Mark Thompson's Recent Activity
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Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
I was going to say, your last visit must have been many, many years ago. From my recollection, the last of the "Poison Teas runs" with the Brighton Directors saloon must have been on the wrong side of the 1980s. My memories of it actually in...
Mar 6, 2026 at 9:07 PM -
Mark Thompson liked Chris86's post in the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
I think that's a bit chicken and egg- if you don't offer them, then folk can't get excited/interested. Equally, if folk don't get excited, I can see the cost justification being difficult. Most railways only have Mk1s, so the expectation is...
Mar 6, 2026 at 6:59 PM -
Mark Thompson liked StoneRoad's post in the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
That, sadly, is a very good point !
Mar 6, 2026 at 6:07 PM -
Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
Absolutely. And harks back to my well-worn trope about carriages being Cinderella's pumpkins, which carry every fare paying passenger to "The ball". If every punter could be transported, using a beautifully restored 19th or early 20th century...
Mar 6, 2026 at 6:06 PM -
Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
I think the team doing the Maunsell Restaurant Car at the Bluebell had a fundraising target initially of £140k, but that was some while ago, so I suspect it will end up being more - that's with a substantially volunteer team. The Pullman Car 54...
Mar 6, 2026 at 5:48 PM -
Mark Thompson liked J Rob't Harrison's post in the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
As the guy who's put £200 into the kitty (and then unwittingly sparked all of this...) all I'll say is... I've given my trust to the appeal. I think that trust should be repaid with a bit of honesty as to who they are and what their plan beyond...
Mar 6, 2026 at 1:11 AM -
Mark Thompson liked J Rob't Harrison's post in the thread Rolling Stock For Sale.
Well, until we know more the only possible answer to that is that it's the person who has shown the aptitude to -Contact the GCR-RST about taking the stock on -Get options for a new location to move them to -Get quotes from haulage firms for the...
Mar 4, 2026 at 7:24 PM -
Mark Thompson liked mikehartuk's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.
More Rother Valley Railway news and progress at: https://rvrailway.blogspot.com/ Mike
Mar 4, 2026 at 7:23 PM -
Mark Thompson liked 35B's post in the thread Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development.
I'm sorry, but I really don't think you've thought this through. At a simple cash level, if agricultural land were £1000/acre and an affected farm were 100 acres, with 1 acre of trackbed on the farm, you would spend £100,000 to acquire 1 acre,...
Mar 3, 2026 at 1:17 PM -
Mark Thompson liked marshall5's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
It strikes me that Sharpethorne is the ideal candidate for a cosmetic restoration and placing in the museum - after all it helped build the line did it not? Ray.
Mar 1, 2026 at 10:41 PM -
Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
No, you want full Wainwright livery to match the tender ... https://www.derekhayward.co.uk/BluebellRailway-1/Bluebell-Railway-Eric-Kemp/i-wW6Cqpm (Not my photo). Tom
Mar 1, 2026 at 11:16 AM -
Mark Thompson liked Hunslet589's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
GWR 4-4-0s were indeed daily visitors to the Southampton area - usually on trains into Southampton Terminus. There was a daily early evening return working from Reading - worked by Dukes in early years and Bulldogs latterly. Recorded sightings...
Feb 28, 2026 -
Mark Thompson replied to the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
How about a Billinton cab and chimney, gamboge livery, and a painted name?;):eek::Drool: (Ducks to avoid incoming Swindon paperweight)
Feb 28, 2026
