Bluebell Railway | Giants of Steam | 16th-18th October 2026

The end of a very enjoyable day. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.

 

Very poor show by the Bluebell this morning. First train from East Grinstead was full due to being a vintage set so anyone arriving by train couldn't get on it. Not impressed.

 

Oh dear. Presumably that arrived from SP full, or there were must have been a lot of people already waiting for it at East Grinstead before the big railway train arrivals tried to make their connection?

Bryan

 

Waiting on 71000's non stop 10:45 which is also full to standing (quite a few got off the 80151 service mentioned above to get in this one).
Overflow car park at Sheffield Park was looking very busy when I arrived about 9:20, so I think capacity on trains could be an issue throughout the day.

 

The first train starts from Horsted according to the timetable, so presumably a lot of people have driven there.This set ref D has 354 seats according to the carriage stock list.The A set Green mark1s plus Bullied set has 314 seats.The B set 236 seats and C set 260 seats.Appears to be very busy.

 

Perhaps a lesson to learn for the future is to run the first service to East Grinstead as empty stock and/or don't use capacity restricted set (I assuming the vintage set does not allow standees)

 

It has the highest capacity seating of all the sets, although no standing, I have added capacity of all sets above. The set is stored overnight at Horsted. I do not think it has been an issue before, I have always managed to board at East Grinstead being a resident.

 

Unfortunately 71000's run didn't end up being non stop, as we got held at Leamland Bridge just after passing through the station.

 

Neither of yesterday's runs were either.

 

41313 is back in operation, just arrived at Kingscote on the front of its double header with 80151.

 

I imagine the HK car park was rather full after that.

I had been planning to go tomorrow just for 80151 - on the front of 34059, and then on its own later. Both on appropriate rolling stock as my arrival shots at HK would not have picked up the rear coach.

But with my current hybrid condition (one hip rebuilt by a Mr Jarvis and the other still in original Bulleid condition but needing a rebuild) I am just not mobile enough to cope with long waits on platform ends or long walks to/from wherever I can find a parking spot at HK.; my normal early arrival not being sensible at present.

So I'll follow the event here and on the excellent Bluebell webcams (for which I have just made a modest donation).

I hope all there have a great time and that the Bluebell's finances come out nicely on top from the event.

Just about every loco in or close to BR 1960s livery and numbering and the dinosaur is staying at home

Bryan

 

It's rather hard to work out how the Bluebell could have done any better than the first train due off East Grinstead at a G.O.S being the stock with the most seating capacity and having started at HK.

I have moved into the totally ludicrous to beat that. Which would be an ecs stabled in the run round loop at EG. The first arrival from HK being double headed and with another loco on the rear. Stopping on the viaduct so the lead loco could detach and head onto the ecs. With the now topped and tailed first train up with just one loco each end, arriving and then departing. Following which the ecs is hauled onto the viaduct and then shunted into the platform to form a departure as soon as the first train has cleared Kingscote.

All of which would, I imagine, require a new signalling system, a new operational manual plus overcoming any restictions on such an activity taking place.

No.

So my view is the Bluebell looked to have done all they could have done re passengers boarding at EG today.

Bryan - I won't suggest how a two or three car demu could have made 'totally ludicrous' to be just 'ludicrous' - B

 

Good weather will always make it busier.
I remember Galas where the first departure from EG was after 10am and had started at Sheffield Park.I was always waiting on the platform to get on it as it came in.
GOS has become more popular hence why I visit on Friday rather than the weekend.
The Vintage set is also wheelchair accessible and they like to have this and the other wheelchair accessable coach in the Green Mk1 set on alternative trains so they pass at Horsted. With the Duke on the Blood and Custards and the third train off the park, that meant the Vintage set was the first from EG. The Green MK1s with probably the highest seated and Standing capacity will start at the Park where most people arrive.

 

I'd also say that with the loco line ups at HK last year and this year, that will add more interest for Saturday visitors as they only take place on that one day.

 

Regarding the earlier post about overcrowding, it looked like every train today was packed, and the crowds for the lineup were something else, way in excess of even the one for the new builds last year (probably comparable with the 65th anniversary cavalcade)

Never seen New Road field so busy as it was for the first few runs this morning, and never seen the HK car park so busy

 

All three car parks at Sheffield Park were full by 11am, so cars started being directed to Horsted after that point.

 

Yes I think today's event was a victim of its own success. With the amount of passengers looks like it was very financially worthwhile for the railway. I managed to get a run behind all of the visitors, perhaps might be a railway to revisit at a quieter time.

 

Excellent day at the Bluebell as ever. Giants of Steam is always a highlight of the year for me, although it's also slightly sad as it's the last major gala of the season. As others have said, the railway was very busy today, but I wouldn't describe the trains as being "rammed full" - there were always a few spare seats to be found. If you want "rammed full" go to the Severn Valley Autumn Galas! Just for the record, the first departure of the day left Horsted Keynes practically empty (I had a first class compartment to myself). It got well filled upon arrival at East Grinstead, but I got off, spent some time taking photos of 80151 as it ran round and got back on the train 10 minutes before it was due to leave - no problem finding a seat if you don't mind sharing a compartment with others.

All locos looked great and seemed to perform well. Everything ran almost to time (the Bluebell always seem to get that right barring any loco failures or other major issues) so the timetable was well thought out. The line-up at Horsted Keynes was well organised in terms of loco movements but once again people management was not so good. They need to stop people walking in front of the loco parked in Platform 1. Patience paid off though and I managed to get a couple of reasonable pictures once the crowd had died down a bit.

All in all most enjoyable so thanks to everyone at the Bluebell for your efforts - much appreciated. Hopefully the railway made a good profit from the event.

 

Even the last train up to East Grinstead with 92134 was virtually full, but emptied out for the return, certainly one of the busiest GoS days I've been to for a while. I managed to do round trips behind 71000 and 92134, plus 71000 up to HK and 80151 with the 9F on the rear after the lineup.

Just got in from a very enjoyable day, I stayed until just after The Duke left with the evening Golden Arrow. Here's a few pictures from the day.