GWR "Dukedog" No.9017 "Earl of Berkeley" on 2nd November 2003 at Horsted Keynes, the weekend of its return to service after its latest overhaul.
The Bluebell Railway has the UK's largest and most comprehensive collection of ex-Southern Railway locomotives and those of its three main constituents. It also, surprisingly, has the largest collection of BR standard designs. It is rare as a UK preserved railway where you can guarantee not to be hauled by a diesel on a scheduled passenger train. Up to 2006 we even did all our shunting by steam, and on most Mondays and Thursdays the LSWR B4 (usually) could be found employed on the only regular steam shunting turn on any railway in the country. Our one non-steam loco, the Howard Rail Tractor, built for internal use within Howard's own factory complex, is petrol driven and is capable of limited shunting at low speed. It is currently undergoing a long-term overhaul at Horsted Keynes, which is nearing completion. An English Electric 1953-built 350HP shunter has been hired for a limited period to assist with the construction of the extension, and to undertake most shunting until such time as one of our suitable steam locos is overhauled.
All steam locomotives require a complete strip-down, for a boiler overhaul and insurance inspection, after ten years' operation. You can find news and photos of the current Loco overhauls here.
At any time, therefore, only a selection of our locomotives are serviceable, and there is a page specifically for these Operational Locomotives. With our oldest locos now 130 years old, the work required to keep them in a serviceable condition is, as might be expected, quite onerous. The Locomotive Roster shows the shedmaster's intention as to which locos should be in steam on any particular day.
Right: 'Fenchurch' is the oldest locomotive at the Bluebell Railway. It is seen here on the day of its public return to service, 11 February 2001, after overhaul.
The Locomotive Stock List provides access to full details of all the locomotives at the Bluebell. They range from 'Stepney' and 'Fenchurch' the two diminutive Brighton "Terriers" built in the 1870s, to the most modern, a 9F heavy freight locomotive, built for British Railways three years after the Bluebell line originally closed, and just two years before we re-opened the line.
When the Bluebell Railway started operating, steam locos were still commonplace on British Railways, and our Preservation Society aimed to purchase a representative selection of locomotives. Only locos in full working order were considered, and, as at that time the only preserved line in the country, locomotives such as the GWR "Dukedog" and the North London Railway "Dock Tank" came to the Bluebell, even though originating from outside the geographical area which the Bluebell collection aimed to represent.
Adams Radial Tank 488 had remained in use on the Lyme Regis branch long after most of its classmates had gone, and thus survived long enough to be bought by the Bluebell.
Whilst some locos on our "preservtion list" were preserved elsewhere, as other railways followed the lead given by the Bluebell, the railway none-the-less did obtain historic gems such as the Adams Radial Tank, 'Birch Grove', and the SECR P-tanks, considered second-best to a "Terrier" at first, but quickly proving their value.
However, other locos on the railway's "wanted list", such as an LBSCR K-class Mogul and the final locomotive built at Brighton, BR Standard class 4 tank No.80154, could not be afforded since the time when they were available coincided with the years when all money had to be channelled into the purchase of the freehold of the line, which had initially been leased from BR. If the purchase price of the line had not been raised then the railway would have had to close.
The last steam locos were withdrawn from BR service in 1968, and the last loco to arrive in working order was 75027 (see photo, right), purchased privately by a member of the railway, and donated to the line. At the time it was thought ridiculously large for the line, but it has since proved ideally suited, and most recently re-entered traffic after a full overhaul in 1997.
In the 1970s the loco fleet continued to expand, most notably by the influx of locomotives which had initially been preserved at Ashford and Longmoor. At the same time improvements to the workshop facilities, and the construction of the locomotive works, enabled full overhauls to be undertaken. One new arrival was Southern Railway U-class No 1618, which had been one of the first locos to be rescued from Barry scrapyard. The success of this locomotive led to many more ex-Barry "wrecks" arriving at Sheffield Park, and many of these have subsequently returned to traffic.
No 92240 was the first of the ex-Barry scrapyard BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 Heavy Freight locomotives to be restored to working order on a heritage railway. The restoration took 12 years, and included the construction of a new tender body in our own workshop.
The SER O1 in action at the SECR Centenary Gala Weekend
Photo © Jon Horrocks
One of the latest locomotives to arrive is another of the exhibits at the former Ashford Steam Centre. South Eastern Railway O1-class 0-6-0 No 65 has been hidden from public view for the last 20 years, but has now been restored to working order at Sheffield Park, re-entering service on 5th August 1999, the centenary of the formation of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway.
The Bulleid Society's Pacific, 21C123, 'Blackmoor Vale' returned to steam in August 2000. This is still, 25 years after it first appeared in this guise, the only preserved Bulleid pacific to carry full Southern Railway malachite green livery.
British Railways Class 4 Tank locomotive No.80151 is the newest Brighton-built locomotive in preservation, having been built in 1957. It returned to steam on the Bluebell Railway in October 2001, after rescue from Barry scrapyard, and many years of repair, initially at Chappel & Wakes Colne.
The Bluebell Railway Atlantic Project - Something for the future.
Details of this exciting project are available explaining how we are progressing well with the long-term scheme to build a replica LBSCR Atlantic, based around an identical GNR atlantic boiler and using many genuine LBSCR parts which have been obtained in the last few years.
The Bluebell Standard Class 2 Project is also now making progress. Details of the project are available, as are news reports on progress on the conversion of an ex-Barry scrapyard 2-6-0 to the 2-6-2 tank version, which would otherwise be un-represented in preservation.
If you fancy having a go at driving a steam loco, you can join the Loco Dept as a cleaner and work your way up through the grades through Fireman to Driver.
Our own Martin Nichols has written a description about how a locomotive injector works.
Lewis Nodes has provided a Photo feature on Boiler repairs.
For other details of how steam locomotives work, we are very pleased to be able to provide this link to our neighbours at the KESR - the information is in their "Technical Area".
Copyright © 6 August 1997 by Richard Salmon.