Bluebell Railway General Discussion

You know it is possible to say nothing.

Without his money, regardless of his political preferences, we wouldnt have Britannia, Royal Scot, A2, DoG, 45231, 5029, 4464, 60007, 61306, 34046 either still running around on the mainline, under overhaul or not long finished a stint.

 

EDIT - not worth it

Hope both parties get what they want and congratulations to the happy couple involved

 

Putting all that to one side, the LSL team have polished 70000 up nicely.



Hopefully the arrangements for Sunday go to plan. Presumably the Class 57 and stock are staying at HK over the weekend?

Regards,

Dan

 

Ah, the old "faaar right rhetoric".
Does this mean that you will also be boycotting the rebuilt RVR?
I'm just glad that there are individuals around who are in a position to finance such previously thought "impossible" schemes. I'd be just as happy if he were a socialist.
Politics, schmolitiks.

 

Concrete sleepers suitable for 3rd rail have been standard issue for years and are an acceptable substitute if the correct pattern F27 style are not available.
On the NYMR we have a number of sites where 3rd Rail sleepers are installed. The most visible are to be seen around Lyke Wake Walk crossing on Fen Bog. These were installed around 1984-5 probably as Seconds quality.

I acquired about 20 3rd rail pots with the intention of placing some rails and black tubing on these sleepers and then a passing S15 or Bullied in a staged photo shoot "Where is this? Never got the chance to do it though.

 

There are two steel bridge spans in store that were acquired to span Station Approach. So I assume the powers that be are reasonably confident of a viable design (but not a multi-arch brick structure, I guess!)

The Bluebell has always been good at fundraising for big capital projects. So my sense is that, if the powers that be pushed the button and said "Ardingly is our key priority" then we could raise the money to build it. Of course, in the current climate, making such a decision would be a big call with so many other important things that need doing. That said, the refurbishment of P1 at Horsted Keynes, although being prioritised for other reasons, will I am sure reignite interest in the prospect.

Tom

 

Looking on the Horsted webcams, the stock is being stabled in Platforms 4/5 and the Bluebell have confirmed that the Brit will be on display on shed at Sheffield Park tomorrow.

 

For those looking forward to the introduction of 3687, there is an update on the Maunsells on the What's New page, including some fantastic pictures of the interior.

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/maunsell-carriages-to-the-fore/

Tom

 

Every time I see pictures of those beautifully upholstered compartments, I'm put in mind of the train scene in Powell and Pressburger's "A Canterbury Tale" from 1944, where Eric Portman's character faces his own court of enquiry

Theres something about that film which just gets me right in the guts. Its so strange, yet at the same time its absolutely about who we are (or were).

 

Just need a Maunsell engine to stick on the front of them now, hopefully the Q will be along soon enough for that job

 

Or just something in Maunsell green (looks suggestively at "Beachy Head")

 

Oh. Like this, you mean?

Now, wouldn't that be a thing ...



Tom

 

It looks as though the snifter is connected to the downpipe on the building behind

 

Yes, that was another Bulleid modification. The intention was that when the snifter was drawing air through the superheater, it took that air from clean air well above the loco rather than from the immediate vicinity of the smoke and smuts emerging from the chimney. Like many Bulleid innovations, while identification of the problem was sound, the execution left something to be desired ...

Tom

 

It would, be I imagine that at least one contributor on here, from the "BR black is best" would refuse to ever come to photograph it again!

 

Im no expert on Bluebell Geography but if you wanted such a facility wouldnt it be cheaper and loads more efficient cost wise to reinstate a very long siding as a second track on the double track formation somewhere north of Horsted Keynes?
Horsted Keynes to Ardingly appears to be under 3 miles Id have thought you could fit an equivalent length in as a second track. I think the posts on the NYMR, Swanage and to a lesser extent the WSR topics suggest that prudent heritage railways should avoid running on to the national network like the plague (beyond Ardingly).

 

The suggestion is to go to Ardingly, with or without an end-on connection to the (freight only) branch line. The likelihood of Bluebell trains running all the way to Haywards Heath (the nearest passenger station) is I would suggest vanishingly small.

As for an extended siding north of Horsted - that doesn’t really give you separation for “value added” activities. You can’t say to a film company “you can run up and down all you like on this track, but every thirty minutes a service train will pass through your set on the parallel track” - that’s not a separation.

Tom

 

Yes Al, a short incoming line clear of stock, could as I mentioned earlier, create the illusion of an incoming branch line. It could indeed turn HK into the largest and most attractive junction on the heritage network, without the vast cost of going to Ardingly. Albeit with the cost of stabilising the embankmnent and of finding somewhere else to move the rolling stock in that area to. I suspect that latter action could be the most problematic and possibly the most costly part of the conversion to a true branch line look-a-like junction.

Sensible answers on where the Bluebell could build the required sidings and buildings in which to store all the rolling stock currently at Horsted Keynes would, I imagine, be very welcome to those hard working souls who run the Bluebell Railway!

'Just a tenner for the Junction' to raise funds!

Bryan

 

Well, what an interesting spell of activity at Horsted Keynes.

With platform 1 (the branch line platform ) not in use; platform 4/5 with the ecs and diesel loco of the charter, and platform 2 with the wedding Pullman train it got quite busy for 80151 on the 12.45 East Grinstead to cross 73082 on the 13.00 ex Sheffield Park.

It all looked to be done slowly and carefully as 80151 arrived; after no doubt checks and anoucements it then reversed slowly back towards Leamland Bridge and stopped. Then 73o82 arrived and departed, before 80151 made its second entry on the 12.45 East Grinstead.

Maybe I should have been there today, but 34059 doesn't look to be decked out as the GA today, most likely with a Wedding Belle headboard, and in any case the Webcam gave the best view IMHO. Two grabs from it below. 73082 leaving on the 12.45 SP-EG, and then 80151 making the second arrival on the 12.45 EG.

It can't be often that four trains are in the same shot at once at H Keynes.

Bryan