Fire at Horsted Keynes

News coming in that the fire brigade were called to put out a fire involving three unrestored vehicles stored in Horsted Keynes down yard. The LCDR Horsebox, the LBSCR Craven brake second body recovered last year from Battle, and the LBSCR Goods Van body all involved. That's all the information so far. Unsure if they are all totally destroyed, or if anything else was damaged, unsure of the cause of fire at this point. Given that we have an underframe for the LBSCR goods van, and the metalwork will hopefully have survived, we can probably reconstruct that.

 

Have seen the local press reports; hope damage isn't too severe.

 

Hope its not too severe and hope that the bodies will be able to be in fit condition for the future and not too damaged. Seriously hope this wasn't vandalism.

 

This must be every preservation group's worst nightmare - lets hope the damage isn't too bad.

I can't find any reference to a LBSCR Craven brake second on the Bluebell's usually excellent website, however...

Phil

 

The fire brigade report says it was accidental. I guess that's better than vandalism, but the end result is the same :-(

Pil

 

in all seriousness, having repaired a brake van that had been fire dammaged a few years ago, (the Severn Valleys 953153) while it seems awefull at the time, if the frames have survived and are salvageable, it may prove to be a blessing, in a twisted kind of way, assuming you have the sizes and so on that you may need off the origionals. I know 953153 would have been an easier job had the cabin gone on her totally. Never mind the wagons though, I really hope the guys involved in C7W down there are not too disheartened by it, you have my sympathy

 

Fire damage, whether accidental or arson is still something that can be done without!

However, the Bowes Railway has had B-49 restored after an arson attack, so......
Hope that the damage is not too severe, nor too depressing. Good Luck!

Having said that, it was traditional to burn decayed or damaged Chauldrons to recover the ironwork before rebuilding. It is still very messy to strip a partly burnt waggon! and you need enough left for a pattern (or drawings) to do the rebuilding.

StoneRoad

 

I hope It's not bad, I hated it when the SVR's DMU 51935 got arsoned, then the DMU Fleet at the Swansea Vale Railway.
It seems nothing is safe these day's.

 

Fire appears to be accidental, caused by a bonfire nearby fanned by extremely high winds. The material lost from the Brighton goods van is in any case largely rotten timber, and since we still have an underframe of the correct pattern, and the remains of the steel-work, we have not, we hope, lost the ability to reconstruct that vehicle much as we would have done in any case. Fortunately Ian White has already made a detailed survey of the Craven coach, so much important historical detail had been recorded, which will be published soon in the Brighton Circular.

 

Does that mean the Horse box been totally lost?

 

Pretty much all of the timber of all three vehicles has gone, but the metal fittings have been recovered and identified, in case reconstruction is possible at some stage in the future. The Craven coach had only got to the stage of having a draft web page, and wasn't on the stock list because we had not made a definitive discovery of the coach's identity. Links available from the 17th July entry at:
http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/whats_new.html

We are clearly devastated by the loss of these vehicles, the horsebox in particular was intended for an early restoration, to run with the LCDR carriages, and as a representative of a common type of vehicle often found in trains of the Victorian period. We are at least very grateful that it appears not to have been arson, that there were no injuries, and that the vehicles involved were not restored ones. Open fires are now banned from all Bluebell land in station and yard areas.

 

I hope the horsebox is eventually reconstructed, there can't be many about. I know the earliest horsebox in preservation is being restored at the moment
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1841657

 

If you have plans and/or ironwork, then all is not lost --- replication of the woodwork is not impossible. Then you have a rebuild in prospect.

Best Wishes...

 

51935 was not arson, but faulty electrics on the buffet water boiler, I believe. The end result is the same, though, and devastating for those who have contributed time, effort and money into saving our heritage.