Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Out of interest, is the Bluebell getting anything from Hattons producing its forthcoming 00 gauge P class in a couple of liveries unique to the railway?

 

The Bluebell shop were given / allowed to purchase at a generousness discount a small quantity of the relevant models by Hattons for them to sell to the public at the railway itself. I suspect a similar arrangement was made with the KESR.

 

I've put my name down for one if it's cheaper at SP (unlikely) I'll order one there

a matching Met coach may cost a little more....

 

Its got nothing to do with the railway 'heading in a more commercial direction' and everything to do with money, workshop space and the amount of volunteers we have to undertake restoration projects.

In an ideal world I'm sure members and volunteers would love to be able to press on with the restoration of further vehicles to recreate a Birdcage set.

As has been noted before compartment coaches like the birdcages are lighter and can fit in just as many people as a Mk1 (so allowing the use of our smaller more economical engines) -BUT the ones we have in store take far longer to restore than works to keep the Mk1s going. They also tend to have far more doors - which can cause problems such as that the Met set has (at present virtually all locks are so worn they present a H&S risk of the doors coming open in traffic and they need replacing by bespoke designs at several hundred pounds per lock). Given the pressures on the railway and the need to maintain the overall number of carriages available for traffic then it is no surprise that MK1s tend to dominate.

For general interest people should note that the wheels on the currently operational birdcage brake cannot be put on a wheel lathe if they get damaged as they are so worn. Any damage to them will require brand new wheel sets to be made up (which won't be quick or easy given their wooden centred Maunsell design. MK1s by contrast....

 

[QUOTE=" They also tend to have far more doors - which can cause problems such as that the Met set has (at present virtually all locks are so worn they present a H&S risk of the doors coming open in traffic and they need replacing by bespoke designs at several hundred pounds per lock). [/QUOTE]

I have been wondering about the state of the Mets, I'm not really sure why it hasn't been addressed officially in the Bluebell news, or somewhere. I'm sure many people would be happy to dig into their pockets to see such lovely coaches behind 236 or 65 again.

 

According to the latest Steam Railway the Dukedog and Fenchurch will be the next locos to be overhauled. Chris Hunsford is quoted as stating regarding the Dukedog " I'd like to think that work will start in 2019, although I wouldn't like to say excactly when".

 

I'm sure there has been something Bluebell News, though possibly it was a year or so ago.

There will be others who know better than me, but I suspect it is not just a question of funding, but also the logistics of fitting the work into the workshop schedule and space. By my count there would be about 50 doors in the complete set that would require attention. Bear in mind that, because the vehicles are close coupled, as a minimum you would have to do the two end carriages in one go as well. Not impossible, but you have to be certain of the capacity to do the whole job once you start - to my eyes, it's not a job that is amenable to doing in bits and pieces as resources allow.

Tom

 

I would say that this is a clear case where the use of a contractor would be sensible, particularly if the coaches being out of service is costing hire revenue - but that's assuming a reputable contractor can be found!

 

Presuming of course that the extra cost of the contractor (and transport?) doesn't then make the job even less affordable.

And I'm not aware that the absence of the Mets is costing the hire of additional stock - but stand to correction on that.

 

I think the point about hire revenue is that while they sit unavailable they can't be hired out - Steam on the Met, for example.

Steve B

 

Thanks Tom,

I quite understand that what seems like something small can turn out to be a huge headache. Hopefully we'll be in a situation to sort them out soon enough!

 

So far as Stroudley wheels are concerned, they are not cast iron castings as such, neither are they made of wrought iron. Instead Stroudley used a cast iron rim and cast iron hub - cast around wrought iron spokes. If you look closely at any Stroudley wheel then the spokes are quite rectangular.

The design is described by H J Campbell Cornwall in his book (David and Charles 1968) 'William Stroudley, Craftsman of Steam' though typical of Campbell Cornwall he does not understand it.

Cheers,
Julian

 

I wasn’t aware that was a material consideration, as I’d thought the hiring was event related rather than commercial.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Apart from the times they were hired to London Underground, I'm not sure how significant that was. Worth noting that they were used in a filming contract earlier this year (as noted in Bluebell News), so clearly that revenue stream is still open with appropriate safeguards. In that particular case the filming was static.

Tom

 

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/news/the-engine-shed/warley-2017-huge-announcement

 

A couple of interesting photos from Martin Lawrence at Horsted Keynes:

- The Ardingly siding clear of rolling stock - http://riff-raff.org/photos/v/Mlawrence/2017-11/DSC_0059.jpg.html
- The other back sidings very clear of stock (taken from Platform 1) - http://riff-raff.org/photos/v/Mlawr...112347_IMG_20171109_112411-13+images.jpg.html

This has occurred as part of a big shunt that has essentially re-arranged all the stock so they can be put into the OP4 shed in the correct order. That move (which will see 26 carriages under cover I believe) is scheduled to start later this month.

For the next few weeks, there are no public services, with engineering work taking place to re-inforce the abutments of Poleay Bridge, immediately north of Sheffield Park. When the line re-opens for the Santa season, I suspect the views at Horsted Keynes will be very different from what we have grown used to.

Tom

 

Very interesting pictures, The station looks a lot tidier.

How much stock will be left after the designated carriages have been put into the new shed? Also looks like 30064 has been retrieved from the headshunt. It must be due to have its cosmetic restoration soon.?

 

I think this move was a "rearrangement" rather than the final shunt, done while there was the opportunity with HK not subject to passing trains, so the sidings may fill up again temporarily. The final shunt is planned to start at the end of November, but AFAIK, there is no complete point work into the OP4 shed, so it will be a case of filling up one road, then slewing the track and doing the next, until all four are filled. So don't expect it to be done in a day! There has been some remodelling of the HK down yard over the last few months to create the connection to OP4 and also lay in an engineers' siding.

I think that all the wooden passenger carriages that are Bulleid or older will have space under cover - either in the Sheffield Park shed or the old part of the C&W shed for operational vehicles; the OP4 shed for those waiting restoration; or in the main C&W workshop or the OP4 maintenance road for those under restoration, maintenance etc.

That leaves space still needed for the historic wagons and vans.

Not sure what the immediate plan is for 30064; there is still lots to do in the workshop for running locos, so I am not sure to what extent the detailed timescales for the cosmetic overhaul are yet finalised.

Tom

 

Define "temporarily"!

 

Weeks I imagine - not years.

If you are asking "will they then just fill up again with new stuff?" then I don't think so: we have a defined collections policy now, so new vehicles that add to the fleet (rather than replace a vehicle that leaves - one in, one out) can only be acquired under strict conditions.

Tom