Bluebell Railway General Discussion

I was fireman for the day and we experienced slipping in locations where we wouldn't normally, so it did hamper progress slightly. Getting over the tpo of Holden summit on our third trip was interesting to say the least!

847 did haul the GA, 541 did 4 trips on the service set with the relief crew doing the last of those. The headboard was very heavy, and we decided not to keep swapping it around in the slippery conditions on Saturday. The Dutch visitors enjoyed themselves and a couple of them had footplate rides, with one getting stuck in to some firing as he was suitably attired.

 

A really anorak-y question but is there only one closure poster around? I've seen one on Kingscote outside notice board but can't remember if it's from 1955 or 1958. Presumably they would not have needed to attach one during the Sulky Service as the station never re-opened!

 

To answer my own question yes there was a 1955 closure poster; page 224 of the definitive Klaus Marx OPC History. Interesting also to note that tender engines were the norm for the Sulky Service in order to minimise having to take on water as HK and SP's facilities had been disconnected. and there was insufficient time to travel up to East Grinstead High Level

 

cancelled

 

Some phot0s from the Jon Bowers s15 charter with the goods today, will upload more later in the week can be found at http://paulsimpson.zenfolio.com/p840744182.
Thanks to Jon and the crews.

 

Glad you had a good day. I took a couple at HK (I was fireman yesterday afternoon).



847 at Horsted Keynes by Tom James, on Flickr



Goods train at Horsted keynes by Tom James, on Flickr

Tom

 

I think we were lucky, both with the weather and because the loco survived....I understand it failed this morning!
The lineside is a credit to the PW dept

Bluebell daffodils by Arle Images, on Flickr

 

Is 847 nearing the end of its 'ticket'? Looks a little 'care-worn'.

Steven

 

Re 847 - yes, was declared a failure this morning - I had this afternoon as fireman as well, but was stood down. She was already shunted into the workshop this morning, but will need to cool down first.

Linesides - yes, they do look good! I think there are a couple of midweek groups that look after them, one concentrating on the northern end of the line and one on the southern. I noticed the primroses were out in places, so probably about a month to Bluebell season.

For those on the charter - the snappers snapped!



Tom

 

About half way.

Tom

 

If you look carefully you can see me at the back! From a photo point of view a nice patina on the loco is fine, looks quite "period"
Both crews yesterday did a good job, sorry to keep you waiting for the last minute sun Tom.

 

Just to clarify, I had requested the loco wasn't cleaned in the fortnight before the charter so that it could look a bit more authentic for the period we were trying to re-create. This was agreed given the loco wasn't needed during the diesel gala last weekend (in theory at least!). I'm sure the cleaners at SP will soon have it back in its usual sparkling state for service trains once repairs are completed.

PS. Nice photo of us Tom - makes a change to be the subject of the pictures!

Jon

 

Looking on the Maunsell locomotive web site 847 returned to steam in 2013.


http://www.maunsell.org.uk/pages/847.htm

 

Sounds uncomfortably like "gricer's love of grot!.

Apologies,

PH

 

Sounds more like ‘photographers paying for the privilege ask perfectly fairly to see a loco in a condition close to how it would have looked during its working life.’


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... wherein lies the difference between authentic representation and authentic representation ....

I'd pitch in on Paul's side were it a Stroudly liveried loco with a single lump of coal out of place, but I can happily live with a touch of grime for the odd 'post WWI era' charter (do lines add a cleaning charge to the charter rate? ).

I'm sure we won't have to wait long for a shot of a suitably de-grottified 847 post charter to redress the balance.

The penchant of some for unnecessarily open dampers, on the other hand ......

 

That's exactly what I mean.

PH

 

So what exactly is your point?


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I've just seen a video on YouTube by John Harwood showing progress with the carriage shed at Horsted.

It seems that another batch of carriages are about to be moved undercover into the shed which is great news.

The line into the shed has now been moved to connect with the second road inside the shed and the wheelsets have been moved onto the 3rd road.

Also in the video it seems that 75027 has been taken back to Sheffield Park. Am I right in thinking that's the first time it's been back there since 2009?

 

That railways ought to be very cautious about promoting "grottiness" (or excessive black smoke).

PH