Bluebell Railway - 50^th Anniversary Events

The Bluebell Railway Preservation Society was founded in March 1959. We took occupation of Sheffield Park Station in May 1959 and ran our first train over the line in May 1960, leading up to the formal opening that August.
Therefore, over the coming year or so we are planning a series of 50^th Anniversary Events, which will be listed here as the details become known.

• Founders' reunion (17 June 2009)
• Behind Bluebell: Open Day (12 Sept 2009)
• Weekends: 27th Feb to 28 March Train Services from the past 50 years
  With the line closed between Horsted Keynes and Kingscote for 5 weeks, it gives us an opportunity to kick start the 50th Anniversary Celebrations by recreating train services from the past 50 years of the Bluebell Railway. More details here.
• Sat 22 & Sun 23 May Bluebell Open Day and Stepney's Birthday
  An opportunity to see behind the scenes in the workshops, Pullmans and other parts of the railway not normally open to the public. Plus celebrate 50 years since Stepney first arrived at the Bluebell Railway.
• Fri 6 to Sun 8 August 50th Anniversary Celebrations
  Our 50th Birthday Party with visiting engines and many other attractions:
  • Visit of "Tornado"
  • Visit of Furness Railway No.20

Details of all the other Special Events during the year.

• August 2010 - Visit of "Tornado"

  The first visiting guest locomotive we have secured to attend our 50^th anniversary celebrations in August 2010 will be none other than Peppercorn "A1" Pacific 60163 "Tornado".

  This really is a unique visit. 60163 will visit the railway for the first 2 weeks in August 2010, possibly longer but that will be dependent on its main line commitments and we are very grateful to Graeme Bunker, Mark Allatt and the A1 Trust for the great privilege of allowing this special locomotive to visit our Railway and participate in our celebrations.

  To make this a landmark event and show Bluebell off at its very best, we are negotiating for other locomotives - will your favourite loco (or coach!) be coming? Watch this space!

  At the moment the plans are that "Tornado" will arrive by road, but how good would it be to have the loco arrive on the railway under its own steam through East Grinstead? If we can raise the remaining money to complete our extension by then, it could happen!

Tim Easter's photo (above) was taken on 25th April 2009 during the London to Edinburgh run filmed for the BBC "Top Gear 1949" race to the North. Those here were taken by him on 14th February 2009 at Lyne and Woking-St-Johns.

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• August 2010 - Visit of Furness Railway No.20

  We can now confirm a second visitor for our 50th Anniversary celebrations in August 2010: Furness Railway No.20, which is owned by the Furness Railway Trust. Together with "Tornado", this means we will have both the oldest (built in 1863) and the newest (completed in 2008) steamable main-line engines to help us celebrate 50 years of standard gauge preservation.

  This photograph (by Ray/Tall Fool), showing No.20 at Haverthwaite on 23 July 2006, is reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

With the line closed between Horsted Keynes and Kingscote for five weeks whilst we relay the track through the tunnel, it gives us an opportunity to kick start the 50th Anniversary Celebrations by recreating train services over the past 50 years of the Bluebell Railway.
Fares: will be the usual "One Stop" prices. Return tickets will allow unlimited travel for the day, except that the "1990" extension shuttle to Horsted House Farm will be charged at an additional £5 per person.
Please note: Kingscote Station is closed during this time.

Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March
Timetable from 1972 season

Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March
Timetable from 1983 season

Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March
Timetable from 1990 season

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th February, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th March
Timetable from 1963 season
SECR P-class loco No.178 made its preservation debut 27-28 February.
N.B. Trains will pause at the sites of former halts, but passengers will not be able to leave or join trains at these points.

1963 was the last year in which Horsted Keynes saw an electric service from Haywards Heath, and the once-electrified platform 2 will be host to the Southern Electric Group's 4 Cor motor coach No.11201 coupled to our three contemporary Southern Railway carriages, to enhance the re-creation. The 4 Cor motor coach will be open to visitors.

• Saturday 12th September 2009 - Behind Bluebell: Open Day

  To launch our 50^th anniversary celebrations we held an open day, enabling people to come and discover the Bluebell Railway from a behind-the-scenes perspective and see 50 years of railway preservation at work.

• Founders' Reunion

  On Wednesday, 17 June 2009, the four original students that thought up the idea of the Bluebell Railway in 1959, and were instrumental in organising the original meeting in Haywards Heath where the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society came into being, attended a grand reunion at Sheffield Park Station. The founder members and other invited guests toured Sheffield Park Shed, the Workshops, the Brighton Atlantic project, the Carriage and Wagon Works and the signal box at Horsted Keynes.

  Pictures are available from Derek Hayward, including the one on the right, which shows (from left to right): Alan Sturt, Chris Campbell, Bernard Holden MBE (who chaired that inaugural meeting, and is now our President), David Dallimore and Martin Eastland.

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