Clearance work commences at the Bluebell's Imberhorne Tip

So far they have raised around £500,000. So taking away set up costs c. £250,000 (just a guess!)
Therefore 2.5% cleared could have cost £250,000... Hmmm. That means a lot of money to find!

The landfill tax credits became more difficult to find... But the money has already been spent on the viaduct etc.

 

thtas what I was thinking.... :-k

 

You are of course assuming that all the money raised to date has been spent - it may not have been.

 

Yes rather too many assumptions, Although they did say that the more money raised, the longer the digging would go on for... which at least implies that most of money could have been spent.

Also I left the Calculation unfinished, as it would come to quite a few million!

Even if only 2.5% has been cleared costing £100k, they would need by my calculation £3.9 million to finish clearing the tip. They have so far raised just over £500k, of which a sizable amount has been spent. It will be interesting to see if this can be achieved.

 

I thought the dig they have just finished was more of a trial dig so that they could accurately calculate how long it would take to clear.

 

This will sound strange but maybe the Bluebell could put in a diesel service for a year or so to get some of the Diesel and electric peoples money.

 

Where does this 2.5% figure come from? If 524 loads left the site, at 15 cubic metres a load, thats 7860 cubic metres, or about 5.75% of the 136000 cubic metre total. That leaves 128000 cubic metres to go (roughly equating to 8534 loads), or 230 days digging.

What that equates to in terms of money, we don't yet know, but the project has always been projected at 5 million or thereabouts, so its going to take a lot more money yet.

Nice to see Hill Place Bridge clear of spoil though, with enough rail laid, the VEP can be brought up to the bridge, allowing local youths to access its roof for easy vandilism.

Daniel

 

It's not just the youths, nor locals that go around vandalising property thank you.

The 4VEP will be kept under tarpaulin, whether or not this will reduce any vandalism!

 

Hmmm, scrotes are scrotes everywhere whatever their age or leanings, so I doubt if a tarpaulin will make a difference.

Regards
Chris

 

Yes I agree if anything the local idiots will probably try and set light to the tarpaulin and we'll end up with the 4 Vep burnt to toast. Oh well I guess we could then sell what's left of the unit to a scrap metal merchant and make some money from it.

 

Scrap prices have fallen dramatically in the last few months David.

There was a time that one couls get around £120 a ton, now you will be lucky if you get £25 a ton.

Regards
Chris

 

Link to Bluebell site confirming start of removal of remaining inert material in mid-January.

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/blueb ... tprog.html

Article explains use of the 73 electro-diesel, so cross-posted onto the Bluebell "modernisation" thread to allay the fears of those seeing this move (use of the 73) as the "end of the old Bluebell" as they know it...

46118

 

According to http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/extprog.html, the amount removed in the two week trial was "about a tenth of the tip". Now I would assume that that is a pretty well informed quote, not just a random comment, so I can only assume that, following the trial, they've been able to make a more accurate assessment of how much rubbish is to be removed, and the news has been on the positive side

The other enticing possibility (though as yet unconfirmed to my knowledge) is that the inert material starting at Imberhorne Lane Bridge at the south end of the tip may extend further north than initially thought. Obviously, every extra metre of inert spoil at the south end that the Bluebell can remove and dispose of at HK is one less metre of rubbish that has to be removed professionally. So the longer the spoil trains run from the south end, the better the news is!

A little fantasy: By 2015, we could have a new build Brighton Atlantic pulling a rake of 6 1930's carriages through the longest tunnel in preservation before running over a huge viaduct into a town with the the longest continuous run of 14th-century timber-framed buildings in England. \/

Tom

 

As you say, it would be great if there was more inert material in the tip than previously thought. If that is the case, then is there enough room at Horsted Keynes to deposit all the material?

Regards,

Dan

 

Well, if not the tunnel is double track and we only use one of them ... #-o

Tom

 

I think you have a good chance of seeing the Atlantic finished by 2015, but the 6 1930's carriages... hmm It took a group of mainly volunteers 4 years to restore 1309, so we could have around another 2 carriages finished by 2015, which would make us one short of the 6... Unless we give up the idea of an only Maunsell set.

The bad news is that 1336 took a team of mainly paid staff 10 years, so they could be finishing off their next project in 2018! so making a set of 4!

 

The Bluebell and their contractors will have a pretty good idea of what is in the cutting and where, because they will have had to undertake test borings into the infill as part of the work for planning consent, and all the other environmental licences they now have, to allow this removal.
Hence they will know with some accuracy where they will be taking off soil and stones as distinct from refuse, and more or less how long it will take.
Can any more infill go on the Ardingley line at HK, or is that embankment extended as far as it can go before a new overbridge is required?

46118

 

There was talk a few years ago of infilling the "triangle" between the running line and the Ardingly spur a few years ago.

Am not sure what became of that idea, but I suspect that drainage was a big problem here as the only place the water could go would be on to the road thus flooding it.

Anyone else have anything on this please?.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

New builds or restoration?

 

With regard to the amount of material still to shift.
I was wondering if the "bulking factor" has been taken into account?
The amount the material expands due to handling.
We always had to consider it when doing muck shift calculations. I seem to remember a figure of 1.4 as being the factor.