Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Tanfield?

 

Unless I'm mistaken, but didn't an individual or group place a number of Mk1's on hire to the Bluebell several years ago? Are they still there or did they eventually go back?

I'm also sure I remember an article on the Pullman Strategy from Bluebell News a few years back (prior to the arrivals of Car 36 and Aquila), that I think, said as well as capacity, Carina being a later built Pullman, it's interior decor wasn't quite as luxurious as Finally and Car 64, something that would presumably have been the same with Aquila, given it's similar age.

 

There are according to the website 3nr , 2nr are currently in the Wealden Rambler set.

 

I don't know if "less luxurious" is an accurate description. Less elaborate, certainly, but to my own eyes they have a distinct late art deco period elegance about them.
The interiors were designed pre-war, and much material procured before being put into storage for the duration, so the styling is more 1938 than 1951:

 

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

• The Railway is running full steam ahead – and bookings remain strong in the opening weeks of the summer holiday
• The Q class has it’s boiler lifted – but your help is still needed
• BR Standard Class 2 No. 84030 receives its new water tanks
• Another £500 is donated by the Horsted Keynes Carriage Shop – and its long-term future at Horsted Keynes is assured
• A watershed moment at Horsted Keynes as the renovated canopies and platform come back into view
• Praise for the education team from a junior school party

The Bluebell Times is published monthly on the second Friday of every month. The next issue is due out on Friday, 8 September 2023.

You can download the latest edition by clicking the link below.

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

Tom

 

I've subscribed to the Bluebell Times & weekly newslwttwr.

Certainly highlights the events that might interest me and might encourage a visit or two

 

I don't recall any figure being given for Carina, but if there was that would have been a decade ago, and not based on a detailed survey. Since then we've had the experience of Car 54, for which the latest figure I've seen is £800k! Fortunately a lot of that came from a donation, and a grant for the wheelchair access adaptation.

 

Yes, SECR 971. But having spent 30 years focusing on pre-grouping carriages, we now need to shift the focus for a bit more onto Maunsell and Bulleid corridor vehicles.

 

As we have on the Bluebell over 63 years - the vast majority of overhauls have been of pre grouping and pre-nationalisation carriages. On the Bluebell we've now got 14 pre-grouping coaches restored/running. In that regard I think only the IoWSR matches (at least on the Standard Gauge).

 

Quoting my own post ... In the Chairman's weekly email it said today:

"We have had a tremendous response to the carriages we advertised for sale, and we have already sold the two Mk1’s and we have people viewing the Pullmans this week. All these vehicles will now be going to new homes, where they are needed and where they will be looked after; for us it liberates much needed space and of course the additional cash is very helpful too."​

4824 (one of the Mark 1s) has gone to another heritage railway; I don't know about the other one.

Tom

 

I god I hope its not bloody for Glamping

 

What does it matter if it is for glamping? At least it would survive and could be restored to operation in the distant future if required.
Better than razor blades

 

the coach is meant to be in 'alright' condition with all its compartments in place which might not take alot to get in to working order

If it get turns in to glamping it will more then likely have alot of it ripped out and then it sit rusting in a field somewhere, so if it did go for sale again 10 years down the line I doubt it won't be a cake walk to get running again

 

You are making a lot of assumptions about the new owners, their intentions and their future. These are not rare carriages. If they are in OK condition then another railway will probably buy them, if they're not in OK condition and they go for glamping, then some spares could become available and you can have a railway themed holiday-it might cheer you up!

 

Of the two Mark 1s, one is going to a heritage railway. I have no reason to think that the other isn’t, it’s just I don’t know where it is going.

If you really want to worry about the fate of carriages, there were two Victorian LCDR carriages broken up the other week that had been part of a cottage in Shoreham, with as far as I know nothing recovered. I believe someone who had been interested in them didn’t show up when the diggers arrived to redevelop the site.

As is becoming abundantly clear across many railways, we have to prioritise. While I genuinely hope that all the carriages being disposed of by the Bluebell find operational homes, I’d not get too upset by the loss of a mark 1 to some other fate: there are far more valuable carriages languishing unloved around the country. Who knows, a few old carriages preserved for glamping might help preserve nostalgia for railways in the future.

Tom

 

I think even a routine major overhaul is not cheap these days and if there are more pressing needs it will only deteriorate further as time goes on, better to go where it can be made good use of.

 

yeah that's a bit crap I'm not sure I wanted to learn about that.

I guess like you guys said on the forementioned Mark 1, there are others around still...

 

When I suggested the sudden sale of vehicles could be suggestive of something more sinister I was quickly shot down, but the PLC accounts are now 6 weeks overdue. Is there a storm brewing?

 

Oddly enough there are quite a few LCDR four wheelers about and an eight wheeler is currently under restoraton. Despite its poverty the LCDR went in for carriage frames in teak which must account for the survival rate.

Whilst I don't shed any tears for the loss of Mk.1s, Chatham carriages are quite a different matter.

 

We glamped here a few years ago

https://www.brockfordsiding.co.uk/

The carriages were well looked after & we talked to the couple who managed it & Mr, the builder took looking after them very seriously. Mrs made excellent cake.

So these vehicles are certainly in good hands.