'm sure the prices for galas topic can be raised up in a future thread?

 

73156 arrived for the gala this morning, with a picture posted on the Bluebell's Facebook of the loco still on the low loader.

 

I started a thread on pricing last week in the railway chat.

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/heritage-line-ticket-pricing.1421563/

 

Is this still happening today or is there a problem?
A note has appeared on RTT next to the schedule: "Cancelled from WTT today".
No activity on the diesel move from Southall down to Alton yet either.

Edit: Diesel move now running 30 minutes late.

 

73156 out and about on the Bluebell Railway today:

 

Was on lobby duty today, one of those turns where as a volunteer you get watch all the action, and also have the very important job of topping up the crews cups of tea! Some stills I got between meeting the loco crews.

 

And very nice tea it was too ! Thanks!

Tom

 

A few from today. Enjoyed today a lot. Back tomorrow and of course Sunday.

 

Had an enjoyable afternoon at the Gala, couple of photos from my phone, will be back tomorrow.