Bluebell Railway General Discussion

I think it's outrageous that the people who moan about it are being forced to attend these events against their will. I mean they must be, otherwise it could be said that if it's not their bag then who cares?

 

We went to the illuminated train on the NYMR last year and it was a lovely night out despite the absolutely appalling weather!

I think its brilliant that other railways have followed the P&DSR lead with doing these events, on a year like this every little bit of revenue is very important and were not for some of our family members being relatively vulnerable we would have travelled on another one this December.

My only comment regarding the lights on the train were that on one side the lights added a lot to the experience as they lit the woodland, on the other side one of the rope lights was directly at eye line across the windows making it difficult to see out because 1- it was at eye level and 2- the brightness of the lights caused your eyes to struggle with the darkness/contrast outside.

I can imagine an in between being something like an evening dining/light meal service with just the underslung lighting lighting up the lineside, and maybe the lineside displays rather than the stock being rope-lighted.

That would be something special.

Best Regards

 

Some images from Saturday, Q looked and sounded great on the Steamlight services standing in for 73082. 847 also seen without deflectors.

 

847 looks awful without smoke deflectors IMHO. Same with the Moguls.

 

Aesthetically, I tend to agree, though it is prototypically correct for some Maunsell S15s (though not 847 I believe, which was from the final batch). In this particular case they were removed for a photo charter.

Tom

 

Such is the joy of opinions - I respectfully disagree! I love the look of a Maunsell loco without smoke deflectors. I like them with too, but maybe I like them without because you see them like that less often and so it's more of a novelty!

 

Well, the Mid Hants will be the place to visit in a couple of years' time. OK, it's a Urie rather than a Maunsell loco, but the plan is to restore 499 to L&SWR condition, so no deflectors here!

 

I take back my comments about SteamLights having waited in a muddy field near HK in the rain today, it's certainly striking and very impressive! A thunderstorm and torrential rain even held off until a couple of minutes after it passed (I got soaked on my bike!)

Shame I can't justify the cost of a compartment to go on it as there are only 2 of us to fill it under the new rules ;-(

 

IMHO 847 look good without it's deflectors, but not as "classic".

When this COVID mess is over, I look forward to returning to the Bluebell, and hopefully experiencing Steamlights

 

From the Bluebell Facebook page:

The latest Government announcement has placed East and West Sussex into Tier 4 (Stay at Home) from Boxing Day.

Sadly, the Railway will now be closed from this date and services from 27 December have been cancelled until further notice. Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for information about reopening.

Our customer services team will be contacting all customers with an affected booking as soon as possible. We are receiving a very high volume of enquiries at the moment, so we ask for patience and understanding at this difficult time. If you have emailed us already, please be assured your email has been logged and we will be in touch as soon as possible.

Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for further updates.​

As I understand, tomorrow's services (Christmas Eve) are still running.

Tom

 

Yesterday was the Hornby announcement which included some Maunsell Dining saloons. I'm just checking that my reading of the Bluebell website is correct.
R40030 SR dining third 7864 is not this carriage with the same number.
R40031 BR dining composite S7841S is this carriage.

Have I got that right?

 

The first issue of The Bluebell Times in 2021 has news of the latest lockdown and details of the provisional plans for the whole year.

Issue 16 also contains an update on board changes as well as a message of thanks for all those who helped on the curtailed SteamLights and Santa Specials season.

In Issue 16:

• Wishes from across the Bluebell Railway for 2021
• An honour from the Queen for one volunteer
• The first virtual tour using some of the Government’s grant money
• Three generations of one family who all volunteer at the Railway
• An update on the tender plate from SE&CR Stirling F class No. 31
• Taking stock on Lilian and Stamford
• And much, much more.

The Bluebell Times is published monthly on the second Friday of each month. The February issue is due out on Friday 12 February. Contributions to the editor, i.e. me!

Download from here: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/bluebell-times/

Tom

 

I've just tried part of the virtual tour and I'm finding navigation confusing. Here and there are hands pointing to other places, but you have to hover your pointer on one to find out where it goes, and I haven't yet found any way to go back after following one, except by restarting the whole tour. Also I didn't know whether to expect any sound, and at first there wasn't any, but then suddenly drumming started. Finding that unpleasant and distracting I turned my sound off, but a bit later I realised that I was missing hearing some commentary. Any chance of some guidance? Or is there some that I have missed finding?

 

A common problem with visual presentations and programmes which are professionally produced, sadly. Whoever decides to add "music" to them ignores the fact that many (most?) of their audience are elderly with hearing past its best. Such limitations in audible ability make it difficult to ignore such disturbances and concentrate on the relevant sounds. Most TV railway programmes, for example, include a statement such as: "just listen to the sound of the locomotive working hard". It's there somewhere amongst the distraction of music.

 

A counter argument to that is that a younger generation will find a video more attractive if there is some background music or something like that. It fills out the sound and makes it feel more 'complete'. It also helps cover over it draw attention away from any other production issues at the time of filming or recording that would require a reshoot (e.g. pauses, people saying 'um', or less than smooth cuts that have to be made)
A stereotyped assumption could be made that it is more the younger generation who are likely to access a virtual tour as there is greater technological literacy among them, and it could have been tailored that way.

 

I accept that counter argument that the younger generation find such a production more attractive. A production with such distractive music is, to me, telling me that it is not aimed at me so I won't bother to watch it past the (usually) early point that any such music appears.

 

An assumption that is quite likely false and appears to be based on no evidence.

 

I'm not saying their assumption is right or even conscious.

Alternatively it could just be that the people involved in producing it aren't aware that more elderly people find stuff like this difficult, nobody told them, and they wanted to produce something with a higher production value to make it look and feel more professional.

 

In amongst a different discussion on Facebook was the news that another 260 yards of track (i.e. 13 track panels) has been replaced north of Horsted Keynes (I'm not sure exactly where, but my assumption is somewhere south of the tunnel). No doubt there will be. write up in due course.

I believe later in the year the intention is to complete the last remaining section from beyond Three Arch Bridge up to the south end of Horsted Keynes station; it is dependent first on some remedial work at New Road Bridge. Once that is done, all the track from the bottom of Freshfield Bank to Horsted Keynes, except for one quarter mile section at milepost 9, will have been recently relaid.

Tom

 

A quick "behind the scenes" look on BBC South Today

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000rjzw/south-east-today-evening-news-19012021 (Scroll forward to 20'10")

May only be available for 24 hours.

Tom