Bluebell Railway General Discussion

I don't think these locos ever wore a different livery apart from plain black. If you really want to see a change how about a different style of chimney. After all you have three to choose from - original Maunsell, Bulleid Lemaitre and BR Class 4. But that is for the Maunsell Society to decide.

Peter

 

Notwithstanding the money and time this would take, I still absolutely love this idea… Is an iteration of this out of the question with the NR access issue or would that just kybosh it entirely? I can’t quite get my head around the space requirements…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'm guessing the second view is looking south towards the viaduct? So the whole complex is on the opposite sides of our tracks relative to what was eventually built?

Is that little hint of rail in the second view the NR tracks, or Bluebell? What track layout was envisaged?

I think any prospect of a genuinely joint station with NR is now gone, seeing as they fairly recently opened an entirely new station building. So I guess in space terms, we have what we have, which is very constrained.

Tom

 

Possibly the only way more space could be freed up apart from the supermarket giving up land is Network rail relinquishing their headshunt and having the mainline connection through the Bluebell station, but I don't see that happening as it is used for operational reasons on the mainline side of things.

Steve B

 

Yes, the second angle is a sort of view from Sainsbury's roof. So what got built in the end was a complete flip round of this. The track layout was entirely speculative, given I was working off a combination of what was present at the time, and blow-ups of old 25" OS maps. The track centre foreground i assumed would be the NR connection, linking into the run-round loop off picture to the right. Of course at that stage there was more room available.
I recall the main reason I opted for arranging the station this way around, was to avoid passengers having to sit looking out over a carpark.
I know I roughed out an idea of accessing the Bluebell station directly from the end of the NR diwn platform. Can't remember if it's survived, though, although it became completely irrelevant very quickly.
The booking hall would have been a small rotunda, probably the most effective way of flowing people in and out of a fairly confined space.
Im going up to the office now, to see if I can unearth anything else, i might still have, but it will probably be rather dog-eared by now!

 

The headshunt is used for storing an 8 car unit overnight during the week.

At one time before the Bluebell took over the land, Sainsburys was looking to buy it.
The supermarket carpark is fully used at times, and not just at Christmas, and the far end was meant to be for staff parking.

 

I dug, and I found. Just about got all the cobwebs off now!

First, and probably the more interesting, is an idea of the booking hall rotunda. Hopefully the handwritten notes are visible. To anyone questioning the "marbled finish", this I envisaged as a Formica type material, rather than the real thing! This whole thing is probably more a nod towards Charles Holden/ Frank Pick than actual Southern prototype, if I'm honest. The access doors to the NR platform are the only reference I can find to joint access. IIRC, the possibility of a joint station appeared about this time, which cast uncertainty on everything.
Next is a block plan. Evidently I was working off something more detailed than OS maps here, and Tom, this probably explains the track layout I depicted:

Finally, just for fun, a sketch for an alternative Myres- influenced design. The internals for this haven't survived, but all I remember was that they were utterly unworkable!

There are a few other bits and pieces I found, but I don't want to overwhelm the thread!

 

Thanks for that!

So I guess still a single platform for the Bluebell? The three roads being a platform line, a run round loop (with connecting spur to the mainline) and a mainline siding?

I must admit - had space and finances permitted, that would have been quite a thing!

Tom

 

Absolutely. There was never more than a single platform for Bluebell in the offering, but considering the proximity of Kingscote, was it ever a problem?
Incidentally, locomotive watering wasn't even discussed, AFAIR. It certainly didn't figure on any brief.

 

Agreed, having only in effect one train in section north of Kingscote presents no real operational effect, due to the short section length.

Slightly surprised watering didn't come up, though to be fair, the current water tower was only built a few years after EG was opened. You can get water at Kingscote of course, but it is slow and badly positioned - you really want it on the down journey, but the position makes it work better on the up.

A Terrier only has 500 gallons and is pretty tight to do the whole round trip. It was normal practice to take water on the H class as well, though you had a bit more margin there even with a heavier load. The water crane we got - which I think is based on LSWR practice - is blinking awkward to use (in part because the bag is made of thick leather and rather inflexible), things would be easier if there was a short length of staging to stand on by the track, and the hose itself was a few feet shorter.

Tom

 

Is there any reason you can't trim a few feet off the hose if it's a bit awkward at its current length?

 

Something worth flagging up, to anyone with a Bluebell Carriage and Wagon bias- Dave Clarke's Flikr site, dormant for a long time, is now being uodated several times weekly, so giving an up to the minute photographic picture of goings on at Horsted Keynes, and is very interesting:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/extension3363/

 

Also worth mentioning in that light the work of the Southern Railway Coach Group, who support the railway's Maunsell and Bulleid carriages.

Information about how to support them can be found here: https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/sr-coach-group/

They have a fairly active Facebook presence here: https://www.facebook.com/SR.coach.group

Tom

 

Seconded. Something well worth the support. Really looking forward to seeing a complete Maunsell train in service. The punters will love it, too!

 

Any news on when 3687 might be ready for traffic? She's looked "ready" for about 18 months now.

 

Its currently have work done to commission the brakes and some finishing off on the underside. Full details can be found on the SR Coach Group Facebook Page over the past 3 weeks.

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

 

It has also, like several other projects been impacted by the enforced 2 month closure of C&W for structural work. Happening so suddenly, it's taken a long time to get back up to full speed in the department.

 

The latest edition of The Bluebell Times is now available for November. In This Month's Edition:

• Cosmetic restoration starts on ’Sharpthorn’, the loco that helped build The Bluebell Railway
• The Mets will soon be four coaches again, as work concludes on replacing the carriage door locks.
• Beachy Head’s original smokebox number was acquired by the museum.
• Overhaul update on Q class No. 541.
• Sir Nigel Gresley wows the crowds at Giants of Steam.

You can download the latest edition from here: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/issue-63.pdf

Tom

 

Looks like the Bluebell is running another New Years Day Steam Up according to the Facebook page.

 

I think you need to campaign for reopening from East Grinstead to Lewes via Uckfield. That way 'they' will have to rebuild the high level station and 'you' can have the other one (and the handy bit of storage land just beyond).