The Bluebell Railway's Locomotives

1. Operational Locos
2. Locos under overhaul
3. Locos on static display
4. Bluebell Locos on loan elsewhere
5. Locos formerly based on the Bluebell

Operational Locomotives

No. 5199 spent much of its working life in the Birmingham area, mainly on local passenger trains. After withdrawal and 22 years in Woodham's scrapyard at Barry, No.5199 moved to Toddington in 1985, and on to Llangollen in 1988 where restoration progressed steadily (with some work done at Long Marsden) leading to its return to steam in February 2003. The locomotive has since been a regular performer at Llangollen. In late 2007 the wheels required re-tyring, which has been undertaken at the South Devon Railway.

The loco arrived at Sheffield Park on Friday 25th April 2008, for a period of hire expected to last for the whole of 2008.

After the amalgamation of the SER and the LCDR in 1899 it fell to Harry Wainwright to put some order into the locomotive designs the new company inherited. The C-class was his standard goods design, and served the SECR, and in turn the SR and BR, well. The steam powered reverser on this locomotive was most successful, and this design was to be found on goods and shunting engines built by the SECR and the SR for more than 40 years afterwards.

Preserved initially at Ashford Works, it moved to the Bluebell in 1970, and finally entered service in 1975 after work on its boiler and a badly damaged axle journal. Its 1994 overhaul at the hands of volunteers saw it returned to service with a spare overhauled tender which we had been fortunate enough to obtain. In 2006-7 we overhauled the spare boiler which we have for this locomotive, since the firebox of the existing boiler was deemed beyond repair. Mechanically the locomotive was in reasonable order, although the condition of the cylinders may determine how long it runs after overhaul; it is thought likely to require a new cylinder block at a subsequent overhaul. It returned to service on 8th October 2007.

One of two U-class locomotives on the Bluebell Railway, both coming via Barry scrapyard, this one was privately purchased and donated to the Bluebell. It has been placed on long-term loan to the Maunsell Locomotive Society, who also own 1618, and was their main restoration project for over a decade. Having lost its tender whilst at Barry, a new one has been built, starting from the remains of a snowplough which in turn had been created using a Schools class locomotive tender as its base. The loco steamed for the first time in preservation in February 2006.

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Nicknamed "Dukedogs" since they were an amalgamation a Bulldog and a Duke, the parts of this loco are thus actually older than the "building" date suggests. The 1938 rebuild of 3217 used the frames from "Bulldog" No.3425 (built 1906) and boiler and cab from "Duke" class No.3282 (originally named "Chepstow Castle" and built in 1899).

A few of the class carried the names of Earls, but 3217 did not receive its allocated name until preservation days. At the time the Earls in question indicated to the GWR that, if their names were to be used, they would prefer their names on something a little more prestigious, and so they were transferred to new Castle class locomotives.

This class of locos was widely used on the Cambrian lines. At the time this loco was saved for preservation the Bluebell was the only line where it could run, and it has been in Sussex ever since, apart from a few years spent at the Great Western Society, at Didcot.

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The 4MT tank locomotives were closely linked to the last years of the Bluebell line, and although the last Brighton-built locomotive, 80154, escaped preservation, the Bluebell now plays host to three other members of the class, all one-time residents of Barry scrapyard. 80151 arrived from another preservation site in 1998 and returned to steam after the completion of its overhaul in October 2001.

Stroudley's famous Terriers survived for decades after more modern designs had been scrapped, working on lightly laid Branch lines. Fenchurch was sold to the Newhaven Harbour Company, being light enough to cross a bridge within the docks. It came back into Southern Railway ownership, and continued for many years to work at Newhaven. It came to the Bluebell in 1964, having been for a number of years a celebrity as the oldest locomotive working on British Railways.

Bulleid's Light Pacifics were revolutionary in many respects, and brought a great enhancement of available power to lightly laid West Country lines which hitherto had been unable to accept the more modern Southern Railway express locos. Many Bulleid Pacifics are preserved thanks to Barry scrapyard, but "Blackmoor Vale" came to the Bluebell via initial preservation at Longmoor, having been one of the last Bulleid Pacifics running on BR. Unlike many of its classmates, it was not rebuilt, retaining Bulleid's "Air-smoothed" casing and oil-bath-enclosed valve gear. The changes to the loco's name are explained elsewhere.

Having operated for a decade, following restoration in 1976, the locomotive again returned to steam, being recommissioned on 19th August 2000, following a comprehensive overhaul.

Built at Ashford as an "O" class locomotive, it received a rebuild to class "O1" in 1908, and ran on until finally withdrawn in 1961. In 1963 it was purchased by Mr Lewis-Evans and kept at Ashford Steam Centre until its closure. Thereafter its location was something of a mystery until it was brought to the Bluebell Railway for overhaul, and was returned to steam for the centenary of the amalgamation of the SER and the LCDR in August 1999.

0-6-0s were the commonest locomotives in this country, and the Bluebell now hosts a sequence of four unique survivors of this type, demonstrating their development through the first half of the 20th century, from the O1 through the SECR C-class to Maunsell's Q-class built by the Southern Railway.

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Stroudley's famous Terriers survived for decades after more modern designs had been scrapped, working on lightly laid Branch lines. Here these diminutive engines were often the only engines light enough to cross some particular bridge. In later years "Stepney" was particularly associated with the Hayling Island branch, until sold to the Bluebell Railway in May 1960 as our first locomotive.

Repainted into Stroudley's famous "Improved Engine Green" gamboge livery, it has been a favourite of many children, and some of those children are now introducing their own children to "Stepney the Bluebell Engine". In spite of its fame, "Stepney" has spent considerable periods out of traffic in its forty years on the Bluebell, but its popularity always causes it to bounce back to the top of the railway's priorities.

Note: Boiler Certificates. Steam locomotive boilers are certificated by the Insurance Company's inspector, initially for seven years from the date of pressure testing after overhaul. The dates given above assume that a mid-term boiler examination/test allows an extension to a full ten-year term. At the end of this period, unless a futher short extension is granted, the locos must be taken out of service for a boiler overhaul including a complete re-tube, and it is also usual at this time to undertake a full mechanical overhaul.

1. Operational Locos
2. Locos under overhaul
3. Locos on static display
4. Bluebell Locos on loan elsewhere
5. Locos formerly based on the Bluebell