Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Now that combination, as they are there, would look really great on the 'Victorian' era coaches. Chimney first in both directions!

But that would mean not having one in BR Lined Black!

Bryan - once a dinosaur always a dinosaur - B

 

Let other railways do an A1X in BR black and let the Bluebell run a Victorian train in period liveries. Try it my friend, you might actually like it.

 

I think @A1X's signature is apt where BR lined black is concerned.

 

No, not for me under (almost) any circumstances; except if it was run as a fund raising event to put 32655 or 32636 back as I remember and photographed members of that wonderful steam loco class in 1962.

But I would be delighted if it happened more normally for those very many enthusiasts who would obviously really enjoy it.

Bryan - I have my SR loco focus and fully accept almost every one else has a much wider focus - B

 

Each to their own but such an attitude disappoints me. The Bluebell C&W team put in all the hard work to restore magnificent Victorian and Edwardian carriages only for some people to want to see the Victorian and Edwardian locos painted BR black. Thank heavens some people see the wider picture.

 

I do not think it is a wider picture, it is people's preferences, or maybe just remembering their youth.
I for example find a dirty Manston far more appealing than a museum standard Clan Line, because as a child I rarely saw clean locos.
Liking BR Black is little different in my view to the diesel guys who would not be seen dead behind an EE product or Sulzer or vice versa.
Even the Met set was BR era on the Chesham Branch and the Bulleid and Maunsell coach sets were also of course BR era as well so not that many true only Victorian & Edwardian carriages.

 

We should be very grateful that the same people haven't been calling for the carriages to be repainted to match their favoured BR loco liveries!

 

Good job half of the Bluebell stock had been converted to housing, sheds and huts many, many years before BR existed then!

 

For me, as personal preference, it would be a great shame for preservation if everything was turned out in BR liveries, especially as they are seemingly predominant at the moment (especially on the mainline). But ultimately I've only grown up in the Preservation era and prefer variety.

During my day today I started in one of the Mets (387 I think as it was the leading carriage) behind 80151 and 72 T&T from SP to HK, then switched to the Pullman/Maunsell set with 73082 from HK to EG and back in the beautifully and recently restored 3687, then in LBSCR 7598 I think it was with 65 HK to SP, a BR Mk1 from SP to HK with 32424, Bulleid 2526 with 34059 from HK to EG and back and ended the day in Maunsell 1336 behind 34059 and 73082 from HK to SP T&T, which just showcases the diversity of the Bluebell's collection, as well as the quality of restoration, as well as being a great way to celebrate Rail200.

I also saw a picture earlier, of what seemed to be 6989 on a low loader in it's new Hogwarts livery, minus name and numberplates.

 

What if one of them was renamed as Brighton Works, which was definitely in that appearance in 1962? Would that be some sort of acceptable compromise?

 

This gala aimed to do several main things, one of which was to show off our diverse collection of rolling stock. It certainly sounds like it succeeded! The coaching stock in use spans around 80 years, which is a very lucky position to be in, and often taken for granted.

 

It certainly did! Not many railways can have split rakes of 4-wheelers/pre grouping compartment stock (maybe only the IoWSR?) and the variety of livery types between the LBSCR, LCDR, SECR and Metropolitan Railway on show as well.

 

Agreed; the only coaching stock that the Nene Valley has that is pre-war is unlikely to ever see passenger service again as they're both TPOs anyway: a GNR vehicle and a SR one.

 

All the Belgian coaches are pre-war...

 

I don't really see this as a compromise issue.

I accept whatever any of the SR heritage lines on my visiting list get into active service and operate as they think fit. And that means I certainly appreciate the enormous hard work and costs involved in getting old coaching stock and locos back into service. But, as everyone here has, I have freedom of choice as to which locos and the coaching stock they are hauling will attract me as a paying visitor. And in my case my freedom of choice is narrowly focussed on replicating as closely as I can what I saw in action between 1960 and 9 June 1967. For the A1X locos that will be as they were in September 1962 when I saw and photographed three of them in action on the Hayling Island Branch.

And yes, they did haul Victorian and Edwardian coaches at one stage of their incredibly long lives. And as far as I know the Bluebell is the only line that can replicate that as they do; which of course makes a lot of sense and obviously gives great pleasure to those who chose to see a picture far wider than the picture my freedom of choice wants me to see.

But, extending my freedom of choice on what I would like to see, I do use my freedom of expression to mention that from time to time, more in humour these days as I know some things I like will never ever happen. That's all part of life.

I am however very happy that 30506 will emerge fairly soon just as that. I booked on the two freight photo charters that loco will be on later this year within minutes of receiving the appropriate email.

In the meantime I now have completed a first draft (30506 on a freight will see changes) of my BR SR Steam Loco memoirs - 709 pages of mainly timing logs but some text and quite a few photos. And in the time between me sending each section to my designer and it being returned for me to check, I now have time to have started my German Steam Loco memoirs book. Timing logs, a lot more text and a lot of photos. Covering February 1971 to 2005 with gaps. And, joy of joys, the Germans started Einheitsdampflokomotiven 'standard steam locomotives', way, way before my first visit. So, with just a very few number variations my nomal steam years and heritage era trips saw basically the same locos; the lovely DB black with most of the loco from frames down over wheels etc in red.

Right it's my bedtime now.

Bryan

 

I made it 28 carriages in use, of which 18 were pre-nationalisation.

Tom

 

I guess everyone will have their favourite era.

Personally, I wasn't around to see steam first hand, so I have no particular childhood memory I wish to see recreated. Given that, I find the BR era (and particularly the late 1950s / 1960s BR era) a very difficult one to love, since it was a period of decline when the prevailing ethos seemed to be about a managed decline of the railways: scruffy locos, a contracting network, declining service. Unless that era specifically rekindles a personal memory, it's a difficult era to love. Far preferable the pre-grouping era, and particularly the Edwardian period, when - at least as far as chocolate box (*) lids go - railways were at their zenith - IMHO.

(*) Of course the picture is more complex, and it wasn't all sweetness and light at that time, and you can make any argument you like about labour conditions and so on. But strip that away and there is still a pride that shines through that to my eyes at least seems largely lacking from a "that'll do" attitude that seeps through the photos of the end of steam.

Tom

 

Neither was the BR period of the 50s and 60s as depressing as you seem to believe.

 

You could actually say Car 54 and the LSWR Brake were in use (although static), as Car 54 was hosting cream teas in Sheffield Park P2 Dock and 1520 currently houses an S&T display at the south end of Horsted Keynes P1.

 

Some of us who lived through the last years of SR steam, getting to know many of the crews well, and recording some outstanding performances even with run down locos using dreadful coal etc, have never forgotten those times.

And I am happy to focus my attention just on what I saw and enjoyed back then, and on anything that comes close to those incredible years in the heritage era.

Bryan