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Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Jamessquared, Feb 16, 2013.

  1. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    There should, and the GWSR site is an example of one that finds the balance well.
     
  2. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I think someone started a thread on railway websites a while back (and commented that no one commented) perhaps this debate here might kick start that discussion? (Perhaps be moved across as it is getting off the Bluebell?)

    I guess there are three or four different groups who a website has to hit.

    I) the person who wants to know if there is a train running, where it goes from and what time and how much.

    Ii) the enthusiast who wants to know what is running- cf all the ‘what is running this week, tomorrow’ posts

    Iii) potential and actual supporters or volunteers who want to know what is going on, are interested in projects etc

    Iv) volunteers themselves

    That is a lot of different groups who want different information which is why I suspect that many sites end up getting very cluttered. There is perhaps often a lack of housekeeping and it just becomes ‘add a bit on dining/Thomas/murder mystery trains’. It is also why I think tone on some websites can be a bit jarring. ‘And Joe had three sugars in his tea’ which makes me think I am eavesdropping a messroom conversation.

    Most probably need better management but then there are higher priorities and rightly so.
     
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  3. Railboy

    Railboy New Member

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  4. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    It'll certainly make washouts during the winter more pleasant!

    The aim is that the kind of light repairs to the running fleet that are currently either done outside, or require ad-hoc shunting of the main works, will be done there. That might include things like spring replacement, brake adjustment, possibly up to a piston and valve exam; essentially anything that doesn't require significant overhead crane capacity or a wheel drop. In turn, that should make the main works more efficient by reducing the need to carry out shunts if a loco fails and is quickly needed back in service.

    We aren't there yet, but long term I can see a situation in which perhaps one road of the main workshop has a heavy workshop-led restoration (such as 80151 currently); the other is used for a mid-ticket intermediate overhaul (such as 541 had over the winter); the maintenance shed has one loco on washout and one under light repair; and Atlantic House is used to house one (or two small) volunteer-led projects that are progressing with less time pressure (such as Project 27, which is currently under way outside).

    Tom
     
  5. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Good to see another section of track being relaid this week; hopefully there will be the usual website update in due course, but my understanding is that it amounts to 260 yards (13 track panels), starting on Freshfield Bank at the southern end of the previously laid new track roughly adjacent to the down distant signal, and continuing further south roughly to where the disused fogman's hut is.

    Tom
     
  6. Dan Hamblin

    Dan Hamblin Part of the furniture

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    I wondered if they were going to be doing an overnight relay in that area when I saw the track panels laid out a couple of weeks ago.

    Good to see the various resolutions passed at the EGM, really must make an effort to attend in future.

    Regards,

    Dan
     
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  7. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    From the e-Newsletter:

    OP4 Update: Dwarf Wall Makes Big Progress

    The Infrastructure Team is making good progress building the dwarf brick wall around the base of the carriage shed, having completed the western, southern, and eastern faces.

    The Team is now working on the dwarf wall around the Heritage Skills Centre (HSC) and preparing to cast the floor slab of the HSC (currently programmed for late June). The contract for the cladding of the shed has been let to Robin Stevenson LLP, and work has started on the western wall of the maintenance road.

    The final appearance of the shed will match the yellow/green reverse profile sheeting of the existing Carriage & Wagon Works. Reverse profile insulated cladding is not available, so the cladding will necessarily be in two layers: firstly, the insulated cladding sheets, and secondly, a cosmetic face to match the appearance of the existing shed.

    The Infrastructure Team will shortly be moving on to track laying, relaying the connection from the running line into the yard. This is a major piece of work taking about three weeks to complete, and it represents a significant step forward, providing full connectivity to roads C, E, F, and G (and eventually roads B, H, and J).

    By Barry Luck, OP4 Project Manager (Infrastructure)
    Complementing that description, there are some photos from Dave Clarke here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/extension3363/46896247375/in/album-72157659146847649/ (click right to go through in order - I never find Flickr enormously intuitive for chronological series of photos!)

    The dwarf wall has progressed somewhat from Dave's first photo (which is a few week sold). They also show the track laying underway to reconfigure the down yard at Horsted Keynes to suit the OP4 building.

    Tom
     
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  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    It was a daytime job this time: this year's timetable runs Weds - Sun during the shoulder season, which allowed the work to be done during the day.

    I make it 4,610 yards (2.62 miles) of the plain line relayed between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes in recent years, out of a distance of a fraction over 4 miles.

    Tom
     
  9. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    1/2 a chain under 2 mile 50 chains by my reckoning of your figure.
     
  10. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Yes, I think you are right.

    I checked the sectional appendix. The official distances of Sheffield Park is 6m25ch and Horsted Keynes 10m63ch. I think those distances are probably measured to the (now non-existent) south signal box at SP, which was on the south end of the platforms; and the south (now only) signal box at Horsted Keynes, which is some way south of the platforms, giving a distance between stations of 4m 38 chains or 4.475 miles. The plain line stretches between, I think, 6m38ch (by the Sheffield Park down home signal) and 10m52ch (by the Horsted Keynes up home signal), which is 4m 14ch, or 4.175m. So 2m49.5ch has been relaid recently of 4m14ch (63%), plus everything within the stations proper.

    Tom
     
  11. David R

    David R Well-Known Member

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    Work on the Camelot Society's CCT is nearly complete with attention turning to varnishing and lettering

    There is rather a lot of lettering on this van

    David R
     

    Attached Files:

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  12. 73082

    73082 Member

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    My video and a few photos from Monday. 263 and 847 on the service trains, 65 on the Footplate Extra driving and firing experience, and lots of excitable children around for the last day of the STEM weekend!



    847 Leamland Bridge 27.5.2019.jpg
    65 and brakevan New Road Bridge 27.5.2019.jpg
    263 Gravetye 27.5.2019.jpg
     
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  13. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    The S15 is a bit smoky at times. Not good in the present climate.
     
  14. 73082

    73082 Member

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    Another set from me, this time from Saturday, when a demonstration engineers train was in use for guard training. Also nice to see Camelot back in service after its period in the works.



    263 Horsted House Farm 1.6.2019.jpg
    263 Courtland Wood 1.6.2019.jpg
    73082 West Hoathly 1.6.2019.jpg
    263 Horsted Keynes 1.6.2019.jpg
     
  15. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    From the e-Newsletter. This can be seen as a companion piece to the article about continuing work on OP4, available here: https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/op4_news_may19.pdf

    What's the Point?

    That's a question you may well ask about work going on in the Down Yard at Horsted Keynes. However, it's all part of the master plan to improve access to the Carriage & Wagon Works and the OP4 shed, while also providing an improved engineer's siding and an extra storage road.

    The point in question is the three-way turnout that is now being installed in great haste by the Infrastructure Team and that is critical to the whole operation of the new layout. Haste being the operative word here: the "Obo" is currently marooned in E road and whatever is in the paint shop on D road is similarly stranded. There was always going to be a time when the existing layout would have to be altered, and a lot of very careful planning has gone into this operation so that work with carriage fleet maintenance is not unduly affected.

    Jon Goff—who is the mastermind behind this new layout and who has spent many hours measuring and then drawing the plans for virtually every rail and sleeper for the new work—writes:

    The new route to the Down Yard will run in and crossover via a gentle pair of left hand points, the second one of which will be part of a three-way point, the first part of which is already in place. The right-hand part of the three-way point has a slightly sharper curve and will be a new E road, which is the maintenance road now under cover in OP4. The middle part of the three-way point will be the straight road going off to another set of points for B and D roads.

    B, D, and E roads already have been removed, dug out, and levelled, and Terram protective sheeting has been put down, ballasted, and bulldozed flat already. E road is the most critical road and is to be disconnected for the shortest length of time and so the track inside the shed is already being re-installed straight and level.

    When finished the track work will be able to support any rolling stocking in any road shunted by any engine we have—except A road, where the existing layout has a sharp curve out of the old shed.


    Three-way points—which need three crossing noses and four switchblades—are complex arrangements at the best of times. Making one to fit a particular location using some standard components, some re-engineered parts, and odd bits of rail you just happened to have spare—that is quite a job. But as always, the Infrastructure Team is up to the challenge, and it is very rewarding to see everything going together as planned so that shunting can take place again after a short break in operations.

    By Mike Hopps
     
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  16. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    A reminder of the "Road meets Rail" event this coming weekend.

    Event details are here: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/whats_on/road-meets-rail-3/

    Timetable and loco workings: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/wp...imetable-Road-meets-Rail-2019-For-Handout.pdf

    847 and 73082 haul service trains along the whole line, plus 263 on a SP - HK shuttle. 30541 on a goods working between SP and Kingscote. Steam powered fairground, traction engines, steam lorries, demonstration of road making, wood sawing etc.

    Tom
     
  17. H Cloutt

    H Cloutt Member

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    I noticed on my way to the South of England Show last week that some of the trees have been cleared on the embankment to the west of where the Sherriff Mill Viaduct used to be. Does anyone know why this has been done?

    Harold
     
  18. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    Nothing very exciting, im afraid. Purely a hazard mitigation excercise. The embankment was becoming very overgrown, with trees beginning to encroach upon the roadspace.
    So this could be classed as "housekeeping". Worth noting that the oaks behind the pumphouse were crowned and cut back at the same time. There is a lot of tree clearance generally ongoing around the railway.
     
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  19. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Another infrastructure update: this covers relaying 13 panels (260 yards) more of Freshfield Bank - for those that know it, roughly from the Sheffield Park down distant, proceeding south to the old fogman's hut (where the distant signal was in BR days!). The replaced track was recovered and will be used in OP4. The work was done during the day over the course of two days in late May, obviously with a huge amount of preparation done first so that the actual relaying could proceed smoothly.

    https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ext/inf_update_may19.pdf

    Apparently only the same distance again to finish all of the straight bit of Freshfield bank, at which point we will be down to where the line starts to curve through Ketches.

    Tom
     
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  20. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    Looks like another excellent piece of work by the team.
    Well done.
     
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