Bluebell track laying South from EG?

Totally agree with everything you have said. Simply cannot understand how, with all that is riding on the cutting clearance, the website is so woefully lacking in proper informative updates and pictures.(Yes I am also a member). So please Mr Bluebell Webmaster wake up and tell us whats happening!

 

I think they've taken precisely the correct course of action - the difference from one day to another really isnt that obvious, and can give the wrong impression about progress. Waiting 5 weeks might be a little more frustrating than daily or weekly updates, but will likely have a much greater impact - and if you really cant wait, just look at the e-group and other online photo's.

Chris

 

I can't be bothered with this forum much these days I'm afraid. And it's hardly suprising when people write things like that! It's the first time I've been on here in months, and I won't bother coming back again for several more, I'm afraid. I simply don't have the time, since the web site takes up all my spare time, when I'm not working at the Bluebell, or fundraising for it, or doing the countless other things I do when I'm not doing the day job...

It annoys me immensely however when people say "you haven't reported this" when we actually have!

The official report on last week's dig has just gone on the blog page, with thanks to Nigel Longdon and Chris White. The second week was reported on 11th Oct, and 3rd week, once I got back from holiday, on 21st. And there have been lots of photos and videos, even though one train of waste hauled by a 66 looks much like another.
http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/whats_new.html
The reports and photos have also been on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/bluebellrailway

If you'd like I can summarise progress, for those who have not read the progress reported on the web site (or members, in Bluebell News, which arrived this weekend - subject to vagries of Royal Mail). We have removed 18,000 tonnes of waste in the last 4 weeks, with 7,000 tonnes more expected to leave in the next week and a half. That will mean that we will have removed 72,000 tonnes of waste by the end of the current dig (having raised and spent almost exactly £2,000,000 in doing so, in addition to a few million more on trackbed purchase, relaying track up to the tip from Kingscote, removing 20,000 tons of sandstone from the South end of the tip, repairing and re-waterproofing the viaduct, and construction of the track and station platform at East Grinstead). We currently believe we need to remove about another 20,000 tonnes of rubbish (4 weeks) with a week's contingency if needed. That will cost about another £500k to £600k, but we already have enough funding for another 1 week available to us, which means we need to raise another £500,000 by the end of the year to enable us to beat the Landfill Tax Exemption deadline of 31st March 2012. We will then have to raise another £400k though 2012 to make the p-way and signalling alterations, and a minor embankment repair, at the north end of Kingscote Station, lay track though the cutting (the easiest/cheapest part of the job), cap off the residual waste, and move the many tens of thousands of tonnes of surplus inert capping for use elsewhere on the line. You should hear fairly soon what our (tentative) plans are for the use of the capping.

An updated version of the appeal video is being delivered to me today, and will be going on the website later, if I have time.

If you wish to contribute to the appeal, please help us complete that final half-million of fund raising. We have a week of matched funding through "The Big Give" so if you would like to contribute, a very good way to do so will be at: http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/projects/view/13964 during the 5 days commencing 10am on 5th December. We need everyone to help us during this last big fundraising push.
If you can't wait until then you can donate by PayPal or through JustGiving: http://tinyurl.com/bluebell-donate
Regards,
Richard

 

Richard - myself and hundreds of others would give far more readily if you didn't display that unnecessary tetchiness defensiveness and silly downright denial. If you had been on vacation and did not upload reports or post links why not just say so and leave it at that rather than trying to blame the customer? That is always a backfiring tactic to be avoided at all costs especially by a vounteer organisation.
We all vounteer for something at sometime but when you start feeling and acting like a martyr it may be time to delegate some of the burden ratheer than damage the relationship with the audience.
I made a legitimate point and you have kindly responded with a lot of the information that was requested - but the other stuff I don't need. why not leave it that rather than snap at the people whose support you need most?
You make the point yourself that one 66 looks like any other which is why many donors want proper progress reports not snaps and we are not fools - there is a lot of understanding of what i being done out here and if you think there isn't - then explain it! That's what the website is for.

 

Let's stick to digging at the tip shall we and not at each other?

 

Chris if anyone is looking foolish it is you displaying the well known Bluebell chip on shoulder - if you read more slowly and more carefully you will appreciate that not only did I make (accurate) comments but I was supported by others. Now as I (and no doubt others) are contributors to the tip funding and as the railway are exhorting people like me to dig deeper in pockets I suggest you keep your ill judged and ill timed comments to yourself and your mouth shut or some valuable funds are going to be heading to the Wensleyday Railway and other places instead. I don't care for idiotic innaccurate comments like yours at the best of times and in view of the BLuebell's current appeal I think your colleagues won't be too happy either. Capiche?

 

I am a donor to the project (although not a member) and have given several donations over the period of the project, which for me has been very carefully considered, as I have the axe hovering over me at work.

Generally though I am very pleased with progress, but it would be nice to just have a few more pictures on the website. The weather has been great so surely someone must have taken some ? This is surely the single most capital intensive project at any heritage railway, so it deserves to have a bit more visual promotion to potential donors. I would dearly love to see an aerial photo of the site showing progress as I am sure would many others. Has any member got one of those cheap remote control planes you put a camera in ? Very much looking forward to the updated video though.

 

Pesmo - one of the updates either during or just after WBR3 included photographs taken using a kite mounted camera. I can't find the link right now but I believe the photos were on Flickr. Hopefully the gentleman involved will do a similar thing after WBR4.

Regards,

Dan

 

Pesmo
You have excellent aerial pics(of the tip) published on "Bluebell yahoogroups" 3 days ago
have a look!
regards
Noel

 

Any pictures visible to those not registered with Yahoo?

 

I don't think so!
regards
noel

 

An excellent post.

We live in the 21st Century where communication can be and mosty is virtually instantaneous. That is how we live these days and that is our expectation.

So regular and meaningful updates on the Bluebell web site should be a matter of course for such an important project to which so many have contributed, (including myself often via the "tenner for the tip" scheme).

 

As some people are so thin skinned I'll mention no names and simply mention that good communication should not involve the potential audience having to subscribe to a private user group or social networking site to get information. That typifies and illustrates the peculiar approach to the dissemination of information amongst some preservation groups which still regard news as some kind of intellectual property. To even cite Facebook or a usenet group as a principal means of communication shows this basic failure to understand. How is the casually interested person supposed to know they even exist in the first place? If the Bluebell want to attract more sponsors and donors they should immediately rule out any and all communication that requires that the person already had a detailed understanding of where and how to get to the information and requires some form of registration to obtain what should be in the public domain. That is an obvious paradox especially in a fund raising domain.
I am annoyed that those who need to understand this most retreat back into the very same problem rather than understand that if any customer - me or anyone else - perceives there to be a problem of adequate communication the last and daftest response possible is to say "No there isn't".
This isn't a Monty Python script sadly - it is a real problem for the Bluebell in particular and it surfaces over and over again. Now I hope the moderator will recognise a valid criticism of policy rather than some kind of personal attack.

 

As said above , exellent & intelligent observation. Its not only the Bluebell, but some other railways should realise this!

 

New updated news clip on the extension just put on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2kDqv6s598&feature=share

 

Pete,
A question please?, it comes over more often than not that once you get a complaint from whoever you or the other mods withdraw that
post or posts whether they be justified or not.

I may be wrong here but on the face of it the mods are taking the easy way out just to placate someone because the posters have hit the nail on the head, is this polotics then?

The moderators have a difficult job I know and lets face it the pay and pension are appalling.

Just my opinion

Kindest regards
Chris

 

I've gone throught the last few pages of this thread again, and have to say they do may me feel rather sad.

In particular I very much hope that Richard, Bluebell webmaster, was just having a very bad day when he started a post with the words "I can't be bothered with this forum much these days...". and ended ended it asking us here, a vibrant and sometimes vociferous forum community close to heart of UK preservation, to financially support an incredibly worthwhile cause that really needs a very quick injection of cash.

To me it reflects an attitude I have seen across many areas of the UK Steam loco/Heritage Railway scene since personal circumstances I won't go into here, lead to me focussing again on UK steam after decades of interest elsewhere, (Mainland Europe and South Africa). It has stopped me adding my money where my mouth has been, (I have a good track record of doing that overseas). Not that I would have ever been one of the top players in the UK scene. But I could have made significant and worthwhile contributions. That won't happen in the UK now. I'm committed to other causes and interests which I expect to develop in the coming years.

Despite my general perception of the UK steam scene, I looked at the Bluebell as a sort of Oasis from the negativity and elitism etc I have encountered elswhere. Maybe because that truly reflected the Bluebell. Or maybe I was looking at it through rose tinted spectacles as two of my 1960s timing buddies have both been drivers on the Bluebell for many years.

My Bluebell membership lapsed because of a statement in the magazine, (not Richard's area of responsibility), that to me read that if we, (the membership), didn't shell out more money quickly enough the line from Horsted Keyes to Kingscote would be closed. The way I read that statement, as a threat, really annoyed me. It was only here on the Forum some time later that the reasoning behind that was explained, (something outside of the Bluebells control that may or may not still be relevant).

But that was what now seems to me could have been the start of a slippery slope the Bluebell could be going down re it's communication policies.

I hope not.

Richard. It's not easy doing what you do. The information you need to give a really good flow of interesting and informative web site updates re the extension to East Grinstead doesn't generate itself. It has to be prised out of people who are equally busy. But it is vital at present. Then it has to be coded and added to the website. Time consuming of course : I've run a variety of websites for years now. I know what's involved.

And this forum isn't a laid back gentlemans club. It's very easy to press the "submit reply" button before fully engaging brain. But it is an important part of the UK Heritage scene.

So I hope you will listen to what is being said here by Forum members and try and act on it. And maybe think again about how often you come here, and how you decide to present the Bluebell Railway when you do visit.

Cheers,

Bryan B.

 

I've never understood the whole thing about possibly having to go back to Horsted I've heard it once or twice but nevcer saw a full explanation of it. I thought the line owned the whole trackbed between Horsted and Kingscote with all or most of the line from Kinscote being Bluebell owned to East Grinstead.

Anyway going by the latest appeal video the amount needed now stands at £1,000,000 with £500,000 of that needed around Christmas.

 

Richard I am sorry but I think you have lost the plot here. Why should you feel "immensely annoyed" that someone has made a perfectly reasonable point that the extension reporting on your website is simply not adequate?.If your idea of "reporting" something is to add a couple of lines days after something has happened then with respect you need to hand over this part of the website to someone else who will do a better job.

It is very sad that in "defending the indefensible" you seem to have sunk to having a general rant about this forum and its members,the vast majority of whom are passionate supporters of the Bluebell and only are concerned to have up to date news of what is happening. Does it not seem extraordinary that there is much more info and more up to date pictures on the Philpott website than there are on your official website?

Then at the end of your petulant post you ask people to donate! Well I have done and I expect I will again but I have to say your attitude makes me less likely to.