Bluebell Railway General Discussion

My mistake missed that. Thank you.

 

34059 will haul dining trains this weekend

29th August - Wealden Rambler
30th August - Golden Arrow Luncheon
31st August - Golden Arrow and Wealden Rambler services

33108 still rostered for A turn and 1001 on B. The O1 rostered for the SP brake van rides

 

This is subject to sufficient rainfall, of course.

If weather conditions allow, further steam hauled services may be introduced over the coming weeks.

 

From Tuesday, a full steam service will be resuming. 34059 will handle the main services, and I was told 32424 will take the dining train on Thursday. Steam services will then take a weekend off for the Diesel Gala, and continue the following Tuesday.

If anybody is able to come and visit the railway during the rest of the operating year, your support will be very much appreciated. Almost every steam heritage line will be in the same position, but the railway is considerably down on revenue from the school holidays, and the rest of the year will be crucial to the railway.

 

There are mutterings that the field on the west side of the line just South of Horsted Keynes at Station Approach (New Road Bridge I think it's officially called?) is no longer accessible. This was opposite to the side with the public footpath through, and while there has never been a public right of way to the west side field I understand that use has been 'tolerated' provided people stuck to the edges.

It would seem people have taken advantage and also been leaving litter there, and so the farmer is barring any access at all - which they are of course entitled to do. If so, it is a shame that the minority have spoilt it for the majority.

 

Does anyone know the timings of the train movements to HK for the arrivals from the main line connection today and tomorrow for the weekends gala? Was hoping the PTI would have been issued for this week to show these but guess they would be very last minute timings and impossible to know until they happen!

 

Unfortunately, this information is not available to all volunteers, but rather only to a select handful directly involved with the movements.

You can approximate from the NR time; it'll take about 10 mins to sort the gates/points/crew at EG. Some workings go through to SP, others finish at HK. This can be worked out using the diesel gala timetable, and looking at where the engine(s) in question start on Friday morning.

I am pleased to report that the diesel gala public timetable includes every single in section movement, including light engines.

 

There’s two movements tomorrow - 73128 is booked to arrive at East Grinstead at 11:40. I don’t know when this will arrive onto the Bluebell itself - likely a case of whenever the service trains are out the way. 73128 should be going down to Sheffield Park.

60028 and 50026 are booked to arrive at East Grinstead at 23:15. These two should also be going down to Sheffield Park.

 

You really were behind the scenes!

That digitisation project is on my long list to write up, it really is impressive but a long and complex story to tell, of which the digitisation is only one part. There are some volunteer opportunities in that area which will be advertised in the forthcoming issue of The Bluebell Times.

Tom

 

OOh I can look at those Mogul drawings that my father 'acquired' many years ago and I passed on to The Bluebell

And just in case anyone has any 'junk in the attic' it seems that one drawing was just the one they needed when I sent them many years ago.

 

The Beer Festival Public Timetable is now available.

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Beer_Festival_2026-PTT-FinalV1.pdf

Platforms are not yet confirmed.

The steam loco is presently intended to be 2999.

Set A should be Green Mk1s and Set B Crimson Lake & Cream Mk1s.

Buffet on Set A and Bar Car on Set B as is mentioned on the PTT.

Any questions I can do my best to answer.

 

My latest upload from the three days of lineside action during the diesel gala. Happy to say this probably my favourite ever diesel gala! While editing this video has been a slog, I hope it reflects the successes of this gala, thank you to all involved for organising such a great event!

 

Is there any additional in-service dates for 2999 and 65 this month please? I am only assuming that the current online roster is slightly out of date given the prolonged steam ban.

 

2999 will be the ‘A’ engine from this Saturday until Sunday 27th. 65 will be the WR/GAL engine this weekend.

 

The latest issue of The Bluebell Times is here.

In this issue:

• Network SouthEast-themed gala is a red, white and blue success
• Running the railway - behind the scenes
• Q class No 541 to get its Bulleid chimney back
• Volunteer opportunities - Safety director, risk assessment administrator, and drawing office and pattern shop roles
• £500 donation to Southern Railway Coach Group

You can download here: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/issue-85.pdf

Tom

 

And Tom's last issue apparrently !!
You'll be a hard act to follow and best wishes to the new editor

 

Thank you, Tom, for all your efforts in producing this over the last few years - it has been much appreciated.

As are your posts here!

Steve B

 

Thank you both. It's been 8 years really, if you include the precursor Points & Crossings (or Pointless Jottings, as it inevitably was nicknamed). That started out as an internal paper-based newsletter primarily for volunteers, compiled by the legendary Chris Cooper (a stalwart of the railway from day 1); then taken over by Nick Comfort for 100 issues, and then - after some cajoling - myself. I did 15 issues between January 2019 and March 2020 and then of course the pandemic hit, and we didn't know where we were. Paul Bromley, who was at that time the Communications Director, saw the need to have something for all stakeholders, not just volunteers - external and internal. Because those very early days of Covid felt very uncertain and had a bit of a wartime feel, he thought along the lines of the Wipers Times, and hence it became The Bluebell Times. There was no time to come up with a new template (and in any case I'd only just introduced a more consistent design for Points & Crossings) so I repurposed that template (you can see below by just how little!) The strap line "A Newsletter for Bluebell Railway Members, Staff and Supporters" I came up with, wanting to include as wide a group as possible in as short a sentence. ("Members" was designed to encompass Society and shareholders; "Staff" encompassed paid and volunteer; "Supporters" did triple duty for donors, passengers or just those who otherwise had the best interests of the railway at heart).



Originally we did an issue every two weeks: looking back, I can't imagine how, but I guess there wasn't much else to do during Covid. In the main, Paul Bromley sourced the content and I did the layout; in those early issues he just put in anything: reminiscences of days past, children's puzzles from old Stepney Club magazines, tables of statistics of our locomotives and so on. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical first off, I think because - not being well versed in the communications world - I didn't see the bigger picture of the need to keep in touch. I don't think I even promoted Issue 1 of Bluebell Times here, being somewhat doubtful that there would be an issue 2.

When the Railway tentatively reopened in August of 2020, we went back to a monthly schedule, and started to be able to report on the present, rather than the past. We also took a non-decision (as in - it just sort of happened, rather than objectively stating what was decided) that BT (external) would continue and P&C (internal) was no more. That caused a few grumbles but I think subsequent events have shown to be right. P&C was always a difficult vehicle for communicating any time-sensitive stuff in any case, and the rise of systems like HOPS has meant the Railway has a mechanism for internal comms not reliant on a monthly newsletter. HOPS can also be more easily controlled firstly to make sure that everyone on it is in fact a member of staff, and secondly that no-one should be missing, whereas distribution of P&C was always a bit hit and miss.

At some point, I can't remember when but probably about 2021 or 2022, Paul Bromley resigned as Communications Director, after which I did both the sourcing or material and laying it all out; the only bits I didn't do are publishing to the website and putting on social media, which is done by a member of the office staff. Fortunately, there are some regular contributors and normally the odd individual article or two, so it is fairly rare that I have to go and cajole someone for an article. Editorially, the various board chairmen and the COO get to see the issue before it goes out, though it is vanishingly rare that they ask for any significant change: I had a considerable latitude to shape each issue and write the editorial how I wanted, though it probably helps in that regard that I am not a natural rocker of boats.

I have to thank the many people who have submitted material for inclusion, particularly a handful of fantastic photographers. Also, to Paul, Keith and Vernon, the current three chairmen, and their predecessors; Lisa and most of all Roy Watts who has always been a source of wise advice. Now I have to handover how it all works to Nick, the new editor!

Finally, in railway terms - I'm not going anywhere: I'm still on the footplate (though having a bit of a short sabbatical at the moment for family reasons) and am taking on more of a role in the admin of the loco department. So the usual diet of over-long explanations and sarcastic one-liners will continue, here and on other threads!

Tom (no longer BT editor)