If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Jamessquared, Feb 16, 2013.

  1. Ben Jenden

    Ben Jenden Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2019
    Messages:
    850
    Likes Received:
    627
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Croydon
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Ah yes. I forgot to add it in.
     
    Jamessquared likes this.
  2. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Jamessquared likes this.
  3. Dan Hill

    Dan Hill Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2008
    Messages:
    2,576
    Likes Received:
    545
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Brick Machine Operator
    Location:
    Haywards Heath
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I watched the cavalcade at Horsted on the Sunday of the 50th and I remember there effectively being 2 cavalcades.

    The first was as Tom mentioned with 55, 672, B473, 178, 592, 1638 and 34059. The second had the petrol engine, Blue Circle and Baxter running individually on the headshunt alongside the 2 main running lines.
     
  4. Nimbus

    Nimbus New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2009
    Messages:
    144
    Likes Received:
    198
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    My photo of FR 20, Baxter and Blue Circle on shed at Horsted Keynes, 6 August 2010.
    2020-03-02_07-19-33.jpg
     
  5. A1X

    A1X Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2011
    Messages:
    1,158
    Likes Received:
    1,158
    Occupation:
    Insurance
    Location:
    Good Old Sussex by the Sea
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Evening running will be a pleasant addition if the "12 hours" thing comes true
     
  6. CH 19

    CH 19 Well-Known Member Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,255
    Likes Received:
    632
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    W14
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Blimming hell, Tempus fugit and all that I was at the 10th Anniversary :eek::eek: though can't remember much about what was running then as I was selling car park tickets in the lower field IIRC. Will so try to get to this one as I missed the 50th.

    Chris
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2020
  7. nine elms fan

    nine elms fan Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2012
    Messages:
    2,439
    Likes Received:
    855
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Wessex
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Just an inquiry, is the North London tank still on the Bluebell not heard or seen it on my visits over the last few years.
     
  8. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    5,922
    Likes Received:
    3,827
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Grinstead
    Yes at Horsted Keynes.
     
    nine elms fan likes this.
  9. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    5,922
    Likes Received:
    3,827
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Grinstead
    Latest on the landslide between East Grinstead and Dormans from Network Rail


    This is East Grinstead landslip site from our drone (actually there's 5 slips but 3 in the picture). It's a massive job but passengers travelling with
    @SouthernRailUK
    TLRailUK
    will be pleased to hear we have a plan to get the railway operational again for 30 March. /1
    [​IMG]


    We've got multiple piling rigs on site banging 30m sheet piles into the ground to build steel walls to hold the railway up. The black soil is the ash the embankment was built of over 100 years ago, and the reason it collapsed so badly in the storms. /2

    [​IMG]

    Ash is being replaced by stone, seen here being dropped from a train. You can also see how remote the location is, albeit our neighbours will still hear us down the valley - so many thanks to them for their patience. It's a big job but we and

    BAMNuttall
    are up for it. Thank you.
    [​IMG]
     
  10. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2012
    Messages:
    1,511
    Likes Received:
    2,706
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Western Atlantic
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Thanks for cross-posting that update; very informative.

    It's interesting to see another line having problems as a result of poor original embankment construction quality; not that I'm dumping on the original creators, I expect it's mostly that much less was known back then. My best wishes to all those lines struggling with this issue, and may your repaired infrastructure be sound for many a year to come!

    Noel
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2020
    The Dainton Banker and CH 19 like this.
  11. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,967
    Likes Received:
    5,064
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    @Paul42 fantastic drone pictures - really shows how massive the job is. Good luck with the repairs.

    Keith
     
  12. michaelh

    michaelh Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,080
    Likes Received:
    1,291
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Very comfortably early retired
    Location:
    1029
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2020
  13. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,429
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Normal practice would be that you tried to balance earth dug out in cuttings and that needed for embankments; however, that wasn't always possible, and if you had too little earth, ash was a substance that the railway companies had an abundance of for no more than the price of transport, particularly for secondary lines where money was a concern. (Both the Lewes and East Grinstead; and its northern companion the Croydon, Oxted and East Grinstead, were relatively late construction, not in the first flush of railway engineering when to a degree a lot of infrastructure was very over-engineered. So ash was used in places for embankments).

    Hopefully we never see anything on the scale that Network Rail are dealing with! The Bluebell does have some embankments made of ash though, and has been working over the years to stabilise them, most recently in the section north of Leamland.

    Tom
     
  14. Dan Hill

    Dan Hill Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2008
    Messages:
    2,576
    Likes Received:
    545
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Brick Machine Operator
    Location:
    Haywards Heath
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    According to the Bluebell website and social media pages, the railway is following the example of others and understandably given the current situation, is suspending services and is closed until further notice.
     
  15. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,429
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    From the e-Newsletter:

    21 MARCH 2020

    The Bluebell Railway is suspending its train services and closing until further notice.

    The Railway had originally decided to stay open and run a minimal service during the weekend of 21 and 22 March, including the planned Mother's Day service, with enhanced health protection measures in place for staff, volunteers and visitors.

    But the Railway announced on Friday it was suspending services because of the national and global situation with the coronavirus public health crisis.

    Bluebell Railway Plc chairman Chris Hunford said: “The health, safety and well-being of our staff, volunteers and visitors remains our priority.”

    He added: “Some people have been calling and asking if we’re open and saying they still intend to travel this weekend although several people have also called asking to defer their bookings. Taking all this into account and the latest government advice, we have decided to suspend all services this weekend and the Railway will close until further notice.”

    During the closure, there will be no trains running, and the shop and catering outlets will not be open to visitors, although the Railway’s online shop will continue to trade. More stock is being added to the online shop over the next couple of weeks.

    The special commemorative book for the Railway's 60th anniversary—Sixty Years of Progress—written by Bluebell News editor Colin Tyson, is already available online.

    Mr Hunford said the Railway would keep the situation under constant review in the coming days and weeks and assess the situation as it evolves.

    Branch Line Weekend planned for 3-5 April has been postponed and all other events will be reviewed.​
     
  16. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,429
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    And from Facebook - a means by which supporters can help the railway through these times, by donating through Virgin Money Giving:

    Following the news yesterday, a number of people have been in touch to ask how they can make a donation to Bluebell Railway while our services are suspended.

    Coming after the early part of the year when trains are not running, our finances are already at their lowest ebb. We are therefore appealing for donations to help keep the essential services of the railway running at a time when, unexpectedly, we have no income. We have many ongoing costs and expenses which do not stop when we're not running trains.

    If you would like to support us by making a donation, please see our page here: http://ow.ly/pNnH50yRRNj

    Tom
     
  17. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    5,922
    Likes Received:
    3,827
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Grinstead
    jnc likes this.
  18. CH 19

    CH 19 Well-Known Member Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,255
    Likes Received:
    632
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    W14
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
  19. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2012
    Messages:
    1,511
    Likes Received:
    2,706
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Western Atlantic
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Good pictures, but the voice-over was utterly useless.

    Noel
     
  20. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,429
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    More on the landslides north of East Grinstead. Video covers two jobs near each other, at Edenbridge on the Redhill - Tonbridge line and (starting about 6'45") Dormans on the East Grinstead line. Suffice to say both jobs are huge!



    Tom
     

Share This Page