Bluebell Railway General Discussion

You have a good point here, Tom, but this particular discussion began over the issue of BR liveries - i.e., a recreation of the late 1950 and 1960s. Unlike your example of a mediaeval castle, there are still people around for whom the last years of steam were their lived experience. They are a diminishing minority, but besides people like Brian, who is quite unapologetic about his affection for that era and with good reason (See my post #8183 above), there are also loco owners and people in positions of influence on heritage railways who also have a strong preference for 1950s/60s liveries, in many cases (I would suspect) because it is what they remember from their childhood days.

I agree, however, with @Enterprise, when he says

We will never be able to recreate those years, let alone any earlier period. Furthermore, there are some important aspects which I am sure no one would want to recreate - notably the sadness that the end of an era was approaching. I have only the haziest memories of steam. (I was nine years old when 35030 rolled into Waterloo on 9th July 1967 and was totally unware of this momentous event, being more interested in space travel at the time!) However, it must have been very heart-wrenching for enthusiasts seeing class after class of their favourite locos becoming extinct at the same time as the Beeching axe saw so many much-loved branch lines shut down. The sense of timelessness and "being preserved in aspic" which our heritage railways at their best can evoke is a stark contrast to the reality of those final frantic years where everyone knew that the end of so many features of the railway as they knew and loved it was imminent. Let's keep the rose-tinted spectacles on!

 

Don't think it has been mentioned here yet, but No. 65 is off for another off-railway visit, carrying out vital Missionary Work at Didcot Railway Centre from 5 - 7 September.

https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/...5-featuring-1466-1450-and-secr-01-class-no-65

Tom

 

Lined green with lots of shiny metal bits to polish - it'll fit in well!

 

65 is also in steam on the branch line for the launch event of 1466 over the bank holiday weekend.

Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

65 is rostered to run on the following

Wednesday 20th August
Saturday 23rd-Monday 25th August
Wednesday 27th August
Friday 5th-Sunday 7th September

 

You never see James Stirling and William Dean in the same place, do you?

 

Morning. A random question! Is the Murder Mystery evening staged at a particular station or on a train in a station, or does the evening involve an actual train ride?

 

Oh no, it won't look at all good with the wheels sticking out so far from both sides of the loco.

Bryan

 

James Stirling wasn’t responsible for the livery! As built, would have been black with simple red lining; and no dome cover …

Tom

 

I've never done it, but AIUI it is basically a Golden Arrow evening dining service with the addition of the theatre company who stage the murder / mystery during the course of the evening while on the train.

Tom

 

And with the cycling lion on the tender? I prefer the later lion version myself.

Bryan

 

Thanks Ben, I knew it was going for a time but hadn't picked up all the dates. I guess movement costs at Didcot are probably such that it makes sense for a loco to go for a relatively extended period rather than just a weekend. Does put quite a strain on a comparatively small number of Bluebell crew who will accompany the loco though.

(I think we have had - or are pending - 72 at the West Somerset; 65 at the GWSR and Didcot; and 73082 at the Severn Valley this year).

Tom

 

Don't forget that the SER had a route from Redhill to Reading - where SER and SECR locos would have been in close proximity to the GWR.

EDIT:

PS: Another affinity between the SER and the GWR was that both were, at different times, attached to the domeless-boiler cult. Principal adherents were the Stirling Family (on G&SWR, GNR, SER, H&BR) and the GWR (first in broad-gauge times, then again from Churchward onwards). No 65 was originally one of that breed.

 

The "productions" are each different, but I think they follow roughly the same overall plan. Certainly the one I participated in (and very good it was too):
You start upstairs in the Bessemer, where the characters are introduced, and the actual murder is enacted.
You then move to the Pullman dining train, where the actors pass through the train whilst you eat your meal, generally between courses, sometimes giving a little illuminating speech and sometimes answering questions you may have (with rules about who is allowed to tell the truth and who allowed to lie).
On return to Sheffield Park you vote on who your team believe is the murderer, then upstairs in the Bessemer the actual plot is disclosed, and the winning teams awarded prizes.
Definitely recommended as a great evening out in fine surroundings. Many guests dress to match the period of the particular production. I myself felt the need to purchase a silver headed cane (which I'd always wanted anyway!)

 

It sounds as if a stout cudgel or life-preserver would be more use!

 

Let’s hope they don’t scrap it so they can use the regulator handle - suitably modified - for the faux Night Owl project.

 

And freshly announced 72 off to Blaenavon in September

 

That reminds me of the fact that 50 years ago she spent part of the month on display in County Durham. On 31st August 1975 here she is in the cavalcade near Shildon with her infamous white painted coal.

Peter

 

Another venue for the support crew!

There was I believe another potential hire this year as well, but ultimately it didn't occur.

Tom

 

2 days after this, whilst cycling back from London to Brighton, I was overtaken by Fenchurch on its rig, still with the white coal in the bunker. It was on the long slog up over the North Downs, around Coulsdon.
Further up, they'd pulled into a layby, so I stopped and chatted to the crew of the low-loader for a while, just to catch my breath more than anything, but it's a memory which has stuck, particularly as I'd only just joined the BRPS the year before, and it was a very welcome stop on a very long and gruelling journey for me!