Question re SWT's 3417

It's not actually the case so much with the management, it's more a small number of grass-roots members (who, as is so often the way with minorities, are among the more vocal ones) who refuse to even consider the idea of having something not steam (and in some cases not Southern steam) being bought to the line under any circumstances (you should have seen the furore on the Bluebell chat group when that shunter first rocked up).

 

Bravo, Chris. I've never accepted the "anti-diesel or anything else" arguments put forward against the Bluebell. As you say, a vocal minority do not always reflect the view of the majority. Lets hope that the more moderate Bluebell members have their say, hopefully to the benefit of not just themselves but the wider preservation community.

 

I agree, having said that there are concerns over 3417, although it's more for practical reasons (security, vandalism, image etc.)

 

Whilst I still have vertebrae displaced in my back from commuting on VEPS and don't actually care that much for them, I don't wish to see harm come to 3417. The Bluebell is never going to be able to give it the care it needs to survive properly as there is about 800 years worth of restoration and maintenance already sitting in the back sidings at HK. a most of these are pre nationalisation these will always take priority. nobody in their right minds would take on a 4 VEP with all those doors to repair when the time comes. 3417 doesn't fit the image and there isn't labour, the will or undercover accommodation to for it and never will be. How could you justify leaving the Brighton first coach, the LSWR brake and the rest of the crown jewels outside whilst a VEP gets a warm dry berth? I hope it goes to a good home eventually but not HK's back siding to fester for 20 years as it will not leave again in one piece.

 

Delete.

 

If I'm honest, something like a converted PMV van (similar to the Artists exhibition coach) would be ideal, spacious inside with walls to hang things on, in keeping with the lines style and not "interesting" enough in my view to make it as much of a target for the chavs as a whole unit would be.

 

What about ex-Gatwick Express DVT- or are there any of those battery luggage van thingys about still?

 

Good thought in principle - however all the GLVs are in private hands or razor blades and the same goes for the MLVs.

But still, if a four-car slammer can be brought back from the dead then the same could be true should an MLV or GLV become available I suppose. But who would pay for it?

 

A little something for all 3417s admirers and friends - filmed during her stock move from Wimbledon to Woking for the Swanage Railway Beer Festival this year...

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_VZurgi4A

 

*Snip*

 

From the Bluebell railway web site ....

Sat 17 January 2009: Arrival in East Grinstead of the 4 Vep unit.
To welcome the "celebrity" blue electric unit, No. 3417 'Gordon Pettitt', to our East Grinstead station site, we will be holding an open day, provisionally on 17th January (please check here nearer the time for confirmation). Admission by souvenir "Platform Ticket", with the unit and the station site open for inspection, guided tours of the viaduct, Stands, Children's games (on the Belle Brothers Family Fun Stalls) and a free vintage bus connection between East Grinstead Station and Kingscote Station.

 

Such is life....

 

What a waste.... Probably to never run again? I take it the pickup shoes will be removed? Does anyone from the Bluebell know if 3417 will be seen running behind steam?

 

is it to remain at the bluebell once they have opened to east grinstead and built their own station, could it not be put to better use on a Southern Region Preserved Railway as diesel/steam hauled stock, dont think it fits the bill when it comes to the bluebell and their coaching stock requirements, even in years to come when the ardingly branch is opened i assume they would want to run more vintage EMU's like BIL's rather than the more modern VEP's

 

There is no space for it to stay at the railway, and at the moment no will to see it run. The current and future crisis with providing enough carriages, may bring about a change of heart, but even then it will have to be dragged by an airbraked loco... A job for the 73?

At the present rate the extension will take a couple more years perhaps more, so one wonders if it will be in a fit state after all that time in the damp and with the constant danger of vandalism. When I worked for LU, we had night security guards, sensors, CCTV, and still the trains would be tagged. I can't see that level of protection being afforded to the VEP at East Crawley (Grinstead).

The Ardingly branch is a very long way off, all departments of the Bluebell have had to face cuts to their budgets for years, it will take along time for the railway to catch up with the backlog. It does not have enough Locos, carriages to run the present length of line, let alone the East Grinstead extension...

Unless someone can lease the Haywards Heath- Ardingly section off Notwork rail, put in 3rd rail, and build some sort of centre / shed / for EMUs at Ardingly, we will not see any running in the foreseeable future.

 

thanks for your reply

 

We'll probably have to take them off before it goes. It could only be hauled by a steam loco fitted with an air pump. Also brake pipe & main res extension hoses would have to be used. And it'd be very cold on board in the winter months!!

 

Oh sod it, we'll just have to keep her then.
Never mind.

 

Yes the FLEET Dept will keep her...not the OPS Dept.... :-#

 

Don't worry - I'm now Fleet's Man on the Inside....
Otherwise known as a Depot Driver on a higher rate of pay!