The Bluebell Railway's Extension:
Latest Progress towards East Grinstead

We now plan to extract the rubbish from Imberhorne Cutting by rail

Photo report of progress over the last 4 months, 28 January 2010

Report of the Open Weekend at East Grinstead Station, 10-11 October 2009

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An important way we plan to raise the funds required to complete our extension is as the major part of our 50th Anniversary Appeal - please support us by making a donation.

Another element of this year's fund-raising is the sale of "Tenner for the Tip" certificates.
Each one will pay for the removal of a quarter of a ton of the waste material from the tip,
which is all that now separates us from East Grinstead.

Bluebell Railway plc shares are still available for purchase by Bluebell Railway Preservation Society members (and non-members may of course join to become eligible). Details are available for how to purchase shares by installments, or with a lump sum payment from the Society.

See also a trackbed tour from Kingscote to East Grinstead, the Interactive map of the East Grinstead Extension, which shows the extent of track laying and photos of the progress made, and Lineside News.

October 2009 to January 2010

It was announced in the Winter edition of Bluebell News that we now plan to extract the rubbish from the tip by train, 1000 tons per day, each train saving 50 lorry movements. We will be starting this later in the spring, once we have laid track down from East Grinstead to the north end of the tip, initally as a 1-week trial to prove the feasibility and costings.

Removal in this manner has numerous advantages. Quite apart from the obvious one of taking lorries off the roads, it requires much less infrastructure on site at Imberhorne, so enabling an operation that can economically be switched on and off as the money is available. It will also be cheaper, thus enabling us to reach East Grinstead sooner. But we still need your donations and contributions to fund the removal!

The following photos are from Michael Hopps.

1 October 2009: Laying down and levelling sand on the viaduct before the membrane is laid, and the side of the viaduct which will carry the track, ready for the membrane.

15 October 2009: Positioning the rolls of membrane, a heavy job done with the help of the digger, and a delivery of ballast being carefully levelled.

21 October 2009: The sand has been levelled on the access road and drainage and duct pipes are in position. The original crushed brick scrapings from viaduct are seen being put back on top of the membrane in the access road.

11 November 2009: Foundation trench dug ready for the relay cabinet slab. Most of the drainage pipes and ducting have now been covered - access chambers are being formed at duct junctions, for wall lighting and signalling cables.

18 November 2009: Some very expensive glue is needed to stick the two membrane sheets together! The main drainage pipe is wrapped and ready to cover with ballast. The smaller tubes are the ducting.

23 November 2009: This access chamber unfortunately now has to be moved before Network Rail come to slew their track across 9 inches. Construction of the retaining wall for the relay cabinet slab is well under way despite the atrocious weather conditions!

December 2009: Nearly there! The last few feet of ducting before the end of the viaduct are covered. The first ballast laid beyond the viaduct, with the trenching for cable ducts being dug as far as the cattle creep.

4 January 2010: It had been wet, but now it's a bit frosty! Rails for the viaduct, ready and waiting, and digging the foundations for the front platform wall. Below we see some woodworking going on as the shuttering for the retaining wall capping is nailed together.

20 January 2010: The Wednesday gang, clearing scrub on the embankment between the viaduct and Hill Place Farm bridge.

10-11 October 2009

The weekend was a great success, with so many people arriving on the Saturday morning that there were queues to buy admission tickets. These photos provide a flavour of what was on show. Over 1300 people attended the event.

The photos above are from David Middleton, showing the north face of the rubish tip, and the viaduct with drainage and ballast going in. Derek Hayward's photo from Hill Place Farm Bridge, shows some of the visitors walking up the trackbed between the viaduct and the tip.

As part of the event we launched our guide to East Grinstead Station, a booklet which details the history of the original station, our own progress to date and our future plans. This is available from the Sales and Information office at Sheffield Park for £2.50.

Prints of the painting (used on the cover of the booklet, right) by Matthew Cousins, showing our planned platform and water tower at East Grinstead, are available to anyone making a donation of £50 or more to the fund to build the water tower - phone the Sales and Information office on 01825 720800.

Photos are also available from Derek Hayward (including current pictures of the viaduct, Hill Place Farm cutting and bridge), and from Ken Upton, Simon Smith, Ashley Smith

The first photo below (all are from, and copyright by, Derek Hayward) shows the scrapings from the viaduct stored alongside the trackbed, for later re-use as platform in-fill. The second photo shows the progress with building the platform, with the blockwork back wall complete and awaiting capping, and the construction of the brickwork front wall. The final photo shows the point which separates Bluebell running tracks from our Network Rail connection, with the start of the track into the platform on the right. The pipes stored on the track are for use in the drainage and rainwater harvesting scheme which will supply the water tower on the station site, via a sump and storage tank beneath the tower.