Bluebell Railway | 32424 Beachy Head Steams - 23rd August-1st September 2024

Here's my footage of 32424 Beachy Head and her public debut at the Bluebell Railway yesterday. The engine sounded superb the whole day and was joined in the celebration by 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair and 72 Fenchurch who both equally sounded fantastic. Well done to the Bluebell Railway and the people behind the Beachy Head project for making this happen. I hope you enjoy the video.

 

Very wet at the Bluebell today! Probably would have waited till next week but I'd bought a ticket in advance so thought I'd better go. I enjoy these things whatever the weather though and it was a good day, although the trains were unsurprisingly not very well loaded. I hope the railway get a bigger crowd for the rest of the weekend and indeed next week. Star of the show was of course Beachy Head which looked and sounded great. Good to see Sir Archie in action again after many years out of service while little old Fenchurch and 80151 (posing as 80154) played their part well too.

 

I had a great day yesterday at the Bluebell, but as 6026 King John said it was very quiet indeed. I have never seen it so quiet there, which was a shame for the railway and a bit surprising bearing in mind it was part of Beachy Head's debut. In fact I was the only passenger on the 5.55 Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes! I haven't visited for a while but I noticed there appears to be some track issues between Horsted Keynes and Kingscote resulting in two long 10 mph TSRs; one is the full length of Sharpthorne Tunnel, the other section a bit further south, looks to be subsidence related as what appeared to be ground monitoring equipment was in place. Has anyone got an insight into this? Also the timetable yesterday indicated that after working the aforementioned 5.55, 34059 was due to be attached to the rear of the 5.55 ex East Grinstead at Horsted Keynes, however this didn't happen as Archie departed towards Kingscote light engine after Beachy Head's train had arrived, which I thought was a bit strange that late in the day. I'm just curious but does anyone know what the purpose of that movement was?

 

I was at the event on Friday and was also surprised how quiet it was. I started from East Grinstead so didn't even attempt to go for Beachy Head's first run, which looked to be full and standing when it passed us at Kingscote.
However, the two subsequent runs had quite a lot of spare space, and I was able to get a table to myself.

Not sure if any of the non-stop runs went off without a hitch. The first one had to stop at Kingscote (due to someone apparently not getting the 'non-stop' memo) and the ones I was on had to stop outside stations awaiting signals.

Given the storm issue elsewhere, we were very lucky with blue skies and sunshine most of the day.

Beachy Head certainly is a fine-looking and find-sounding loco. On the second run through the tunnel she did slip a bit, but the third run she seemed to hold her feet all the way.
All credit to the Atlantic team for a job well done, and it'll be great to see their next projects come to fruition!

Was also nice to get a run behind 34059 (first time for me) and plenty of time in the 4-wheelers behind Fenchurch, always a favourite, though still not the oldest loco I rode behind over the weekend .

 

I probably would have gone but for my wife still recovering from her replacement hip. But in some ways not too surprised it was quiet.
A number of other things on this weekend from the enthusiast perspective eg NNR a non Belmond Clan Line trip. It is also the bank holiday at the end of the school holidays which may impact the availability of folks and the weather forecast was poor, as was the weather in the end a lot of the time.
Then of course if you move to the more general traveller is Beachy Head anything special to them? Does an event pitched at enthusiasts keep general travellers away on what is perhaps historically a Bank Holiday market.
I do not know the answers, but I do know that driving (jams), hotels (max cost) or relying on the national network to get me there and back is often best avoided on this weekend.

 

I went to the Bluebell yesterday, obviously the weather would have put a lot of people off, but actually some of the trains (especially those pulled by 32424) were busy. I think certainly it was busier than it would have otherwise been on a rainy Saturday! Beachy Head looks and sounds superb, and I was lucky enough to visit the footplate at EG a couple of times. Apart from a sticky reverser lock and some small (apparently self-correcting) slips up the 1-in-55 to Imberhorne on a wet rail, she was performing really well. When the sun finally broke through for the final trip (4:55 from SP), I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out of the first window behind the loco for a run up the line. Certainly it seemed like she walked up Freshfield bank with steam to spare.

I'm actually thinking of going back tomorrow as the weather looks nicer and it would be fun to have a run behind 34059 and 72 as well!

 

A couple of pictures of 32424 from today. Had 2 round trips behind the loco and it's a superb sounding loco, especially up the gradients. The two runs I had weren't fully filled and there seemed to be people about, but there hardly seemed any photographers in the fields either side of the approach to Horsted Keynes.

Edit: Also like to express my thanks to the Atlantic Group for creating a great looking and sounding loco, although my contributions to the project were mostly larger amounts of spare change during gala events, but it was a sight behold as I watched it roll into Sheffield Park after I arrived at the railway this morning.

 

Some footage of the Brighton Works Weekend, with newly-built LBSCR H2 Atlantic 32424 'Beachy Head'. Even in the wet weather she looks absolutely glorious!

 

She looks and sounds magnificent. Got my pics today. I’ll be back for a ride, hopefully before the end of the week.

 

Tomorrow's timetable seems to be the same as Saturday's except that 34059 is scheduled to return light engine rather than on the rear of the last Beachy Head working. It may be that was what was due to happen on Saturday and that the public version of the timetable had not been amended. As for the purpose of the working I suspect it was because there is only so much stock that can be stabled at Sheffield Park. There were 5 sets of coaches (including the Pullman set) in use yesterday and all the service train stock would have had to be removed from the platforms at SP to allow the Golden Arrow to run in the evening. I suspect that Set D which was 6 Mark 1s was one set too many and that it needed to be stabled at Horsted Keynes overnight, especially as it was not due to run today. That's my guess anyway!

 

I got my ticket a week earlier when the weather forecast suggested it would be Showery Saturday, which suited my needs quite well. With hindsight I think I would still have chosen that day even if I had known it was going to be Saturated Saturday - which it was up until mid afternoon at least.

My take on the events of that day.

Very grateful thanks to everyone at the Bluebell whose work allowed this event to happen,

Bryan B

First photo below, the Horsted Keynes signalman braves the rain to make sure tokens are correctly exchanged.











Photo below, anyone here we know?








Below, the hero stands alone. Unflinching in a tremendous afternoon cloud burst, the Horsted Keynes signalmen stands his ground
facing the incredible deluge, thus ensuring the single line token system is strictly followed.

 

Dropped into HK briefly yesterday just in time to see Beachy Head… looked and sounded glorious in the sun. Well done to everyone involved.

Simon

 

Have just arrived at SP for todays events.
Sadly Fenchurch has failed with a leaking tube, so the O1 is running in its place.

 

We had a good but somewhat emotional day at the Bluebell yesterday. It was our first visit to the Railway since attending the Flying Scotsman event in 2017.
It was an emotional visit for us as it was our first visit without my Mum who sadly lost her tough battle with cancer in February this year. My Mum loved visiting as we always combined a visit to the Railway with a visit to Sheffield Park Gardens down the road. We had regularly visited The Bluebell as a family since I was born some 40+ years ago. We really missed Mum yesterday.

We arrived shortly before lunch time yesterday and bagged the last space in the car park. After watching 34059 depart on the Dining train we headed to The Bessemer Arms for some lunch (very tasty jacket potatoes with beans and cheese) before having a wander around the shop (we bought three of the excellent green Beachy Head t-shirts which were proving to be very popular) and the sheds (picked up a great book in the Atlantic house for a fiver). After a good look around the impressive range of motive power 32424 rolled in with a well loaded train.
We boarded the delayed 2.30 service from Sheffield Park. Not sure if the crew were trying to make up the time but the acceleration away from the 10mph speed restriction was superb. Beachy Head looks and sounds fantastic. The banks were all tackled in fine style. Returning from East Grinstead we travelled in the observation car back to Horsted Keynes. Horsted Keynes was surprisingly very quiet yesterday. We had a good browse around the wagon shop/sales stand and purchased quite a few items. I bought one of the excellent signed Matthew Cousins 2025 calendars. We then had a nice hot drink in-between getting some shots of the trains before joining Beachy Head again on the last train of the day for another trip to East Grinstead and back to Sheffield Park when we were able to travel in the observation car again. We had a great run back to Sheffield Park enjoying the sight and sound of 32424 working hard, the surrounding countryside bathed in beautiful evening light.

Thanks to everyone involved for a memorable day. Beachy Head is a real credit to the preservation movement and to all those involved in her creation. As I heard one guy say in the observation car as 32424 barked up the bank, "It's amazing isn't it?"




Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

Action from the lineside today:

 

Lovely action very well filmed and edited, many thanks.

Bryan B

 

Blimey, you got around a bit! Saw you at West Hoathly coming back on our second trip.

Tom

 

Here are some of my shots from this excellent Gala yesterday. I still can't believe that I was riding behind a Marsh H2 Atlantic in 2024.
As a young lad about 30 or so years ago I read about the legendary 32424 Beachy Head in books and magazines and wondered what it was like to travel behind one of these beautiful locos. My question was answered yesterday. It was bloody brilliant!
The Railway Preservation world again shows that anything is possible if enough people believe in the cause.

Waiting for the road:



Little and large thirst....

Black beauty.....

Atlantic perfection....




Am I dreaming ?

 

Only on the Bluebell could subbing in a 128 year old replacement for a failed loco be tinged with disappointment!

Tom

 

Not as far as I am aware anyone who is active on NatPres. (Lurkers possibly, but not active participants).

Tom