Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Tom, is that still the case as far as you know please? The Bluebell's website roster is still showing 34059, 73082 and 30165 for the coming Saturday and Sunday. That's almost the dream team for me, adding 80151 and that could (with a pot of black paint for 30165 ), be a Bluebell SR 1960s steam weekend. Cue for a future Bluebell event maybe, I could guarantee you would sell as many as one ticket for every day it ran, with 'as used in the 1960s SR rolling stock' of course!

But back to reality, an idea of this weekend's loco and coaching stock roster would help - that wonderful Bluebell Info webpage - https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pti/index.html - has not been updated yet - I imagine running the trains takes priority over pandering to fussy old fools like myself!

And, re Friday this week, subject as always to availability etc, can I assume the workings of this week with 34059 and 73082 on the coach sets they have been hauling will continue. And, whichever loco works the curry train Friday evening will haul a set of MK1s or sort of equivalent.

PS, I hope to be a bit more physically mobile away from HK as on last Sunday, but will still aim to spend time at HK. Any ides of when you will be there and on which loco, it would be nice to say hello.

Bryan

 

For next weekend (12/13 April) our internal rosters still say 34059 (A); 32424 (B) and 65 (dining trains) with 34059 on the Friday night supper train. (That train will be the Wealden Rambler stock, i.e. Crimson / Cream Mark 1s, not the Pullmans).

The main service stock will I imagine be whatever is out this week, but I'll know later in the week when the traffic notice for the weekend is published.

I should be there on Sunday on the B service, i.e. 32424.

Re 80151: currently being reassembled after an intermediate bottom end overhaul over the winter.

Tom

 

Tom, very many thanks. Of great help as usual.

Bryan

 

No problem.

Looking a bit further ahead (and again, usual caveats), 34059 / 32424 handle the midweek services through until Good Friday, 18 April.

Then for the Sat 19 / Sun 20 / Mon 21 April of the Easter weekend, it is 34059 (A), 73082 (B) and 32424 on whatever dining trains there are - so all BR liveries (locos at least) that weekend.

Tom

 

Brilliant Tom. That's just triggered me to see how I can fit a relevant photo of 32424 into my SR Steam loco memoirs book. It won't fit the chapters that cover 1960 to 1967, nor in Chapter 8 covering the Spa Valley Railway (the only heritage line I took photos at in the 1960s) but on a Pullman train I can fit it into the heritage era chapter. Probably with mention/photos of heritage era photos of long since gone Pullman trains ie Golden Arrow, Bournemouth Belle and the Brighton line Pullman trains hauled by the Atlantics.

And there is a GA luncheon trip on 19 April with 32424, caveats accepted of course!

Many thanks,

Bryan

 

Went for a filming trip out along the line today given the constant sunshine we're having. Shots of 34059 & 73082, the latter's 'new' chime whistle in full effect!

 

Many thanks.

 

It will be nice to see 80151 back in service. A lovely loco and it helps a lot for crossing shots at Horsted Keynes by facing south. The photo below is one of very many I've taken at the Bluebell, Spa Valley, Mid Hants and Swanage lines over the past few years as I've really got going with my SR steam loco memoirs book. It was going to mainly be all my timing logs, but with some 1960s and heritage era photos used where relevant. Thankfully the 'some' photos are turning out to be a fair few more than I expected, a result of my fussy persistence or obsession (please delete to your choice). It still won't be a photo book, but I am happy with the way it is going. Every photo I am including has to have a link one way of another to the adjacent text covering the timing logs and the logs themselves, and the photo below is an example of the sort of link I get very pleased with, when I remember the photo! But all my photos are sorted, edited down, dated and named; making looking for one a reasonable task.

This photo links with when I timed 80134 from Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier and back on 12 November 1966. After which I left Brockenhurst behind 73085 on a local train that gave a very spirited run to the Lyndhurst Road stop. A scene close to replication at Horsted Keynes on 22 September 2023 with 80151 waiting as 73082 arrives! My caption, very limited by space is; BELOW 80151 and 73082 in September 2023 on the Bluebell line replicate me leaving 80134 at Brockenhurst to join 73085 to Southampton.

My book by the way, is very much non-commercial. It will have a very small potential market and my current view is that it will be a nonsense to print enough to sell any. Each one would sell at a very high loss even just taking into account the printing cost. So I think it best to slowly work out how many people I will donate a copy to (including relevant heritage lines), how many may be interested in having a copy (maybe in exchange for a donation to a heritage line or a charity), plus enough for the national archives and some spares. And limit printing to that number.

Enough of that, back to the Bluebell and 73082, and 80151 - that I shall be very pleased to see return to service.

Now the photo.

Bryan

 

For those of you who do Facebook, a glimpse of what is (soon) to come:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=586317627784752&set=pcb.586319334451248

(For those who don't - don't worry, a similar view from the other side in tomorrow's Bluebell Times).

Tom

 

Fantastic job! Congratulations to all involved.

 

Shout out to Dave Clarke, who is a star. He's probably the closest thing Bluebell C&W have to a blogger in general, and he provides some terrific in-depth details through his flickr site:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/extension3363/

 

There are three restoration groups based at Horsted Keynes who are all very prolific and detailed with their updates on Facebook:

• The SR Coach Group - https://www.facebook.com/SR.coach.group
• The Bluebell Goods Division - https://www.facebook.com/Rail.Goods.Division
• The 1305 Oxted Thumper Gang - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087447292229

All three groups post multiple updates each month.

Tom

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Tom. Now added to my bookmarks.

 

For @The Gricing Owl benefit (and others who are interested), sets for this weekend:

• Set A (34059) - six mark 1s
• Set B (32424) - Mets / 4 wheelers
• Set GA (73082) - Pullmans / BGZ

The lunchtime Arrow runs both days, it seems.

Tom

 

Well that’s my plans for tomorrow sorted!

 

Tom, very helpful, many thanks. I can't do tomorrow, but will try and get over on Sunday.

I'm just back from the Bluebell today. Photos to follow, but 34059 came out top re photo results. But I did find new ways to photo 73082!

And 31065 was out and about. I saw it returning from E Grinstead in the morning with the observation car. Then it worked the Wealden Rambler - I imagine it was on the 12.25 slot from S Park?

It looked like the 10.30 S Park today and its return from E Grinstead was near enough full.

Thanks again. It's good that 73082 is still on the roster, but now with an obviously very good career move in stepping up from the two axle etc stock to the Pullmans!

Bryan

 

How many Platforms does Horsted Keynes have then?
If that is how being the largest station is judged.

 

4 roads, 5 platform faces. Difficult to think of a Heritage Line station with more than that.

 

5 platform faces with four roads.

This photo from Derek Hayward gives a good impression: https://www.derekhayward.co.uk/BluebellRailway-1/Explore/Horsted-Keynes-Station/i-Z9KsM88/A

From west to east: (right to left on the photo) you have

• Some sidings (which have now largely been cleared of stock)
• Road 1.
• Platform face 1 (not cleared for regular passenger use, but should be later this year; there has been a massive infrastructure project underway to rebuild that platform)
• (An island - the buildings and canopies are all new (ca. 2000) having been removed in the 1920s to give the signalman a better view north. They are near indistinguishable from the originals)
• Platform face 2
• Road 2
• Road 3
• Platform face 3
• (The second Island, the buildings and canopy there are original)
• Platform face 4
• Road 4
• Platform face 5
• (The main platform and buildings)

So there are five platform faces and four through roads, one of which is flanked on both sides. At the north end, all through roads can be used to head north. At the south end, road 1 goes to Ardingly; road 2 to Ardingly or Sheffield Park; road 3 to Sheffield Park; road 4 to Sheffield Park or the Down Yard.

Tom