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Bluebell East Grinstead Open Weekend

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Lewisb06, Aug 23, 2010.

  1. brmp201

    brmp201 Member

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    New update and photos of double track up to and under the bridge (which the council look to have done a great job with) at Imberhorne North.

    http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/extprog.html

    I wonder how much rubbish the Bluebell will be able to extract this year?
     
  2. alts1985

    alts1985 Well-Known Member

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    As has been reported in the Bluebell News two to four weeks worth of digging will start in Feb to March time and that should make a real dent. It is about 2.2 million more required I believe and 19 weeks worth of trains, if the money can be raised it will be job done this year! I went up to Hill Place Bridge to take a look around last Saturday and I took a few photos and put them in sequence alongside my past visits on my website if anyone is intrested. They start here...

    http://disusedrailwayphotosbyashleysmith.fotopic.net/c1639547_97.html
     
  3. dace83

    dace83 Well-Known Member

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    an interesting debate on the yahoo website, many are suggesting borrowing the £2.2 million. I have to say I think borrowing that amount is probably too high, more around the £1mill mark im my opinion
     
  4. Matt35027

    Matt35027 Well-Known Member

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    To fill in those who are not members of the email group or don't receive Bluebell News, essentially the Bluebell need to raise the estimated £2.2m to clear the tip this year and get the spoil removed before exemption from landfill tax expires in April 2012 when it will then cost £64/tonne to dispose of the waste.
     
  5. nigelss

    nigelss Member

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    Just to make the impact of the landfill tax clear, the clearance cost per ton triples once it kicks in. Two million quid becomes six million quid! It could well make sense to take out a loan to cover the cost of getting the job done. The size of the loan would depend on the funding gap when trains must run to finish the job and how many trains are required at that time.
     
  6. dace83

    dace83 Well-Known Member

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    I'm sure another 3-400k can be raised by donations this year, sell that land (£100k??) aswell.
     
  7. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    It's actually slightly worse than that. The £64 is just the landfill tax: to that has to be added the base cost of £25 or so per ton removal currently costs. So essentially the cost goes from £25 to £89 per ton. The landfill tax rises to £72 the year after and £80 the year after that - plus the basic removal cost of course.

    Tom
     
  8. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    I was going to visit the railway this weekend, but to all intents and purposes it's closed. The 'What's New' part of the website is refusing to work, so why is this?

    Regards
     
  9. Matt35027

    Matt35027 Well-Known Member

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    Engineering work on Freshfield Bank.
     
  10. David-Haggar

    David-Haggar Member

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    My Dad and I are planning to go to Horsted Keynes tomorrow morning to see Fenchurch in steam on the footplate course because after this weekend it's ticket expires and who knows when we might see it in running again.
     
  11. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for that, presumably this is intended to resolve the TSR.

    Regards
     
  12. alastair

    alastair Well-Known Member

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    Given the fast appproaching deadline of April 2012 for clearance of the tip,it does seem a bit disappointing that the Bluebell website section on the extension has apparently not been updated since 25 Nov last year.Surely something worth reporting must have happened in the last 10 weeks? Maybe some more pictures of the new double track,or some updated news on the spoil trains said to be "running early next year in Feb/March". Well hello Mr Bluebell webmaster,its Feb NOW and people will be much more likely to put their hands in their pockets if they know what is actually happening.To leave the website not updated for so long seems to suggest that they are not that bothered about it. I am sure that this cannot really be the case.
     
  13. ilvaporista

    ilvaporista Part of the furniture

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  14. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    It most certainly isn't the case that the railway isn't bothered! The deadline is somewhat flexible, I'm sure. The local authority wouldn't get on a high horse if the job wasn't finished in time.

    Regards
     
  15. brmp201

    brmp201 Member

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    I may be going mad, but I'm sure there was a more recent update to the East Grinstead Extension Progress page, which seemed to disappear after about a week. It showed the track laid under the bridge at the north end of the tip (in fact, I posted a link to it, in this thread, on January 18th).

    As someone has stated previously, they need to run up to 19 weeks worth of trains to totally remove all the spoil from the tip, which will cost £2.2 million. I am sure they are working very hard behind the scenes to raise this amount - I'm assuming they have professional fundraisers employed (by the way, what does a "professional" fundraiser do that a volunteer can't?) - as asking people to cough up on their website doesn't seem to be the most effective way of raising that sort of money in a short amount of time.

    And yes, I have donated a tenner for the tip and been to two East Grinstead open days.

    I really hope the Bluebell can do it this year, before the landfill tax goes up, and of course it will be magnificent for the Bluebell to have a mainline connection for tours, visiting locos, etc.
     
  16. ilvaporista

    ilvaporista Part of the furniture

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    Just as a suggestion would it help to have a graphic of progress and funding for the tip appeal?
    Something like a cross section of the tip along the line of the track and indicate how much has been taken out, how much is funded and how much is left to go.
     
  17. alts1985

    alts1985 Well-Known Member

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    I understand that recently most resources have been on re-laying the track up Freshfield Bank which for some time has had a 15mph speed limit on it. That job was done whilst the line was shut for a couple of weekends at the end of January. As someone said above there have been updates, possibly only on the Blog/Whats New pages, one of them included a photo I had taken showing the double track section at East Grinstead. Normally those updates get copied to the extention ones. As far as I understand very soon the tip trains will recommence!
     
  18. alts1985

    alts1985 Well-Known Member

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    Just had another thought (its been a long day...) I read the other day on the Blog/Whats New that the 4VEP has gone to Bournemouth to make way for the tip trains to start as they need both platforms in the station.
     
  19. Lewisb06

    Lewisb06 Member

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    At least it will be nice a dry and away from vandals.....
     
  20. spindizzy

    spindizzy Member

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    It seems your wish has been granted :)

    http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/extprog.html
     

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