Bluebell Railway Giants of Steam, 28th-30th October 2016.

The B12's not exactly small either...

 

I'd been looking forward to a Britannia since the 2013 opening weekend; sadly disappointed again. One day?

Think I'll defer the next visit until after the Christmas rush

 

Im sure theyll keep trying, its really not in their control though

 

3 of the sets are 6 long and the other has the 2 pullmans in it, the observation car and 2 mark ones, it'll probably be standing only again but they haven't made the mistake of putting a visitor on the front of it again.

 

Well, that set still has 249 seats... but yes, not as great a capacity as other sets. It's behind the B12 on the Friday, but shouldn't be as crowded that day.

 

Operationally, we are limited to (a) a maximum of four trains in service at any one time and (b) trains equivalent to no more than 6 mark 1s in length (any longer, and one carriage will be fully off the platform at SP, and the loco will end up in advance of the starting signal, complicating the next down arrival. Even with six coaches, stopping has to be quite precise as the platform is only about 5¾ carriages long).

I just worked out the nominal capacities as follows:

Set A - 62 First; 187 Third; 12 wheelchairs (249 total plus up to 12 wheelchairs)
Set B - 50 First; 300 Third (350 total)
Set C - 24 First; 308 Third (332 total)
Set D - 46 First; 202 Third (248 total)

In total that gives somewhere in the region of 1180 (*) seats available. I suspect that, within the constraints of carriage availability, that is probably pretty much the peak of what can be provided. No doubt there has been much midnight oil burnt in the C&W to ensure that essentially 25 vehicles are all simultaneously available.

In other news, the B12 and 8F were in the yard yesterday, with the B12 being prepared for testing. Up close, the B12 is a lovely looking loco - it has the appearance of being on the transition between old and modern design - like a typical Edwardian inside cylinder 4-4-0 that has been stretched into a 4-6-0, but still retains its Edwardian provenance.

(*) I've taken nominal 2nd class on some carriages as third, since that is how tickets are sold. I've taken Car 64 as third class as it is nominally a third class Pullman, though I'm not sure how tickets will be sold; if it is first class, that doesn't affect the capacity of set D, but transfers 42 seats from third to first. I've also assumed 1098 in set B is 100 seats, though 80 is probably more likely in practice - 8 per compartment rather than 10.

Tom

 

Timetables and loco allocations:

http://rasalmon.co.uk/bluebell/download/events/2016/giants_timetable_2016.pdf

(I don't think there is any difference from those attached up thread; just that this version should be easier to download and print).

Also details of the free vintage bus service linking Brighton, Lewes and Sheffield Park on Sunday:

http://rasalmon.co.uk/bluebell/download/events/2016/vintagebus20_30oct16a.pdf

Tom

 

Thank you Tom, for the information etc. Much appreciated.
I'm really looking forward to my visit on Friday. I shall be travelling up from down here in 21C103 (Plymouth) on Thursday's 1A40 Cornish Night Riviera to spend a full day on the Bluebell.
Last time I was there, as can be seen by my avatar picture, was on 31st July 2013 which was my 65th birthday.
Especially looking forward to seeing in steam and getting hauled by Maunsell Class S15 847.
I have attached one of my photographs of 847 in the works at Sheffield Park taken during my visit on 310713.
Also looking forward again, to an excellent meal which will be washed down with a pint or two, in The Bessemer Arms.
I dream of seeing 21C123 in steam again during my lifetime. Here's to hoping this does materialize.
PS. I have tried to upload photo of 847 but have not been able to. I see on the forum others have had issues also therefore is most probably a website problem. I shall try again later, but at the moment bored with trying and in need of a caffeine boost.

 

The B12 and 8F were out and about today, checking clearances and shunting at Horsted Keynes. Looking good for the weekend!

 

I thought 48624 was the first 8F to visit the Bluebell in preservation but my Dad says a friend has a picture of 48151 on shed at Sheffield Park but he can't remember the year. When did 48151 visit the Bluebell?

 

Doesn't ring a bell to me unless it was for a filming job. The 8F does looks right at home though (as did 45231 when it visited). Looking forward to going Saturday.

 

Would be interested to see a picture - it doesn't appear on my list of visiting locos. (I make the LMS / LMS-designed locos that have visited, in addition to the NLR tank, being 46443; 41312; 42085; 5690; 47298; 45231; 48624).

Tom

 

I would like to see my Dad's friend's picture as well. I think he is pulling my Dad's leg! I have been trying to think of when she could possibly have visited but I just can't remember. She did come South in the late 1980's IIRC for some ML work around Salisbury.
Her last visit to the South was to the MHR for stabling between more ML work.
We used to visit the Bluebell very regularly when I was child and my Dad is going to look back at his pictures to see if he can find it.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

very interesting, thank you for all this, I am pretty much 100% sure that Christine is being run as first based upon the new catering arrangements and on previous years

 

Yay, visiting engines being permitted to run through platforms 4&5 at Horsted. Feels like it hardly ever happens on gala weekends these days.

 

Thats good to hear, makes jumping from train to train a lot easier!

 

Given platform 3 has been banned for all movements other than engineering movements (careful observers will note the Stop board just visible in the photo of the 8F) until the track gets relayed in the spring, its a good job the visitors did fit through 4/5!

 

Because of planned engineering works through platform 3, they will all be platform changes, with up trains using platform 2 and down trains 4/5. I haven't checked the timetables in detail, but there should be time to change, but it is worth checking the timetables closely to make plans as the times are somewhat less regular than normal.

Tom

 

There was another big black 2-8-0 which visited the Bluebell: 53809 back in 2008/9. Seen here on shed at Sheffield Park on 2 January 009.

 

D'oh - silly me! I was looking in my list through the 4xxxx numbers and forgot about the 5xxxx ...

Tom