Mark 1 on the Bluebell in 1963.

Morning All,

There are some pictures on my Flickr site of a BR Mk.1 in a rake with two Bulleids taken at Horsted Keynes in 1963. Someone who saw the pictures has queried what a Mk.1 was doing there that early on. BR were still building Mk.1s up to 1963 and they were the mainstay of BR services at that time.

So the question is, had some of the earlier ones already been withdrawn by 1963 and had one, or more, been preserved on the Bluebell line? None of the Mk.1s on the Bluebell website appear to have been there that long.

If anyone knows the answer I would be pleased if they would put us out of our misery by solving the mystery. Here's one of the pictures showing the carriage in question :

R943 BIRCH GROVE H K 18May1963 by Ron Fisher, on Flickr

 

railtour off the haywards heath line? as far a i can tell railtours still ran to the bluebelle until the line to Haywards heath closed, it was at one time possible to see a 3rd rail 2 bill unit next to a bluebell steam train.

 

If you go through the linked gallery you see more images of the same train. It's t&t'd with Stepney & consists of the said Mk1, 2 Bulleids & the L & NWR observation car.
Another picture shows what Martin mentions, an electric & a Bluebell steam train together.

 

The only railtour shown on Six Bells Junction around that time is 'The Spring Belle' on the 31st March, 1963. This ran via Haywards Heath and the Ardingly branch to Horsted Keynes but had the Adams Radial Tank and Birch Grove on the Bluebell. There is only one picture and this shows 80084 and Birch Grove at Haywards Heath. Only a small portion of the rolling stock is visible, but it doesn't look live a Mk.1 or a Bulleid.

Nothing is shown for May or April, so it remains a mystery!

 

In early 1963 LT borrowed the Chesham set for a few weeks to celebrate the centenary of the underground system and paid for the loan of a six coach rake of mixed Bulleid and Mark 1 stock to cover the Bluebell's consequent shortage of carriages. At this time the link to Haywards Heath was still open, closing in Ocrober of that year. Who then could have imagined that the Chesham set would be leaving the railway by rail to LT's successor 50 years later.

Peter James

 

Thanks for the information Peter. Sounds like a good deal from the Bluebell's point of view. I obviously didn't notice the Mk.1 in the rake when I took the picture. Or if I did, I certainly didn't question its presence there!

Is it still there?

 

The coaches were just a loan to cover for the absent Cheshams. When they came back from LT the loaned coaches were returned to BR. At least that is my understanding of what happened back then. The Bluebell only acquired their first Bulleid coaches in 1970 and their first non suburban Mark 1s much later in the '70s.

Hope this is of interest

Peter James