Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Me too!

 

Filmed from the 1000 run on the Friday, Flying Scotsman from the front window:

 

Flying Scotsman departing the Bluebell and heading for York:

 

• Crowds turn out to enjoy the visit by Flying Scotsman – thanks to the hard work of our staff and volunteers
• A special moment as Kenneth Turner is reunited with the loco he last worked on as a young fireman during the war.
• SteamWorks! museum has a revised management structure – and Sharpthorne and the North London Tank are planned to go on display within the museum.
• Overhaul updates from Q class No.54, the Oxted Thumper and Pullman Car No. 54.
• The Carriage Shop continue its support of projects around the Railway – and there is a donation from the Bulleid Society to the Goods Division as well in recognition of the overhaul of Bulleid Open Wagon 12058.

The Bluebell Times is published monthly on the second Friday of every month. The next issue is due out on Friday, 13 October 2023.

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

Tom

 

Went for our annual visit to Bluebell today. Went for the 2.15 train but seemed a bit chaotic , a wealden Rambler combined with service train meant only 3 coaches for ordinary fare payers and 2 of them reserved for groups, meaning the buffet car was really the only one available. Some seemed to end up standing. Wasn't allowed to board until about 10 min before departure leaving platform rather crowded and a number of disgruntled and confused passengers. Not sure it all reflected too well on the Bluebell. Leaving Kingscote for EG 80151 struggled with a lot of wheel slip, thought we weren't going to make it as we nearly came to a stop. Everybody seemed a bit overwhelmed by events today. I understand about maximising profits but my impression was that this afternoon it had been taken to the extreme to the detriment of visitor satisfaction and enjoyment. Looking at the Wealden rambler it looked as if they could have run with one less coach and added one to the normal service portion.

 

Thanks for the honest feedback.

I haven't operated that service so can't say what it normally would be like. The WR set though normally runs as a fixed four car formation, so if you combine trains, that really limits a second portion to 3 coaches because of the short platform at Sheffield Park. (Even then, one carriage would be fully off the end of the platform). I guess the difficulty is knowing what the loadings will be in advance for the "turn up and go" passengers, but the general mood through the year is that mid week they are relatively few in number. A balancing act, but difficult to react to on the day given it is not viable to run the train with 8 carriages.

I'm surprised about not allowing boarding early, unless the fairly lengthy shunt in the middle of the day between trains was still under way. I wasn't there to see how long that takes.

Kingscote - greasy rail I guess. 80151 shouldn't normally have a problem with that load on a 1 in 65 start.

Tom

 

Presuming the Giants of Steam 2024 dates are wrong as it should be either 4th-6th or 11th-13th October.

 

Yes there was one coach off the platform at SP. Re the boarding etc, had comments like not the usual Bluebell efficiency and not really ideal with a lot of older passengers standing around for 10 to 15 mins on a crowded platform worrying about what was going on and when they could get on. It almost felt that we were a nuisance although we had booked and paid the day before. I suspect we spent less than we would have as the rest of my party couldn't then be bothered to look around the shop before we left. Maybe we had been spoilt the day before because we had an excellent day at RHDR the day before, all very friendly and very busy but enough room on the trains. Sorry we all left a bit disappointed which was unusual for us on the Bluebell, hope we fare better next time. Maybe everyone was a little jaded after FS etc.

 

For those who had been wondering, S4824 (one of the sold Mark 1s) has gone to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway - see https://www.facebook.com/SwindonAnd...9ZUNFTc9AHBNmasam5CfE3pxzpzQVZtTg1eRvsLKG7Kvl That had been briefly alluded to in one of the Chairman's updates, but is now "official" i.e. confirmed by the buyer.

The eventual locations of the other Mark 1 and Aquila have not yet been officially confirmed to my knowledge (though I believe both have gone to other railways - but up to those buyers to confirm purchase).

Tom

 

There seems to be news about the overhaul of the Adams Radial circulating on Facebook. Will it take the place of the Atlantic?

 

Short answer is yes. See https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/bluebell-motive-power.33437/page-177#post-2835285 for further discussion.

Tom

 

See this thread https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/bluebell-motive-power.33437/page-177 and scroll down to post 3535

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

 

Many thanks. I did a search and strangely did not find that.

 

UK Railtour from East Midlands Parkway and stations south, arrives at the Bluebell tomorrow (sat 23/9) arrives SP 12.40 departs 15.30

 

UKRailtours 'The Bluebell Railway' with some action from 6989 and 80151 on the service trains:

 

It was good to see Sir Archibald nearing completion of a long and I'm sure, very expensive overhaul at Sheffield Park yesterday. Any plans for him being repainted ahead of the gala next month?

Also, can someone remind me what is planned for Beachy Head moving to the main workshop for completion?

 

I understand 34059/21C159 won't be painted till early 2024. It's not I don't think aimed for Giants but perhaps Christmas

 

called in today; E6040 was a welcome sight at HK and bought a pint of "Awake the Giant" to enjoy whilst watching and listening to the Rock Choir and the banjo band also seeing the 2 service trains arrive and depart. Local beer and local talent, excellent!