Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Quick note that this Saturday there is a goods train running, in addition to the normal two train service. Rostered engine is 592.

Service runs:

SP - HK (Light engine)
HK - KC
KC - HK - SP
SP - HK - KC
KC - HK - SP
SP - HK
HK - SP (Light engine)

Times are here: https://www.facebook.com/bluebellra...37982240966/10154169881155967/?type=3&theater

Edit:



Not sure when else it is running this year, except I know that it will be running 30 April, 'cos I'm fireman

Tom

 

What time does Kingscote normally open? Thinking of going there tomorrow for the early freight

 

Interesting question - I've never been around to find out! First service train is 10.31, but I'd have thought that the station staff would need to be there some way in advance to open up etc, so at a guess you would probably be OK for 9.45 when the goods arrives - the signalman will have to be on duty, for a start.

You may be better asking on the Bluebell FaceBook page if you are on FB, as I believe the Kingscote Station Master is a fairly frequent habitué of the FaceBook page so you may get a better answer than I can give. (I'm not on FaceBook myself).

Remember there is no public parking at Kingscote, so you will have to walk, cycle or get dropped off if you are arriving before the first train.

Tom

 

Something a bit different on the video front (not from me, needless to say): a look round the C&W at four of the current projects - LBSCR Brake 3rd 949; LBSCR 3rd 328; LCDR (SE&CR) 3rd 3188 (getting near completion) and the Elephant Van 4601.

I like the sign in the brake 3rd "Each seat to hold 5 persons", still showing through 135-odd years after the carriage was first constructed. Whether modern passengers will be so keen to squeeze up, I don't know. I suspect as well we will need to supply cushions, as I believe by design it has bare wooden seats.



Tom

 

The goods train today (not my photo):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=453073464890574&set=o.37982240966&type=3&theater

Tom

 

Further to my earlier post "The builders are in", I attach some pictures of the building site at Horsted from earlier today showing work on the new carriage shed.

First a shot of the new foundations, with the old carriage shed to the right, then an overview of the main site, 3rd picture is of one of the stacks of roof panels and finally a view of the rear of the site, with the original shed to the left and the Y2K extension to the right and the temporary office, trim shop and changing room to the far right.

And yes, the site really does look like a battleground with masses of mud at present

David R

 

No photos of the Elephant Van this week (it did spark some controversy last week) but rest assured it made some more progress today with 4 of us working on it - mainly preparing roof panels for fitting, painting, and cutting of bolts.

The mid week gangs will also make some progress (Sunday is the only day it is not being worked on at present).

David R

 

I understand that there are no plans to provide cushions in this vehicle - it will provide a truly heritage ride.

David R

 

A few of my shots from today, the freight looked very nice with plenty of variation within the train, Camelot and Birchgrove looking spotless as always. Well done to all involved!

By the way, does anyone know why there is a 5mph TSR on the points at the north end of HK, up by Leamland Bridge?

 

From the Bluebell e-Newsletter:

FOSP UPDATE: ROOFS AND FLOORS

Two Friends of Sheffield Park (FOSP) projects are reaching a conclusion ...

The past four weeks have seen the replacement of the life-expired zinc sheet roof on the north end of the Platform 2 canopy.

Works commenced in late January with the erection of a scaffold platform giving access from below. FOSP volunteers then spent two intensive days stripping off the old roof sheeting. The fixings were externally corroded, resisting all attempts to unscrew them, so the heads needed to be ground off.

The good news, however, was that the timber rafters supporting the roof were in excellent condition, so a contractor on standby to fit new timbers was stood-down. A specialist roofing contractor has been working on fitting the new roof, which now matches the rest of the canopy roofing at Sheffield Park.

The photographs show some of the new roof in closeup, plus a general shot taken from the footbridge gives a good impression of the finished result. The shiny appearance of the new work will soon weather to a uniform grey. The new roof, funded by the Bluebell Trust, should keep our visitors dry for generations to come!

Meanwhile, the final stage of the station entrance porch has commenced. Last Wednesday, FOSP volunteers used a heavy-duty percussion drill to break out the concrete of the porch floor, digging right down to the earth so that a new concrete slab can be cast.

A "chequerboard" pattern tile floor will be laid in red and black square tiles. The original would have been quarry tile, but sadly black quarry tiles are no longer available. However, a good substitute has been found that meets with the approval of the Railway's Heritage Standards Officer.

This work will restore the floor to its original condition, and we look forward to holding a ceremony soon to declare our newly-restored porch formally open!

By Chas Melton

 

David,

There were two, possibly three volunteers working on the elephant van today painting the steel ventilators and undertaking repairs to the lower door that you were working on last week.

Dave

 

Chris and David painting elephant van roof panels.

Dave

 

As a member of the Bluebell C&W department, I agree that No 60 (the Director's Saloon) is one of the most important carriages in our collection and could be our flagship coach if restored. However it is not the only one, SECR aficionados would say that Constance, the Gilbert Car is just as important!

For a vehicle to come into the shed for restoration it has to tick a number of boxes including:

1 The permission of the owners for the vehicle to be restored
2 You can show how it will be used and how it will benefit the railway
3 You have a team and leader with the appropriate skills to restore it in a reasonable time
4 You have investigated what needs to be done and have a plan for how it will be restored
5 You have a ball park figure of how much it will cost and where the funding will come from
6 There is space in the works for the restoration will be done

For No. 60,
1 This wouldn't be a problem assuming the offer boxes have been ticked.
2 This is more of a problem. There is limited work for luxury saloons and presently 43909 (the GN Saloon) fulfills this role. Both vehicles have limited seating capacity and would probably require something else to be stood down. In service they would both require staff to man them
3 There is enthusiasm for its restoration. It was featured in Bluebell News a couple of years ago, however, as far as I am aware, a team hasn't been formed.
4 An investigation has been undertaken but I don't know how comprehensive this was. As has been stated, the gangways were a later addition, very rudimentary and unsuitable for use when in motion. Sometime during Southern ownership the original toplights were replaced by sliding ventilators; there are, as far as I am aware, no drawings of the original LBSCR side and toplights survive so these will need to be redesigned. The interior is also complex and will require lincrusta ceiling paper on a par with that used by a previous Lord Chancellor!
5 & 6 A proposal has been made for contract labour to be used for much of the wirk or for the work to be done offsite. This will increase the cost considerably and will require close supervision. The restoration and conversion of LCDR No 51 into SECR 3188 was funded by the National Lottery's Peoples Millions and involved approximately 8000 hours of volunteer labour. At a very modest £10.00 an hour this would put the cost into 6 figures. A conservative "guestimate" of restoring No. 60 would be closer to £500K than £250K.

Dave
Bluebell C&W

 

Third time lucky!

Chris and David painting elephant van roof panels.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/extension3363/24732858303/in/datetaken-public/


Dave

 

You sneaked that picture in - again the back of me, probably the best side

David R

 

I attach some pictures of the building site at Horsted from earlier today showing steel work starting to go up for the new carriage shed.

First a shot looking at the steel work that has gone up over the pit in the Maintenance Road, then a shot looking South down the maintenance road and finally a view showing the uprights at the rear of the site.

It is quite impressive how quickly the steelwork starts going up once the foundations are complete.

David R

 

Good to see David. I finally remembered to crane my head round and catch a glimpse as we went south from HK on our final trip today!

I think I'm right in saying that the above-ground work only started on Monday. I seem to recall that the project to do the SP carriage shed was similar: seemingly ages with not much visible progress while the enabling works and foundations were put in place, but then the final steel construction happening very quickly.

Tom

 

I think you're right, Back in 2010 (SP Carriage Shed), when I was only a visitor (and long time member), rather than a C&W Volunteer, I recall a seemingly sudden burst of obvious action when the steelwork started going up. The above ground work at Horsed certainly hadn't started last Saturday.

And on another note, still no more pictures of the Elephant Van, the appearance has not changed much in the last 2 weeks, but there has been much progress on various parts, expect a visual leap forward in the next couple of weeks or so.

David R

 

I took my wife for a little potter around HK yesterday (walk was postponed due to a mud situation). I was amazed that from HK I could hear Camelot working north from Kingscote. That and probably 15 mins of the E4 coming south, sounded pretty wonderful. Just couldn't believe how far Camelot's chime carries!


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