Bluebell Railway General Discussion

That certainly was a tidy sum back then, would probably have bought a five bedroom house in the 'Bluebell' area, Have things kept in line?

 

18000 in jan 1971 is equivalent to 347000 now. I don't think you,ll get a 5 bed house for that now, nearer 800,000

 

What would the cost of similar amount of work done on a locomotive be today?

 

Impossible to know, as we don't know what work was actually carried out

 

It was certainly the spur for the Bluebell to construct a capable Loco works to avoid having to send work outside. Similarly now we really need a separate boiler shop, and greater staffing, to save money and project management/quality control issues over sending work outside.

 

Weekend Trains Featuring No. 72 'Fenchurch'

Don't miss out this weekend as No. 72 'Fenchurch' will be working service trains over the weekend of June 17-18, before she sets off on her travels to the Isle Of Wight Steam Railway. She will also be on a vintage passenger set throughout the weekend so it will certainly be something to look forward to!

Our 'Kids For A Quid' travel offer is available, as will be our Land Rover Day on June 18th. The perfect place to bring all the family to this weekend!

For advance tickets, visit https://www.bluebell-railway.com/kids-for-a-quid-weekends-and-holidays/

Pullmans

'Bargain Hunt' visits date railway last week (or at least, the programme was shown last week) and included this interesting segment on Pullman travel:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fsb94d

Tom

 

More dates announced for the Wealden Rambler see https://www.bluebell-railway.com/afternoon-tea/

 

34070 Manston has been confirmed as the first visitor for Giants of Steam in October.

 

See here …

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/giants-of-steam-gala-2023/

Tom

 

Reminder that this weekend is the Model Railway Weekend - more details here: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/model-railway-weekend/

There is an enhanced service, with seven departures each way, leaving Sheffield Park at:

9:15 (B)
10:30 (A)
11:45 (B)
1:00 (A)
2:15 (B)
3:30 (A)
4:45 (B)

and East Grinstead an hour later.

For the carriage aficionados, the B set is very eclectic:

(S-N):- 1503-1098-3360-114-3188-7598-1309-1336

(S-N: LNWR Obo, SECR 100 seater, SECR Birdcage, LCDR brake, LCDR 3rd, LBSCR bogie 1st, Maunsell, Maunsell).

Not sure of the locos in use, but I suspect 80151 and 73082.

Tom

 

Formation of Bluebell Railway SR Coach group

For those of you interested in seeing more of our Maunsell and Bulleid Coaches restored you can follow progress of the new Bluebell Railway SR Coach group here:

https://www.facebook.com/SR.coach.group

For those that are interested in getting involved there is a meeting between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm on Saturday 5th August in the training room in the Heritage Skills Centre at Horsted Keynes. The meeting will cover:

· The objectives of the group

· Governance

· Immediate work plans

· A visit to the C&W shed to look at current and planned restorations.

We will be providing tea and coffee.

If you are interested in being involved in the governance and/or the active restoration and maintenance work of the Group and wish to attend the meeting, send me a message on NP (click on my Red Squirrel and select "Start a Conversation") as we will need to confirm numbers.

David R

 

Yes it was, Camelot on A and 80151 on B when I visited on Sunday. The website was a bit lacking in information about the model railways, but it turned out most of them were in the carriage workshop at HK. Anyway it was worth the visit, railway was quite busy so looked like a popular event.
I see Fenchurch is running this weekend with a set of vintage stock, still facing towards Sheffield Park after returning to the mainland.

A quick photo stop at Town Place bridge last Sunday before going home, to get Camelot on the 1530.

 

Apologies for being. day late, but here's ...

The latest issue of The Bluebell Times is now available to view for July.

• A successful June for visitor numbers – but secondary spend is inconsistent
• Q class No. 541 is off to Leaky Finders
• Old favourite vintage carriages return to service
• A find of 1950s wheelsets helps out another loco restoration group
• More donations by the Horsted Keynes carriage shop to restoration groups across the Railway
• A new radio system improves communication

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/bluebell-times/

Tom

 

What happened to the rest of page 6? "...with help from Roger Cruse who ...." who what?

 

who had discovered which scrap merchant they had passed to, and these are now under the chassis. In due course, a new tender tank was constructed by a welding firm in Gloucester to Fred’s drawings and delivered on July 24 2019. A large number of fittings had to be made and fitted but it is now complete with all the lining and application of the crests to a superb finish by Tony Funnell.

It continues at the top right of the page.

Cheers,

PLP

 

That's me not paying attention to columns!

 

Announced on Facebook that “Taw Valley” will be visiting for Giants of Steam (along with “Manston”).

Tom

 

Value for Money - I think not!

After travelling 80+ miles to the Bluebell yesterday for the "Transport Collectors" event, and to have a "Southern" experience, I was disappointed to be charged an extra £3.50 per person as a penalty for not booking online (On the day penalty not mentioned as far as I could see on the website). That extra £7 could have been destined for one of the many worthy causes vying for money on the railway, but not now I'm afraid. I would think that heritage railways should be trying hard to attract custom in these hard economic times, not rip them off for turning up on spec due to any amount of reasons.

Add to that, after travelling the line a couple of times (with much secondary spending I may add) and returning to Sheffield Park on the last but one train, we thought it would be good to have a quick look at the engine shed and yard to see engines at rest/disposing, but no such luck, the engine shed (sorry "Steam Works, yuk!) was locked, and this was at 17.30, with the other service not due to return until 18.30ish. I used to be a member there, and had a lot of affection for the line, but it's not somewhere I will be rushing back to, as I choose not to spend online. It would be good if the Bluebell allowed for some customer feedback on it's website, but obviously doesn't want any, I can see why.

 

The website does mention the "penalty" as you called it on the web page of ticket prices.
https://www.bluebell-railway.com/fares/
The Bluebell is not unique in this, and whilst some like me may just want to pay on the day it is not the way the market seems to be going. If I was going for a specific event as you seemed to have done then the reason to not book early seems less. I also remain unconvinced that most of the travelling public would spend that £7 elsewhere on the railway, although you might as an enthusiast.
The reason I would book on the day for my needs is so I can choose a bad weather day, more steam to make it enjoyable in the summer, fewer crowds and better for photography.
I agree 17:30 seems early on an event day, but in the end I suspect it is all down to volunteer availability.

 

Thanks for your reply "Gladiator".
My reasons for going yesterday are exactly as you stated above in red, so very much spur of the moment. As for the penalty, I could not see it mentioned on the actual "event" page, so assumed that £25 was the cost per person, and not £27.50. I shall not get caught like that again.