Bluebell Railway General Discussion

OK, here it is!

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/issue-83.pdf

In this issue:

• First thoughts from new BRPS Chairman Keith Leppard
• All the AGM and EGM results - plus recipients of long-service awards
• Tank Wagon AM 812 joins the goods fleet
• Restoration updates for Q class 541 and Schools class Stowe
• Behind the scenes at the C&W workshop
• Support the Loco Department via our Amazon wish list!

Tom

 

Always a pleasure to see the Lough Swilly mentioned. (Great great grandfather was a director in the earlist days.)
Pat

 

The Loco dept. Amazon wish list is an excellent idea! I've chipped in. Dead easy.

 

Just to confirm service details for Southern at War this weekend. The PTI is correct as far as I can see. I would suggest using this as the primary source of timetable information in this case.

Traction and rolling stock: (sets given South-North)
Set A - 34059: OBO+Green MK1s - 1503-16210-21246-4941-1818-4754
Set B - 73082: Various SR Green - 7598-1098-25728-1336-3687

Platforms: (these are generalisations - see timetable for exceptions)
Sheffield Park - Set A Plat1 / Set B Plat2
Horsted Keynes - Up trains Plat2 / Down trains Plat3
Kingscote - All trains Plat2

Saturday
7 round trips - https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pti/2026_18_July.html
SP 0920, 1030, 1145, 1300, 1415, 1530, 1645
EG 1015, 1130, 1245, 1400, 1515, 1630, 1745

Sunday
6 round trips - https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pti/2026_19_July.html (NOTE - Final down train from HK departs 1655; Final down train uses Plat1 at KC)
SP 0920, 1030, 1145, 1300, 1415, 1530
EG 1015, 1130, 1245, 1400, 1515, 1630

 

31108 has been announced as a guest at the diesel gala; when someone enquired where it fits amongst the NSE theme, the Bluebell have replied that it was never intended to be just about NSE.

I have to say, whilst I enjoyed the 31 (with 218) at Keighley, the publicity for the diesel gala so far has definitely suggested it was a purely NSE themed event.

Is this a u-turn as a result of planned hires being unavailable, or has there been some misleading advertising?

 

Apologies if this is off-topic but are there any concerns around the continued use of steam at the moment given the entire south east is essentially a tinder box thanks to having had no rain in this part of the world for months at this stage?

I know 33108 is due back for the summer as cover and that's just been at the MHR, I assume she's come straight across?

 

My guess is that locos desired have been unavailable. I was told back at Christmas by someone who should have a good grasp of the plan for the gala was that the theme was NSE. Given recent (ish) social posts asking what people would like to see for the gala, I'm inclined to believe that one or more hoped-for engines were unavailable. It has definitely been communicated to be a fully-NSE gala.

 

33108 is already at the railway and is operating today: https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pti/2026_17_July.html
I have not seen any consideration of dieselising services for fire risk, but there have been cancellations for extreme heat, the latest being yesterday, where the 1500 round trip was canned. At present, a full-steam service is booked to continue throughout the summer.....
....but 33108 is booked to have routine use on set B on the following weekends (as advertised on the public loco roster):
25th-26th July
1st-2nd August
7th-9th August - Bluebell on Parade - individual allocated services
15th-16th August

From then on weekends return to being three steam engines.

 

Is the railway open tomorrow (Mon 22/7)?

The website seems to show that it isn’t -
Goes Sun o to Tues, Weds etc.

An unofficial website says it is open. Google, chatbt etc says it’s open.

both those sites conflict which loco is in operation.

I have tried calling with no luck.

any help appreciated thanks.

 

Website calendar only seems to show Monday running on bank holiday prior to The Ghost trains. Guess that is an error.

 

I am fairly certain that there is no Monday running apart from Bank Holidays this summer

 

Surprised that it has not produced all the vitriol that non 7 day a week running has produced on the NYMR thread if that is the case.

 

There are no public trains in operation tomorrow, but there are footplate tasters running for the Camelot Society. Outside of the school holidays, the railway is usually open for passengers Tuesday-Thursday and weekends/bank holidays. Fridays are usually dining trains only during term time.

 

No there isn’t, same as last summer. The railway will run Tuesday-Sunday, with Friday only having 4 round trips compared to 5 on the other days of the week.

 

The railway does not open on Mondays apart from Bank Holidays, and school half term / Easter (maybe) and Christmas time.

Regarding public operating days, the main website should be referred to. The Public Train Information displays all services running; they may not be public. This should be taken with a pinch of salt and may not always be fully accurate.

Things often change. A great deal of effort is taken to ensure the accuracy of information on the main website, and more work is being done to improve the accuracy of info further. The PTI as I understand it is managed by an individual. Unlike the main website, the PTI does not recieve constant updates from planning as required.

 

I am pleased to report that Southern at War this weekend seems to have been a success and was very busy. I wonder if a more intensive train service may be sought for next year as many trains have been standing room only. The use of Kingscote as a second venue for the event seems to have been a good idea. Both HK and KC have been very busy today. I was at SP yesterday and we have a constant flow of passengers pouring through the ticket barrier. The flypast was popular, although on both days it used a biplane rather than a Spitfire.

 

With timetables for Southern at War, when I attended the events back in 2013-2016 they were all a three-train service. Since it returned in 2024 it had been a two-train service

 

(I don't chose the train service) but I will have a chat with people who are involved and see if a third set would be considered for next year.

That said, a three set service is very hard to do. Either:

• Run effectively a four set 45 min service with a 'gap' - unideal.
• Run two full-line trains plus a shuttle - works for Model Railway Weekend.
• Run an hourly (ish) service, whereby trains have short (20 min ish) run rounds at Sheffield Park - tendency to run late.

I wonder if the third set could be diesel hauled. Obviously running more trains comes at a cost. Would the extra trains be full? I doubt it. Although some trains this weekend have been basially full and bursting.

 

It’s not just the timekeeping with a 20 minute run round - it’s that you wouldn’t have a sufficient break at SP for management of fatigue. I suspect that if you put that in, you’d probably end up at an hourly frequency, not much better than the 75 minutes you can do with two trains.

Tom

 

Just noticed in this month's Trackside that SECR 'Birdcage' brake No. 950 is being broken up--this being the one that was formerly based at Ashford Steam Centre back in the 1970s. No doubt it was in poor condition, but it still seems rather a shame