Bluebell Railway General Discussion

True, but this is not possible in a Thumper unit due to the presence of the diesel engine at one end of the unit and the former 1st class compartments at the other.

 

Brrr mark 1 (this morning)



Brrr mark 2 (this afternoon)



AIUI, the second SteamLights service was cancelled tonight on account of the risk for people trying to get to the railway. When I left about 4pm, it took me 45 minutes to get to the A27 at Lewes; would normally be less than twenty - packed snow.

Tom

 

We live not far from Kingscote and we have an inch or two on the ground, probably better safe than sorry on a night like this.

 

It came on very quickly. We left Horsted coming south about 2:30 pm in clear weather (though grey skies; it had been blue and cold earlier in the day). It wasn't until we were approaching Tremains that it was starting to sleet a bit; by Ketches it was snowing and when we stopped at Sheffield Park it was heavy snow. By time I left a bit before 4pm there was probably an inch and the A275 hadn't been gritted, so was pretty treacherous down to Lewes (and, by reports from the third man, the other way up to East Grinstead as well).

Tom

 

Yep, travel news on local radio says the roads are impassable Grinstead to Nutley, Grinstead to Tun Wells and Haywards Heath to Chailey!

We were out buying a tree, but in the time that took it was settling fast!

If you were on the south end Santa that puts you on 541, hope you had a coat in the open cab!

 

Yep, 541. It was - bracing! (But I think the crew on 65 probably had it even worse - for some reason they did the light engine trip to turn the illuminations on, that should have been us, possibly done to save some time as we were late back. I saw a picture of them getting back to SP taken from the web cam about 4pm, by which time the snow was quite thick; and the cab is quite small!

Tom

 

Is there any small chance Fenchurch might be rostered for service over the Christmas/New Year period given the photos of it running in? Or is the plan to re-launch in 2023 at the Branch Line Weekend?

Small(er) locos often seemed to be rostered on the Bluebell post-Christmas services in the past. During it's last period in service, I recall one Boxing Day trip with 672 + the Mets/4-wheelers where we arrived at HK a good few minutes ahead of the timetable after some 'energetic' driving!

 

'Fenchurch' is being used for Footplate Tasters in the February and March, but since they are all fully booked now, the dates are no longer advertised on the web site...
https://www.bluebell-railway.com/steam-footplate-taster-experience/
The railway has said it will announce its entry into passenger service as soon as the date is known.

 

Thats a sight I'd like the opportunity to see first hand one day!

 

Heritage Railway are reporting that the North London Tank will be joining Sharpthorn in moving to Sheffield Park for display in Steamworks.

 

Like times 100! Is there any word on what may be coming out to make room?

 

What became of those MK1 Suburbans?

 

Now at the Stephenson Railway Museum, North Tyneside:

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1984
http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1942
http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1929

Tom

 

Does no one read The Bluebell Times (See issue 40).

I haven't seen a detailed plan - I guess the first challenge will be a cosmetic restoration of both.

Tom

 

Somehow I saw the bit about Sharpthorn in Bluebell Times (keep up the good work Tom, as I normally download and read them in work breaks), but not the NL Tank! Will be good to them them undercover and be part of an exhibition and alongside that you also have B473 in Steamworks already, which also helped take the line up and was then used to help reinstate it.

 

Take the Adams Radial out and overhaul it!

 

From what I understand that should read; take the Adams Radial and build a new one. I did ask what was needed to get it back in steam and was told, the whistle works, apart from that everything

 

Lovely picture. Though I love Fenchurch in her current form, I always thought she looked particularly good in Marsh's goods black. Let's hope we might see another Terrier in this livery one day.

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

 

There's a few locos where that is said (Stepney is another) but really you need to do a proper survey and cost it out item by item. And it wouldn't be unprecedented if there was a degree of politicking with those in favour of a particular loco downplaying perceptions of difficulty, and those against tending to magnify them.

The last group to really look at the Radial tank with a. critical eye were the Atlantic group. Their estimate at the time was that it could be restored for about £750k while preserving significant amounts of the original structure. My guess is that a new build would probably be around twice that, done under the same conditions (i.e. mix of paid, contract and volunteer work).

My understanding is that on the boiler, it needs a new barrel and front tube plate, but those are not complex (it is a parallel boiler). The inner firebox was new from Swindon in the early 1970s and probably still has some life left in it. The driving wheels are cracked, which I suspect years ago would have led to new castings. They might now be repairable (and would be a big loss to the historic integrity of the loco if removed). New cylinders are required I believe. New frames have been provided for other locos - at least frame plates - but again, you'd need to look closely to see if the originals were good enough to keep. (On No. 27, there was an attempt to cut out the wasted areas and weld in replacement sections, but it proved difficult to get new steel that matched the composition of the old well enough to get a good quality weld; and in the end entire new frame plates were provided). Worn piston and valve rods could probably be built back up and remachined, preserving the originals - as happened with Fenchurch.

I think the advantage of an overhaul over a new build is that a lot of the big items that are worn out aren't especially expensive (frame plates, boiler barrel) whereas many of the small items that are complex to make already exist and (just ...) need refurbishing.

Tom