Bluebell Railway Blog:
Archive 2020

Please be aware that due to the historical nature of this page, some of the links on it may be out of date.

Archive of the Blog/What's New pages

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• Update from the Brighton Atlantic Project.
   
  Fred Bailey's photo shows the clothing sheets fitted to the firebox. There is much more detail and other news and photos in the update.

• Wishing all our members and supporters a very happy New Year. Here's to 2021!

• Jack Lamb's photo on the right shows one of the SteamLights services on 7 December. These services were very well received by our visitors, and should have been continuing through January, but are now sadly curtailed by the Tier 4 restrictions.

• We have a great Virtual Tour of Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes at Christmas.

• Two videos from Keith Duke covering some of the spectacular SteamLights event: The switch-on of the lights on 11 December, and a SteamLights departure from Sheffield Park on 22 December.

• Our Santa Specias ran in a very different format this year, with social distancing in place throughout, using compartment stock, and again appeared to go down well with our visitors. Jack Lamb's photo below shows the S15 with one of the Santa trains returning to East Grinstead at sunset, using our Edwardian and Victorian carriages.

• Above and right are photos from David Cable taken during Jon Bowers' photo charter with the Maunsell S15 goods loco (minus smoke deflectors) and a rake of goods wagons.

• The Bluebell Railway Goods Division is the rapidly growing group of volunteers fundraising for and physically maintaining and overhauling our wagon fleet. They have just set up a new online fundraising shop on SquareSite.

• A new video compilation from Lee Andrew Davies features LBSCR Locomotives 55 'Stepney', 672 'Fenchurch' and B473 'Birch Grove' running on the Bluebell.

• Update to the web page for the Bulleid Q1 locomotive, which was on loan to Bluebell from the National Railway Museum between 1977 and 2004.

• Update to the web page for Pullman Car 76, which has now been sold.
   
  We currently have five other carriages available for sale.

• The latest Government announcement has placed East and West Sussex into Tier 4 (Stay at Home) from Boxing Day. As a result, the Railway is closed from this date and services from 27 December have been cancelled until further notice. *Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for information about reopening.
  • Our customer services team will be contacting all customers with an affected booking as soon as possible. We are receiving a very high volume of enquiries at the moment, so we ask for patience and understanding at this difficult time. If you have emailed us already, please be assured your email has been logged and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
  • Our services on 24 December will be operating as planned.

14 December

• The December issue of The Bluebell Times is out now!
  • An end-of-year message and reflections on 2020 from senior Bluebell Railway personnel are included in the latest issue.
  • Issue 15 also contains a special Christmas greeting from the Railway's chaplain as well as a report and photos on the start of the SteamLights service with illuminated trains and lineside displays.
  
  
• Our new SteamLights service was included during the BBC South East programme on 10 December. Watch a clip here.
  • Keith Duke's new album includes photos of our new SteamLights service, which is lighting up the winter nights between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes.
  • Tickets are available to book for all services up to 31 January here.

7 December

• The Bluebell Railway reopened to the public on Thursday 3 December.
  • Our brand new SteamLights service began on Thursday 3 December, and will be lighting up the winter nights on selected dates until 31 January. The photo on the right shows No. 73082 hauling a SteamLights service over the weekend (Credit: Hannah Louise Photography).
  • We are also running Santa Specials and Festive Afternoon Tea services on selected dates in the run up to Christmas.
  
  
• Restaurant Miniature Buffet (RMB) No. 1838 has now returned to Bluebell Railway. The buffet vehicle arrived back at Sheffield Park on 3 December, after having structural repairs at Cranmore Traincare & Maintenance Services.

30 November

• The Bluebell Railway will be reopening and running services again from Thursday 3 December in line with the Government's lifting of the national lockdown in England and complying with the relevant tier restrictions.
  • Please see our full post-lockdown announcement here.
  • All services must be pre-booked. You can book tickets here.
  
  
• The Bluebell Railway ran 'ghost trains' over the weekend ahead of our reopening on Thursday. These trains travelled the whole line from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead. Russell Pearce's photo on the right captures No. 73082 'Camelot' on Saturday.
   
  
• We are pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted for two prestigious railway heritage awards.
  • The Bluebell Times and out reopening marketing video have been shortlisted by the Heritage Railway Association. Read the full story here.
  
  
• A report from our Infrastructure department details the work involved in the Line Side Vegetation Clearance Recovery Scheme. This took place ahead of our reopening in August.
  • This project was made possible by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund Emergency Grant Scheme.
  
  
• Our locomotive roster for December is now available to view here.

• The November issue of The Bluebell Times is now available to download here.
   
  
• The Infrastructure department has created a report of the emergency track repairs near the Eye Hospital between Kingscote and East Grinstead. You can read the report here.
  • This project was made possible by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund Emergency Grant Scheme. This scheme provided up to £250,000 to sustain heritage organisations during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Bluebell Railway was pleased to receive a grant for the maximum amount.
  
  
• The latest issue of RailDirector includes an interview with Vernon Blackburn, chairman of The Bluebell Railway Trust. Vernon discusses the funding lifeline given to heritage railways by various grants including the Culture Recover Fund. You can read the full article here.
   
  
• Tests for our upcoming SteamLights services took place earlier this month, ahead of the first scheduled service on 3 December. Please visit our Facebook page for updates and photos.
  • Tickets for our new January SteamLights dates are now on sale. Join us as we light up the winter nights!
  
  
• We will also be running various dining trains over the seasonal period, including Festive Afternoon Tea and a New Year's Eve Gala Luncheon.

• The Bluebell Railway has cancelled all planned services from Thursday 5 November to Wednesday 2 December in line with the new national lockdown restrictions.
  • The well-stocked shop at Sheffield Park station will be shut but it will still be operating online with a range of books, gifts, souvenirs and model railway items.
  
  
• The Government has said it will look to return to a regional approach at the end of the four-week period depending on the health data. This means we currently plan to run our scheduled services from 3 December onward but this will be kept under review. We will make further announcements to keep staff, volunteers and customers informed when the situation is clearer.
  • Please read the full statement from Christoper Hunford, Chairman, Bluebell Railway Plc here.
  
  
• Our customer services team will be contacting all customers who have booked tickets for services between 5 November and 2 December.
  • We are pleased to announce that we have extended our SteamLights service into January and our customer services team will be in touch with all customers booked on a cancelled service to offer an alternative date.
  • Please find more infomation about all our affected services here.

• October's issue of the monthly The Bluebell Times is available.
   
  Issue 13 contains:
  • More details of our new winter SteamLights illuminated train service, and how you can help to light up the experience for our customers.
  • Our first post-lockdown event, a transport-themed gala 'Off the Rails'
  • An update on the plans to celebrate '60+1' years of operating as a heritage line
  • Help support the Railway at no cost to yourself
  • Searching railway auction catalogues for items of interest
  • A day on the footplate with a visiting charter
  • Down Memory Line and On This Day
  • Guess the Year and Word Search puzzles
  • And much, much more...
  You can download the latest edition here.

• The H-class is seen here running through Horsted Keynes with 'The Pioneer' on Saturday (Richard Salmon).
   
  
• It's good to report that 73082 'Camelot' was also back in action over the weekend after some attention to its firebox in recent weeks, and there are photos of it running on The 73082 Camelot Locomotive Society's Facebook Page.
   
  
• John Sandys has provided photo albums from this Saturday and Friday 2 October.
   
  
• To supplement his new Goods Train gallery Derek Hayward has now added a collection from visits to the Railway by Scammell Mechanical Horses.

• David Cable's photo here, and a second below from last Saturday, show one of the last runs of P-class 178 before expiry of its boiler certificate earlier this week. Whilst the boiler is thought to be in good shape for another overhaul, the locomotive does require a new cylinder block. A new P-class block has already been cast and machined for Project 27, so making one for 178 is also planned, once the first one has been proved successful.
   
  
• We are pleased to report that our application to the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage provided by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport was successful, and we have been awarded a grant of £727,200. You can read more in our press release here, and we are expecting significant press coverage, including on BBC Radio Sussex and ITV Meridian.
   
  The timing for the application process was very tight, and those staff and volunteers who put together the highly detailed and costed information required in just over two weeks clearly did a superb job on it. Our thanks to them!
   
  
• The Bessemer Arms at Sheffield Park has reopened for table service.
   
  
• Derek Hayward has collated a collection of 150 images of Goods trains on the Bluebell Railway.
  Goods trains will be a feature of our forthcoming Special Event, Off the Rails. Book on a special two-train enhanced service of The Pioneer and transport yourself to a bygone era when railway stations were a hub for the transportation of goods on and off the rails. (24, 25, 31 October and 1 November)

• The Autumn issue of Bluebell News will be a printed edition and is being posted out to BRPS members shortly.
   
  In addition, the Spring and Summer issues - which had been digital only - are also being printed and mailed to members at the same time.
   
  The decision to produce digital copies of the quarterly magazine was taken entirely due to the extenuating financial and logistical circumstances caused by the shutdown.
   
  We promised to resume the standard magazine format at the earliest opportunity and so all three issues will be sent out at the same time.
   
  You can read digital copies of the Spring and Summer editions here.
   
  
• We've just got the first seat cushions back from the trimmers, so the first compartment of the Bluebell's Hastings-line SR Maunsell Brake, No. 3687, is looking ever more complete, as seen below. The material is a reproduction of an original Southern Railway 1930s' "Jazz pattern" moquette. As always in this blog, you can click on any photo for an enlargement.

• Due to the iminent expiry of its boiler certificate, this weekend is the last time for the present that we are able to run SECR P-class No. 178. It is double heading the Pioneer trains (11am and 2pm departures from Sheffield Park) with H-class 263 on both days. Keith Duke's two photos show the pair at Sharpthorne Tunnel today, and more of Keith's photos can be found here.
   
  
• All our initially published dates for Santa Specials have sold out, and so we have arranged for Father Christmas to visit us on two additional dates, for which booking is now available.
   
  
• Short video compilation featuring our SECR H-class running over recent years, and at the Warley Model Railway Exhibition, by Lee Andrew Davies.
   
  
• Along with the second of Keith's photos below is one taken by David Chappell at Kingscote today, with the two SECR locomotives coupled to SECR Hundred-seater No. 1098 waiting to return to Sheffield Park.

• The SECR H-class has returned to steam after an intermediate overhaul, which has seen the big-end journals on its crank axle reground to the correct profile using a machine manufactured to the Bluebell's own designs, and is seen here about to pass through Horsted Keynes on the first "Pioneer" service of the day, on Saturday (Richard Salmon).

• SECR H-class No. 263 is seen on arrival at Kingscote, also on Saturday (David Chappell).
   
  
• Southern Railway Q-class No. 30541 arriving at Horsted Keynes on Saturday with the empty coaching stock for the final "The Rocket" lunchtime special of the season (Richard Salmon).
   
  "The Blue Belle " luncheon dining train continues through October until 1 November.

• The Maunsell Locomotive Society's S15 No. 847 has also been back in action, and was running on Sunday 20 September carrying a wreath on the smokebox in memory of Frank Glue, who passed away recently after a stroke, at the age of 74. Frank was a skilled engineer and fitter and therefore was a key member of the MLS working group. He had worked with the gang for over 20 years on the restoration of U-class 1638, and the overhaul of 847 and 'Stowe'. A tribute will appear in the next Bluebell News and the MLS Newsletter. This photo is courtesy of David Jones.

• Peter Edwards' photo shows the Maunsell S15 No. 847 at Sheffield Park shortly before departure with the Wealden Rambler Afternoon Tea train on Saturday (12 September).
   
  
• The Government has announced changes limiting the number of people who can meet socially from today (14 September). This means visitors to the Bluebell Railway have to be in groups of six people or fewer unless you are visiting as a household or support bubble which is larger than six.
  Please find our updated Covid-19 Safety Measures here.
   
  
• The Bulleid Society's Latest News page has been updated adding a picture of No. 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair's firebox in the workshop at Sheffield Park, showing work on the stay heading.

• September's issue of the now monthly The Bluebell Times is available. It contains details of the Bluebell Railway's Heritage Emergency Fund grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and plans for the autumn/winter.
   
  Issue 12 also contains:
  • Two reports on the completion of the Accessible Steam Heritage (ASH) project in SteamWorks! with the installation of a ramp for footplate access and new buffer stops.
  • The story behind the Elton John album cover photo opportunity
  • More tales of working goods trains
  • A debate over the colour of 'The Bluebell Railway' nameplate
  • Guess the Year and Word Search puzzles
  • And much, much more...
  You can download the latest edition here.

• These two road steam engines will be on display at Sheffield Park Station this Saturday, between 10:30 and 3:30. They were photographed by Reuben Smith when they also visited last Sunday.
   
  The Marshall general purpose traction engine was built in 1908 and named 'Jess'. It spent its working life in Tasmania, Australia, was brought back to the UK 15 years ago and is now fully restored.
   
  The Aveling and Barford steam roller was built in 1938 and named 'Roll on'. It spent its working life in Mansfield as a hard core roller. It was one of the last steam rollers built for the UK market (after the closure of Aveling & Porter) and retired in 1966.
   
  We are running services all weekend. Book tickets here.

• You can now purchase platform-only tickets at Sheffield Park Station! These tickets are available on Saturday and Sundays and cost £3 per adult and £1.50 per child. Visitors can explore the Museum and SteamWorks! If we have compartments available on "The Pioneer" services, on the day tickets are available for £18 per adult and £9 per child. These tickets are subject to availability so we advise booking in advance to avoid disappointment.
   
  
• David Chappell's photo, taken last Sunday while he was working with the Sunday track gang shows SECR O1-class No. 65 with the first "The Pioneer" service of the day just south of Waterworks.
   
  
• Video from John Harwood of the "Wealden Rambler" Afternoon Tea Train at Kingscote on Thursday 10 September. Tickets for these trains can be booked here.
   
  
• The Locomotive Department Reunion planned for late October has been postponed to 2021.

• The Bluebell Railway has been given a £250,000 grant to help it survive through the winter.
   
  The money is from The National Lottery Heritage Fund's Heritage Emergency Fund which was set up to give grants of up to £250,000 to help organisations affected by Covid-19.
   
  Read the full news release here.
   
  In addition, the Railway's own emergency appeal, launched in March, and has raised nearly £400,000 so far from donations and a "virtual" track walk. The appeal is still open because of the continued uncertainty over coronavirus.
   
  
• Richard Salmon's photo shows the Q-class entering Horsted Keynes, passing the pump house, with the tea-time dining service on Monday 31 August.

• Update to the web page, adding a recent photograph, for former "Queen of Scots" BR Mk.1 Composite Sleeping Car No. 2442. This carriage is currently being offered for sale.
   
  
• Additional image added to the web page for Caledonian Railway carriage No. 3339, which returned to Scotland over four decades ago.
   
  
• Updates to the following web pages for some of our Southern Railway Maunsell carriages: Brake Composite No. 6575, Hastings-line Third Brake No. 3687, and Third Brake No. 3724
   
  
• Video from John Harwood showing the lunchtime Fish & Chip train Friday 28 August - these trains have proved very popular, and can be booked here.

• Tickets are now available for our Santa Specials!
   
  
• Peter Edwards's photo shows the Maunsell Q-class at Vaux End with the Metropolitan carriages on 22 August 2020.
   
  
• The Bulleid Society's Latest News page has a further photo from South Devon Railway (Engineering) showing the almost complete new inner firebox for 21C123 'Blackmoor Vale'.
   
  
• We are offering Elton John fans the opportunity to re-create one of his album covers!
   
  
• Paul Booth's dramatic photo below shows the sole surviving Southern Region "Standard Arthur" No. 73082 'Camelot' at Leamland Bridge attacking the start of the 2-mile 1-in-75 climb up to the tunnel with the dining train a couple of weeks ago in damp conditions.
   
  
• We are pleased to announce availability of our 60th Anniversary First Day Cover which was carried on the first train on our Diamond Anniversary on 7 August 2020. Produced in conjunction with Buckingham Covers, it is signed by the Driver and Fireman.

• • New for 2020: SteamLights Tickets (per compartment) are now available to book online.
     
    Sparkle, glow and shimmer on a magical steam train covered by thousands of colourful lights - see this video.
     
    These are in addition to our normal Santa Specials, booking for which should commence later this month.
     
    Update: The initial tickets released sold out very quickly; we will be releasing more tickets and more dates over the coming days.

• Sue Bell so enjoyed her journey on last Wednesday's Fish & Chip train that she sent us this photo montage.
   
  
• Updates to the web pages for two of the four SECR Birdcage Brakes at the Bluebell, Nos. 3363 and 950, and for Goods Brake vans Army 49018 and GWR "Toad" 17908.
   
  
• Other recent videos added to our Youtube Channel, many being from the Tom Martin Film Collection, including a series of through railtours, and later on, various locomotives at other preservation sites before they moved to the Bluebell, and past Bluebell anniversaries and events:
  • Bluebell Model Railway Gala - part 2,
  • Dr Beeching on the Blue Belle Special, 1 April 1962,
  • The Victory Belle, 21 October 1962,
  • The Spring Belle, 31 March 1963,
  • The Bluebell's 5th Anniversary, 8 August 1965,
  • The Bluebell's 10th Anniversary, 2 August 1970,
  • Mr Pastry visits the Bluebell Railway, October 1964,
  • A trip up the line with No. 55 Stepney,
  • Steam Powered Visitors, 1990 and 1996,
  • Raising the Standards,
  • Maunsell's Masterpiece and Veteran Tanks,
  • Ashford Centre Open Day, 1968,
  • Lineside Interlude,
  • Terrier Tanks and the re-creation of the Hayling Island Branch,
  • The Last of the Line, (S15 No. 847),
  • Bluebell 100, 1982 ('Rocket' and the Centenary Cavalcade),
  • Giants of Steam, 1990,
  • Memories of Longmoor and the Bluebell Connection, 1968 - 1970,
  • Bluebell Cavalcade, 1976,
  • The Scottish Belle, 15 September 1963.

• Issue 11 of The Bluebell Times is now available, and is a special edition in more ways than one.
   
  It is the first official publication by the Bluebell Railway since reopening. It also focuses almost entirely on the events to mark the resumption of services and the celebrations for our 60th birthday.
   
  There are extensive reports and photos of the Grand Reopening at Sheffield Park station as well as the sight of steam trains on the line once again.
   
  The view from the platforms and from the footplate are covered in depth alongside the Virtual Gala for those who couldn't be there for the anniversary weekend.
   
  You can download the latest edition here.
   
  
• We have just released tickets for September!
   
  We will be running a range of services and dining trains, including the Wealden Rambler Afternoon Tea, The Rocket Lunch Train, Cream Tea Riviera and The Blue Belle Evening Dining Train.
   
  More carriages will also be added to The Pioneer service - so we have reduced our September prices to £75 for a third class compartment and £115 for a first class compartment.
   
  See our timetables and book here.
   
  
• John Harwood provides this video of Wednesday's lunchtime dining train, "The Rocket".
   
  
• Will Hawks always produces a nicely edited video of our events, and his video of our reopening/60th Anniversary day is no exception.
   
  
• David Cable has a gallery of photos from both the Saturday and Sunday of our reopening weekend.
   
  
• Dave Bowles' has a few nice photos from re-opening day.
   
  
• Keith Duke's Flickr album from around the railway last Friday.
   
  
• Good publicity with this article on our re-opening in "Sussex Life".
   
  
• The first photo below shows No. 65 with "The Pioneer" at West Hoathly on Friday 7 August (Harry Holmes), and the second, from Sunday, shows the 3pm service on Freshfield Bank (Nick Martin).

• The next photo below shows No. 80151 with the "Cream Tea Riviera" at West Hoathly on Saturday 8 August (Peter Edwards), and the final one, 80151 with the "Breakfast Belle" passing the Wednesday Lineside Gang, captured by one of their number, Nigel Menzies, again at West Hoathly on 12 August.

• Jack Lamb's photo from Friday shows SE&CR O1-class No. 65 ready to set off from Sheffield Park.
   
  
• Here is some drone footage of the re-opening services from Friday, thanks to Flying Movies Ltd
   
  
• New on our YouTube channel: The Julian Pettifer Interview, June 1960, Model Railway Gala - part 1, Introducing Fred Miles of Horsted Keynes, (Tom Martin, 1960), The Bluebell Railway Steams Ahead, (Tom Martin, 1961 - 1964), The Brighton 'Blue Belle', (Tom Martin, 27 October 1963), 'Operation Dukedog', (Tom Martin, 1962 - 1964), Watch our footplate crew drive No. 65 on our reopening day and 60th birthday, (Martin Lawrence, 7 August 2020) Volunteering on the Line: In the Yard and on the Pullmans, (Forge Photography), Volunteering on the Line: Behind the Scenes, (Forge Photography),See our YouTube Channel for more videos which will be released through today, including: Model Railway Gala - part 2 (10am) A Trip up the Line in Stepney (4pm)
   
  
• Friday's "This Morning" on ITV featured our re-opening, now available here in case you missed it live.
   
  
• Birthday wishes from the London Transport Museum
   
  
• Great video of our reopening day from TheSoutherner
   
  
• After traveling on Friday's Riviera Tea service, regular visitors to the railway over the years the Page family kindly presented the Horsted Keynes Station Master with the birthday card they had made featuring photos they have taken on their visits, as seen in the montage below.
   
  
• No. 65 is seen at Kingscote whilst running round in Annamarie Lelew's photo.

• Tony Sullivan's photo shows the fireman of ex SE&CR O1-class No. 65, which is heading the 11.00am departure from Sheffield Park, exchanging tokens with the signalman at Horsted Keynes.
   
  
• The successful running of our Railway depends largely on the voluntary efforts of the Society's members.
   
  Watch this special behind the scenes video to see how our volunteers prepare our locomotives. With thanks to Forge Photography.
   
  
• At 10am this morning, part 1 of our Online Model Railway Gala launches on our Facebook page and on our YouTube channel.
   
  
• Good publicity yesterday on MSN.
   
  
• Neil Munro-Thomson provides a small gallery of photos taken late afternoon yesterday at West Hoathly/Sharpthorne.
   
  
• Two photos below taken by guard Jack Lamb yesterday. The first shows No. 65 running round its train at Kingscote, and in the second the fireman on 65 brings the coal forward in the tender during the layover between trains at Sheffield Park

• Diamond Anniversary Virtual Events now underway:
   
  Follow events on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
   
  
• YouTube Video - How it all Began
   
  
• ITV Meridian News
   
  
• We have been sent birthday eCards from our various supporters. Here is the card from Nicholas Owen!
   
  
• Our new webcams are now live. Enlarge them to full screen for full motion HD+ quality!
   
  
• Birthday wishes from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway Facebook video.
   
  
• We're back! Facebook video - the SECR O1 steams into the platform.
   

• Capture from one of our webcams as the 9am Members' Special sets off from Sheffield Park.
   
  
• Maria Caulfield, MP for Lewes, has sent us a birthday message, (facebook video)
   
  
• Here is the SECR O1 at the head of our Members' Special train in a video from Kevin Clark
   
  
• Andrew Savage from the Railway Heritage Trust has sent us a birthday message
   
  
• Another two captures below from our webcams - 80151 takes water at Sheffield Park whilst the O1 prepares to depart with the first public service - the 11am train, "The Pioneer", and after its departure, the Standard Tank with the dining set preparing for the 11.45am empty coaching stock departure for Horsted Keynes for "The Rocket" lunch service.

• Some photos by Chris Ward show the O1 approaching Horsted Keynes, with the SECR Birdcage brake bringing up the rear, as also seen in the photo here.
   
  
• Nick Brodrick, editor of Steam Railway, has sent us a birthday eCard to wish us a happy 60th birthday.
   
  
• Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, has sent us a birthday eCard!
   
  
• Railway chaplain Rev. David Murdoch, Vicar of St Giles Church in Horsted Keynes, came to bless our first train this morning - video thanks to Chris Chambers.
   
  
• We have received a birthday eCard from Sir Tony Robinson! Thank you for the birthday wishes.
   
  
• Reopening speech by Chairman Chris Hunford, and whistling the Members' train away - YouTube Video.
   
  
• Chris Price, General manager at North Yorkshire Moors Railway has sent us a birthday message!
   
  
• Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, has sent us a surprise birthday eCard!
   
  
• We are pleased to announce we will be celebrating our big birthday next year - with a three day extravaganza from 6 - 8 August 2021!
   
  See you there - and hopefully many times before.
   
  
• Bluebell Railway's Diamond Anniversary
  Today is our 60th birthday and we mark six glorious decades of steam.
  Our steam hauled services started 60 years ago, and today they also resume after lockdown. Tickets must be pre-booked in advance, and some trains are selling out, but it's not too late to book tickets for this weekend.
   
  
• If you can't actually visit us this weekend, we will be marking our diamond anniversary with a virtual event. From Friday 7 August until Sunday 9 August, we will be sharing extra special content across our social media and Youtube channels.
   
  You will also be able to see what's happening at Bluebell Railway in real time via our new webcams.
   
  See details of our full programme of online events which start at 7am on Friday.
   
  
• Steaming To 60 - a superb stop motion video from Max Davies.
   
  
• Burgess Hill Radio, a local Community Radio Station, will be broadcasting live from Sheffield Park Station between 7am an 1pm today, and is available on the Internet and locally on 103.8FM.

• Opening day - 7 August 1960.

  Tomorrow, after 145 days without passenger trains, we will be reopening to the public once again.

  But we have a double cause for celebration - 7 August also marks our 60th birthday and six glorious decades of steam.

  Tickets must be pre-booked, but it's not too late to book tickets for the weekend. Find out more and book your tickets here.

• Two photos taken today by Andy Kelly are a tribute to the hard work of many in our loco dept to get tomorrow's two locomotives ready for service and cleaned to perfection after so many months sitting dead. Standard 4 Tank No. 80151 and SECR O1 No. 65 are ready to haul our services.

• The Decadian - 50 years ago: in August 1970 we celebrated our tenth anniversary with Johnny Morris, double heading of P-classes 323 and 27, and the Dukedog, our "big" locomotive. Mike Floate was just 15 at the time, and these three photos were all he took that day on his Instamatic.

• Bluebell Railway's Diamond Anniversary We have a full programme of online events starting on Friday at 7am and running through the weekend.  
  
• We reopen on Friday! Last weekend we published a final update on our reopening plans. In addition to publishing an engaging video and details of our Covid-19 Safety Measures, if you are interested, we set out the steps we are taking to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission for staff and visitors in this handbook. Book tickets for our August services here.

• Two photos taken today by Mike Hopps: the first shows that sadly Taff Vale Railway No. 85 from the K&WVR which arrived just before lockdown left us today without having been used. In true Bluebell tradition it was returned in sparkling condition. The second is of the 39-ft long rail-built signal post (a lot of which will be underground) which Mike is constructing to replace the current Horsted Keynes up inner home. The current arrangement can require the erection of scaffolding blocking the track to undertake maintenance on the route indicator.

• We have been testing our new webcams today. Our new pair of webcams, on platforms 1 and 2 at Sheffield Park Station, were live for several hours today. They will next be live this coming Friday, 7 August, for our 60th Anniversary celebrations, and the resumption of our public train services. When they are live, clicking the "expand" symbol on the bottom right of the image gives full motion HD-resolution video.

• Book tickets for our August services here. You can book a private compartment for your household on "The Pioneer", or tables for 2, 3 or 4 people on our breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner trains.

• Two photos taken 7 years ago today by Nigel Sealey, feature the two visiting locos which were a mainstay of our services that year, both seen at Horsted Keynes. GWR Prairie tank No. 5521, was running at that time as London Transport L150 due to its participation in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Metropolitan Railway. BR 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 is part of the Icons of Steam fleet, and normally based on the Mid Hants Railway.

• More ghost trains running today - 4 days to reopening Book your tickets now.

• BR Standard 4 tank locomotive No. 80151 was out again today hauling our four Victorian Metropolitan Railway carriages on "ghost train" training runs. Over three days each train (three per day) has a different crew, so we will be ready for Friday's reopening with 9 complete crews who have been through refresher training.

  The photo here, by Keith Duke, was taken from Birch Farm foot crossing today. See more in Keith's gallery of photos from today.

• Brian Lacey's photos below were taken 5 years ago today, on Monday 3 August 2015, and shows the SECR C-class and H-class double heading, at the exit from the tunnel, and LBSCR E4 No. B473 at West Hoathly with LCDR/SECR coach No. 3360, restored by a team of our volunteers, and converted to carry passengers in wheelchairs, with funding provided by the Big Lottery Fund's "People's Millions" scheme a few years before.

• Ghost Trains running today - Phil Jemmison was on duty in the signal box at Horsted Keynes today, and took this great photo of No. 80151 hauling a "ghost train" consisting of the Metropolitan Railway carriages, in preparation for our reopening on Friday.

  These ghost trains are not carrying passengers - they are for staff to refamiliarise themselves with their duties and operations as well as for training ahead of reopening to the public. Please note all Bluebell Railway premises, including our stations and car parks, remain out of bounds to all until we re-open, and then are open only to pre-booked ticket holders - book your tickets now.

• Our reopening trains will be formed using these Victorian Metropolitan Railway carriages hauled by the SECR O1 as "The Pioneer", with dining services formed of our Lounge Car set hauled by No. 80151.

• Kickstart your day with a full English! Due to popular demand, we will now be serving cooked breakfasts on some days on our Breakfast Belle services - book here.

• After an interruption caused by some virus or other, the football season has finally ended, and the FA Cup Final took place yesterday. So we now have the final positions in the 2019-20 Football Competition. The competition is raising funds for the forthcoming overhaul of Southern Railway Maunsell Restaurant/Dining First No. 7864.

• On this day in 2014 our Metropolitan Railway "Chesham set" carriages were in action on London Underground to celebrate the Hammersmith & City Line's 150th anniversary. They are seen in Dan Hamblin's photo below at Westbourne Park station with Metropolitan No. 1 leading.

• That very same day, 2 August 2014, the visiting 'Tornado' was photographed at Sheffield Park by Laurel Arnison.

• Ten years ago, on 1 August 2010, Nigel Sealey photographed our SECR C-class with the Golden Arrow Luncheon Train at Leamland Bridge, on the "double track" section just north of Horsted Keynes. Whilst the thought of seeing the Atlantic on such a train in a couple of years time is enticing, the prospect of eventually having an SECR E-class 4-4-0 on that service is positively mouth-watering.

• During July 2020 there were 41,445 hits recorded on this page from 20,605 unique visitors.

• Three years ago, on 1 August 2017, Brian Lacey had the chance to spend some time at West Hoathly. Below we see the SECR H-class and Birdcage Brake on the 2.45pm service from Sheffield Park, and the S15 bursting out of the tunnel with the 1.30pm service.

7 days to go both to our 60th Anniversary and to the resumption of services.

• Issue 10 of The Bluebell Times is now available, with details of the Grand Reopening of the railway and the virtual and real 60th anniversary celebrations. There is also a round-up of what's been happening at the various stations and in different departments to prepare for welcoming back visitors and members.

  The newsletter also has a special message from the Bluebell Railway's chaplain about the importance of working together to operate a preserved steam railway.

  In Issue 10:

  • Find out why there's more to being a Train Guard than waving green flags and blowing whistles
  • A closer look at one of our industrial locomotives which featured in the 50th anniversary celebrations
  • An explanation of why train crews regard the line as effectively a staircase
  • A themed Word Search puzzle to coincide with the 60th anniversary
  • New puzzles as well as the regular favourites
  • ... and much, much more.
  You can download the latest edition here.

• With the very kind help of Eric Kemp, Derek Hayward has completely revised his gallery for East Grinstead (Low Level) Station, which now covers 1968 to the present day. There are 33 new images, mainly, but not exclusively, on pages 2 and 3. The gallery first looks south towards the Bluebell Railway station and then moves to the northern end.

• We have just released tickets for our Pie & Mash (9 October) and Curry Special (30 Ocotber) trains! Book Your Tickets now.

• We are extremely pleased to see our Golden Arrow Pullman service featured in yesterday's Daily Mail article about Britain's loveliest train journeys!

• The Railway Hub has an article celebrating 60 years of the Bluebell Line.

• The two photos show a range of Pacific super-power on the Bluebell. The first photo from 6 years ago, again shows 'Tornado', this time photographed by Peter Edwards at Holywell with the 2.45pm train from Sheffield Park on 31 July 2014 during the week long Summer Festival in 2014. The second photo, by David Haggar, shows matching Malachite green Bulleid Light Pacifics, our own 'Blackmoor Vale' with the visiting No. 34081 '92 Squadron' on 29 July 2001.

• Another photo here of 'Tornado' which swept in for seven days of action on the Bluebell six years ago. The new-build LNER A1 pacific No. 60163 is seen here on 30 July 2014 as it approaches Imberhorne Lane Bridge with a 7-coach train, in this photo by John Goss.

• Derek Hayward's photo below was from the Toy and Rail Collectors Fair weekend four years ago, showing H-class No. 263 approaching New Road Bridge on 30 July 2016.

• Nigel Sealey's photo shows "Dukedog" No. 9017 'Earl of Berkeley' just to the north of Horsted Keynes station on 24 February 2011. The current issue of Steam Railway magazine has an article about how this hybrid GWR interloper became one of the Bluebell's stalwarts.

• MORE DATES ADDED! We have just released more dates for our popular services, including The Pioneer, Cream Tea Riviera, Fish & Chips Special and the Wealden Rambler traditional Afternoon Tea!

  Please see our full list of services.

• Update to the Infrastructure News, with the latest on the OP4 carriage shed, preparations (as seen in Bruce Healey's photos below showing one of three main spans, and two of four sill beams) resuming for the rebuilding of the bridge forming Palmer's Cattle Creep, and about some infrastructure volunteer gangs returning to their duties along the line.

• No. 60163, LNER Class A1 Pacific 'Tornado' at West Hoathly station site during its visit to the Bluebell 6 years ago, 28 July 2014 (photo Nigel Sealey).

• Update to the overarching web page for the various phases of Operation Undercover, our 20-year (so far) campaign to get all our locomotives and carriages under cover, along with a revised format for the News page for OP4.

• Update to the non-traffic vehicle section of the Carriage Stock List, adding the four Mk3 Sleeping Cars (and photos of each) which have arrived to replace five of the existing sleeping cars used for staff accommodation.

• The latest Steam Railway magazine features the Bluebell across an amazing 51 pages around our 60th birthday!

• With 11 days to go until our reopening, the railway was busy with activity this weekend preparing to welcome our visitors back on 7 August (the exact date of our 60th birthday!). You can book tickets here. We can't wait to see you all again!

• The updated Loco Roster indicates that it will be SECR O1-class No. 65 hauling "The Pioneer" (formed of our Victorian "Chesham" compartment coaches), and BR Standard Tank No. 80151 hauling the various dining trains (Breakfast, Lunch, Tea and Evening Meals).

• The first set of photos (by Mark Baker) below shows some of the volunteer station team preparing Kingscote, over the weekend.

• The second photo, by Dave Bowles, records that the Sunday PW gang were out for the second time yesterday. One gang, north of West Hoathly, were greasing fish plates and the second gang (pictured) were fettling the track alignment at Vaux End. P-way work is one of the easier jobs to do whilst maintaining social distancing, outdoors.

• Nine years ago today, on 26 July 2011, a Bluebell C&W team dismantled and recovered the body of an LBSCR (Craven-era) first-class carriage from the 1860s, from a garden in Bexhill in Sussex. Ian White provided these photos showing the dismantling (the original carriage roof went many years ago, replaced by the pitched roof seen below), and the first photo below shows why the owner was unaware that his garden shed was a railway carriage until he started to clear it out. Ian has also created a web page about the carriage, detailing the discoveries made so far in clearing the undergrowth and removing the body, and the montage photo showing the more complete side of the vehicle, complete with LBSCR garter.

• Links to BRPS, Locomotives, Carriage & Wagon and Signalling pages are in the "About" menu tab at the top of each page. Links to this Blog, and to other departmental news reports are under the "News" menu tab, and How to Help Us, BRPS Membership, Volunteering, and the 9F and Stepney Clubs come under "Join & Support". The Search Function covers both of the websites.

• Steve Lee's photo from exactly 5 years ago shows SECR C-class No. 592 waiting to leave Horsted Keynes with a wedding special. In the background, appropriately accompanied by a Bulleid carriage, is the out-of-ticket 21C123 'Blackmoor Vale'.

• Below we see Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes from the air (of particular note are the new locomotive maintenance building at the South end of Sheffield Park, and to the right of the Horsted Keynes photo the vast new OP4 carriage works/shed extension), photos taken by Keith Duke during a helicopter flight arranged by a fellow Bluebell volunteer on Tuesday this week. Keith's gallery of aerial photos provides many more views of our line, at high resolution.

• Peter Edwards' photo shows H Class No. 263 at the head of a test train which left Sheffield Park at 3.30pm on 23 July 2012. If you look closely you can see that the SECR lining on the loco has not yet been completed. The locomotive, once completed, entered service on 28 July with a ceremony at Horsted Keynes. Over the last year it has had a lot of work done on it, including machining of the driving crank journals.

• The photos below are both by Brian Lacey, taken on this date but a few years ago. The first shows the SECR H-class on a goods train on 23 July 2016, about to give up the token to the Horsted Keynes signalman, and the second from a year later, on 23 July 2017, showing visiting Bulleid light pacific No. 34092 'City of Wells' at West Hoathly.

• Nigel Sealey's photo shows LBSCR E4 No.473 'Birch Grove' approaching Horsted Keynes from the north on 8 June 2003. With the completion of the overhaul of Brighton Bogie First No. 7598 in 1999 (the first carriage on any heritage railway to return to service having been recovered as a grounded body and fitted to a bogie underframe) this pre-war Southern-liveried set was advertised as our Vintage Train for a number of years. The brake van seen here was later replaced in the set by the overhauled SECR "Birdcage" and LSWR brake coaches, and is currently nearing the completion of an overhaul to enable it to be used as a support vehicle for filming work (in place of the goods brake van which is currently frequently used).

• Due to high demand, and the initially advertised trains having sold out, we have just added two more Fish & Chip Special services on 14 August. This service includes a steam train journey and a Fish & Chip meal, including dessert and tea or coffee. We have traditional, vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and dairy free menus - just let us know which you would like when you book. Tickets cost £30 per person - tables for 2, 3 or 4 available.

• The Bulleid Society's Latest News page has two more photos of work at South Devon Railway (Engineering) on 21C123 Blackmoor Vale's new inner firebox where work is progressing on fitting the front diaphragm ends of the thermic syphons. Photos are thanks to John Brodribb. The firebox appeal is still open since a lot of further work on the firebox still has to be paid for!

• Nigel Sealey's photo shows Maunsell U-class No. 1638 departing from Horsted Keynes on 27 May 2013.

• The two photos below were taken 9 years ago today - 21 July 2011: - John Sandys provided the first photo, showing C-class No. 592 awaiting its departure from Sheffield Park. - Tony Sullivan's photo shows the loading of a Waste by Rail train at Imberhorne Tip that day. At that point we just had 8 months left to beat the end of the Landfill Tax exemption, but still another million pounds left to raise.

• Nigel Sealey's photo on the right shows BR Standard Tank No. 80064 at Horsted Keynes on 4 May 1986. The view here today is rather different, following the ambitious 12-year-long volunteer project (started in 1992) to rebuild the canopy and buildings on the further platform, which had been removed in 1913.

• Two photos below from 7 years ago today, 20 July 2013, on the occasion of one of our Toy and Collectors' Fairs, with two visiting locomotives: - Steve Lee captured Prairie tank GWR 5521, running as L.150, moving away after a pause at New Road Bridge, with six carriages all in Southern Railway Olive Green livery. - Phil Horscroft's photo shows 9F No. 92212 at Leamland Bridge,

• It's the 19th July, and there are 19 days to go to the 60th anniversary of our first train service, and 19 days to go until we re-open after lockdown.

• John Sandys' photo from Tuesday 19 July 2016 shows the S15 on a timetabled service train and 73082, on a 10-coach special for a war veterans' visit that day, at Kingscote.

• Now available: Issue 9 of The Bluebell Times. The return to work at the Bluebell Railway after four months of closure and the preparations for reopening are featured. There is also information about the new service and dining trains as well as the measures being taken for increased hygiene and enhanced cleaning. The newsletter is for everyone - railway staff, volunteers in all departments, members, supporters, visitors, friends, train enthusiasts and general readers. It's perfect for train-mad youngsters or anyone who wants a bit of light relief.

  Contents include:

  • Details of the limited edition 60th anniversary souvenir Edmondson tickets
  • Learn more about the married couple who cover everything from footplate turns to filming liaison
  • A closer look at the oldest locomotive at the Bluebell
  • Find out how Sheffield Park station got its name
  • What goes on inside the museum
  • New puzzles as well as the regular favourites
  • ... and much, much more.
  You can download the latest edition here.

• In addition, we have another edition of the Bluebell newsletter today, providing detail of the very different variety of services, which suit parties from 2 to 10 people in different ways, and the safety measures in place to protect both visitors and volunteers/staff.

• Update to the web page for Maunsell Composite Brake Carriage No. 6686, with one new and one re-scanned photo (below, showing the coach following overhaul - photo taken by Klaus Marx on 2 April 1997).

• Find out about all our safety measures in the new age of social distancing in this special video with commentary by Martin Clunes which we have made in preparation for our re-opening on 7 August.

• Sheffield Park is starting to come back to life. The locomotive works team spent today preparing Q-class No. 30541 and BR Standard 5 No. 73082 'Camelot' for the annual boiler exams, and the team from aivaf were putting the finishing touches to the access to the footplate of SECR C-class No. 592 in our Steamworks! exhibition.

• We re-open on 7 August.

• Tickets are now on sale.

• See also the Covid-19 Safety Measures we are putting in place to protect our visitors and staff.

• 59 years ago today: David Pool's photo shows the LSWR Adams Radial Tank No. 488 on the day it arrived at the Bluebell, 15 July 1961, at Sheffield Park at the head of the Chesham set.

• The tickets for the Members' Train (9am departure from Sheffield Park on 7 August) will be available to book (first-come-first-served) from 22 July. The seats will be for BRPS members only and free of charge.

• Reminder that tickets for our service trains, and some breakfast, lunch, tea and evening trains go on sale at 11am tomorrow. All tickets available online only. See also FAQ for our re-opening on 7 August.

• Thirty years ago, on 14 July 1990, P-class No. 323 'Bluebell' is seen with the push-pull extension shuttle, waiting to leave Horsted Keynes for Horsted House Farm, the first section of our Northern Extension to open - photo thanks to Nigel Sealey.

• Mk3 SLEP No. 10526 was delivered this morning, as part of our programme to replace the current staff dormitory carriages with new ones - see this photo. The first two, with short swing-link bogies were delivered by rail, but this had to come by road because of its long swing-link bogies which are barred south of London.

• Looking back 35 years today, No. 3 'Baxter' hauls our 6-wheeled Southern Railway Milk Tanker at the Cavalcade of Steam event on 13 July 1985, in our 25th anniversary year (photo by Nigel Sealey).

• We have a new deal with Strathwood Publishing, which means Bluebell Railway customers can enjoy a 10% discount on all books (including those from Irwell Press) ordered through the Strathwood website!All you need to do is enter BLUEBELL into the discount code box at the checkout, and in addition to your discount, the Bluebell Railway will also benefit. Find out more here.

• The photos below, also taken during the cavalcade the same day (exactly 35 years ago) by Nigel Sealey, show Southern Railway Maunsell Schools class No. 928 'Stowe' at Horsted Keynes with then recently restored Maunsell open third No. 1309 immediately behind the tender.This locomotive is currently under overhaul as a joint effort between its owning group and the Railway (you can see a recent updates on the work on the Maunsell Locomotive Society website and on the Project's Facebook Page). Whilst there's a lot of work still to do, a huge amount has already been completed over the last six years, and it should be running again before too long.

• Details here of our re-opening plans for 7 August. Tickets go on sale at 11am on 15 July. It also includes details of the "ghost trains" which are provisionally to run on Sunday 2, Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 August departing from Sheffield Park at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00 and running up the line to Kingscote and back. These trains will not be carrying passengers. They are for staff to refamiliarise themselves with their duties and operations as well as for training ahead of reopening to the public. The trains will be empty other than the necessary crew and staff. There will be no access to the Bluebell's car parks, stations or facilities on those days. We will not be arranging any formal photographic facility and regret we will not be able to accommodate accredited lineside photographers. Anyone who wishes to photograph these trains should do so from a place of safety on public land and does so at their own risk. Further details here.

• The latest edition of our e-Newsletter is now available.

• We're Good to Go! We are really pleased to announce that we have achieved the Visit England certification to show that we have followed Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing. We will be reopening on Friday 7 August, and timetables will be available soon. Tickets for a range of services will be on sale from 11am on 15 July.

• The photo below, from Nigel Sealey, shows our BR Standard 4MT No. 75027 near Holywell on 11 June 1988. The carriages forming the train are appropriate to our area, since rush-hour trains on the Oxted lines (East Grinstead, Forest Row and Tunbridge Wells West to London Bridge) were in the latter years of steam typically formed of Bulleid corridor carriages strengthened by one or two ex-SECR "Hundred Seaters".

• Tony Pearce's photo, taken on 10 July 2007, was from an evening photo charter with the visiting Bulleid "West Country" Pacific No. 34028 'Eddystone' which was running as 34021 'Dartmoor'. This event was the culmination of a day which saw a private function for The Bulleid Pacific Locomotive Association in conjunction with The Bulleid Society and the Bluebell Battle of Britain Locomotive Group, with thanks also due to Southern Locomotives Limited. It was a warm-up for the following weekend's "End of Southern Steam" 40th anniversary public event.
  

• Available to purchase now: this very special 60th anniversary souvenir! We have printed and numbered a strictly limited edition of 2000 'Edmondson' tickets on our heritage ticket press at Sheffield Park station.These souvenir tickets cost £5 each and all proceeds will go towards our Emergency Appeal. You can buy yours here.

• Here we see LSWR Adams Radial Tank No. 488 and SR Maunsell Q-class No. 541 at Horsted Keynes on 25 September 1988, in another of Nigel Sealey's photos.

• The Bulleid Society's Latest News page has two photos with thanks to Richard Elliott of SDR(E) showing 21C123 Blackmoor Vale's new inner firebox, now with the foundation channel welded into place. The firebox appeal is still open since the fundraising for this project is still ongoing.

• Apologies that yesterday's update transposed two digits in our Emergency Appeal total, which has actually now raised a magnificent £385,205, a huge vote of confidence in the Railway from over 2,400 members, supporters and well-wishers.

• A photo taken 9 years ago today by the late Pat Plane serves as a reminder of the enormous effort it took to remove the rubbish tip from Imberhorne Cutting to complete our extension to East Grinstead. The waste trains were formed of 20 wagons, and here wagons 9 and 10 of that day's train are seen being loaded. The rake was split into two halves (10 wagons), and then, since we could fill up to 4 wagons at a time, further divided down into 4 and 2-wagon sections for filling. This was the fourth day of a 3-week run of trains (the third sequence of waste trains), with another 5-week run taking place later that year.

• Our Emergency Appeal has now raised £358,205, but further donations are still needed to help us retain our skilled engineering/maintenance/restoration workforce over the coming months when our income will be much lower than normal.

• Following on from the news report in the 24 June update, covering the work on its new firebox, here we see Bulleid "West Country" Pacific No. 21C123 'Blackmoor Vale' 17 years ago today, north of Horsted Keynes on 6 July 2003 in another of Nigel Sealey's photos.

• Yesterday saw the publication of the July edition our e-Newsletter. It includes a farewell note from the e-Newsletter's outgoing editor, John Walls, who with his brother, Martin, have produced the newsletter for the last eight years.

• Nigel Sealey provides this photo of BR Standard Tank No. 80151 with the Golden Arrow Dining Train, taken on 30 March 2003 just north of Leamland Bridge at Horsted Keynes.At that time, as well as two 1920s Pullman Cars and our LMS six-wheel brake, the train included Met-Cam 1960-built 'Eagle' which was on loan from the National Railway Museum, and the privately owned LNWR Semi-Royal Saloon No. 806.

• Today was scheduled to have been the third Goods Train running day this year. In place of that, we have several of Nigel Sealey's photos from the 1980s. On the right "Terrier" No. 55 'Stepney' is seen with an engineers' train at Horsted Keynes on 20 December 1987. The wagon immediately behind 'Stepney' is DS 27730, a 10T Ballast Wagon constructed on the Isle of Wight in BR days on a 1928-built SR wagon underframe, which we subsequently donated to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. In 2007 they rebuilt it, including the creation of a replacement timber underframe, to its original SR-era Isle of Wight condition. As usual, you can click on the photos for enlargements.

• With our provisional reopening planned for 7 August our count-down to the 60th Anniversary of our original opening in 1960 is also acting as a countdown to our post-lockdown re-opening.

• The other two photos, below, from Nigel Sealey, show LSWR B4 No. 96 'Normandy' at Horsted Keynes with one of our SR Bo-rails on 7 September 1986, and the North London Railway Tank No. 58850 at Holywell on 10 May 1987.

• The success of the Virtual Track Trek and the financial contribution it has made to the overall Emergency Appeal are featured in Issue 8 of The Bluebell Times.There are also several tributes to Dame Vera Lynn who was a great friend of the Bluebell Railway and a frequent visitor to Sheffield Park. The newsletter is for everyone - railway staff, volunteers in all departments, members, supporters, visitors, friends, train enthusiasts and general readers. It's perfect for train-mad youngsters or anyone who wants a bit of light relief.Contents include:
  • A report on the reopening after the pandemic of our twin railway in the Netherlands
  • TV coverage of one of our locomotives ... in a programme about paintings
  • What a Running Foreman does at the railway
  • The second and final part about living on the site of a former railway station
  • A personal rundown of the top 10 railway films
  • New puzzles as well as the regular favourites
  • Special kids' section with a new challenge
  • ... and much, much more.
  You can download the latest edition here.

• The lineside clearance volunteers of our Wednesday Gang (South) have been back at work (in the open air, distancing easy to achieve!) for a few weeks now, and are seen working near Sloop Bridge yesterday.

• Derek Hayward has made a major upgrade to his photo galley for Barcombe Station to reflect changes being made during the current refurbishment. 60 new photos are currently at the start of the collection but will be re-ordered later. Please note that this is private property and cannot be seen from any public viewpoint. Images were taken by invitation and with the consent of the owners. Barcombe Station is on the long-closed section of line between Sheffield Park and Culver Junction; it is not in the village of Barcombe, and is actually at Barcombe Cross.

• The Summer edition of Bluebell News has been published, and is available to download here.

• News release about the Track Trek last Saturday, including a silent drone video of our top team of trekkers.So far nearly £6,000 has been raised through the Virtual Track Trek towards our Emergency Appeal which is being used to help with the costs of reopening the railway which has been closed since March.We are keeping the Virtual Track Trek going for anyone who wishes to donate or wants to take part in their own sponsored walk of 4.5 miles. Details are here.

• During June 2020 there were 39,912 hits recorded on this page from 19,671 unique visitors.

• Stroudley Terrier 'Fenchurch' shunts the GN Saloon at Horsted Keynes on 28 September 1986 (Nigel Sealey). Famous as the oldest operatonal locomotive on British Railways in the late 1950s and early 60s, LBSCR No. 72 will be 150 years old in 2022, and we hope to have it back in steam for that occasion.

• A new web page has been created to record the present overhaul of Pullman Car 54.

• Nigel Sealey's photo shows No. 35027 'Port Line' at Holywell on 18 June 1988. The Bulleid "Merchant Navy" class Pacific had only arrived at the Bluebell three weeks earlier, and at that time was just expected to stay for 6 weeks for running in, but we must have made the owning group feel welcome, since the locomotive actually stayed with us for 12 years!

• The photos below show pre-lockdown progress with two volunteer-run projects in the Carriage & Wagon Works. Firstly Hastings-line Restriction 0 Maunsell brake third No. 3687 is seen with the painting into undercoat progressing, on 18 March. The second photo shows the doors and glazing ever more complete on the west side of LBSCR Stroudley brake third No. 949, back in January. By 18 March, the internal quarterlight (window) mouldings had been fitted to No. 949, as seen in the third photo.

• The Bluebell's mighty 9F locomotive, No. 92240, was the first of the BR 9F 2-10-0s recovered from Barry scrapyard to be steamed in preservation. Nigel Sealey's photo shows it the day after after it returned to traffic whilst running round its train at Horsted Keynes, on 16 September 1990.To help raise funds for its next overhaul, our "Awake the Giant" Appeal was launched last year.

• Newick & Chailey was the first station you would have come to travelling south from Sheffield Park on the now closed section of the line. Derek Hayward has added some photos he took in 2014 of the platform remains at Newick & Chailey Station site, with the permission of the property owner, to his Photographic Tour page for that station. Please respect the privacy of the residents and enjoy Derek's photos rather than attempting to visit the properties for yourself!

• It's Virtual Track Trek day! The fund raising from it has now reached over £5,400 online, including Gift Aid. It's not too late to sponsor the walkers listed here.

• Roger Kelly and Maureen did their 4.5. miles non-stop local to their home in 1 hour 35 minutes with rain and forces 6 winds, and have raised £1.3k.

• Paul Lelew, Steve Bigg and Vernon Blackburn completed their 4.5 miles by going backwards and forwards on the path beside the Railway between Horsted Keynes station and Leamland Bridge. The East Grinstead Mayor, Cllr Danny Favor and his wife Maribel did their Trek around council grounds at East Court. Both he and the Bluebell team were filmed using a drone, and we await the edited video. The money raised on the Bluebell and Mayor collective VIP fundraising page is to date £1,012. More sponsors welcome!

• The SETG report two days of work on our 4VEP unit at Strawberry Hill.

• Nigel Sealey's photo shows the visiting "King Arthur" No. 30777 'Sir Lamiel' at West Hoathly on 16 October 2010.

• On Tuesday we lit up the first loco to steam on the Bluebell for three months, as P-class No. 178 was given a fitness to run exam. Its extended boiler certificate should see it running through to October.

• Our CV Emergency Appeal has now raised £351,183, but further donations will help us to survive, and retain our skilled engineering/maintenance/restoration workforce, for the rest of the year with what is certainly to be greatly reduced income.

• Finally, please do sponsor the walkers taking part in our Virtual Track Trek tomorrow.If you don't know who to sponsor, why not support our Official Trek Team, Councillor Danny Favor, The Mayor of East Grinstead; Stephen Bigg, Chairman of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society; Vernon Blackburn, Chairman of The Bluebell Railway Trust, and Paul Lelew, Commercial and Marketing Director, Bluebell Railway plc.

• Another of David Haggar's photos from June 1997 as the visiting J52 pilots the H-class on a service train.

• So far the Virtual Track Trek has raised over £3,000 online, including Gift Aid. It would be really good to double that by Saturday, the day of the event. It's not too late to join in and the same link also provides a list of individuals who can be sponsored.

• The Bulleid Society's Latest News page has further pictures, showing work on 21C123's firebox, which were taken earlier this month at South Devon Railway Engineering.

• Chris Rigby's photo, taken using a lineside pass, shows SECR P-class No. 178 at Holywell with four centenarian carriages on the Sunday of the Edwardian Weekend seven years ago today.

• Celebrate 60 years of the Bluebell's Locomotive Department: Saturday 24 October 2020 A reunion for all those who have been connected with the department over the years. Open to current and former loco department members, family and friends. See poster here. Further details to follow. [Postponed to 2021]

• Southern Railway U-class No. 1618 was the first locomotive rescued from Barry scrapyard to steam on the Bluebell Railway. It is seen here at Horsted Keynes in Nigel Sealey's photo from 9 April 1988. Currently carrying BR black livery (it was repainted after its tender was loaned to the Mid Hants Railway a few years back), it is expected to be the next locomotive overhauled by its owners, the Maunsell Locomotive Society, once Schools-class No. 928 'Stowe' is in service.
  

• Martin Cresswell and Keith Duke are joining the Virtual Track Trek on Saturday, and so anyone who'd like to sponsor them would be most welcome. It's not too late to sign up to participate if you feel inspired to join in.

• Our CV Emergency Appeal has now raised £335,000, but further donations will help us retain our skilled staff through the forthcoming period when income will remain severely restricted - as you will have seen from yesterday's announcement, whilst we hope to reopen in August, initially we will be very restricted in terms of our operations.

• The two photos below show the state of work on the overhaul of Pullman Car 54 at Horsted Keynes just days before work stopped with the lock-down in mid-March. Funding for its overhaul is ring-fenced in a restricted fund in the Bluebell Railway Trust, along with money contributed by the Department for Transport to enable wheelchair access, and work can therefore re-commence once the works re-opens.

• Provisional Reopening Date - 7 August announced. The statement includes comprehensive FAQs.

• 8 years ago today: Peter Edwards' photo on the right shows Furness Railway No.20 at Sheffield Park for filming work on 19 June 2012.
  

• The seventh edition of The Bluebell Times, our newsletter for members, staff and supporters is now available. Contents include:
  • Meet the couple who live on the site of a former railway station
  • Find out how a loco was rescued from the scrapyard and restored
  • Read about 'A Day in the Life' of a senior station master
  • New puzzles including a Spot the Difference challenge
  • Special kids' section with a carriage shed shunting puzzle
  • ... and much, much more

• Four years ago today London Chatham & Dover Railway carriage No. 3188, recovered from a bungalow in Devon, was launched into Bluebell service (photo - Alex Morley - 18 June 2016). This is the same vehicle seen in the entry below for 15 June.With the train also including LCDR carriages 3360 and 114, and our SECR C-class locomotive, the entire train consisted of vehicles built at Longhedge Works in Battersea.

• Another three trekkers have created online fundraising pages for our Virtual Track Trek on Saturday 27 June. Please help to get their fundraising off to a fly start by sponsoring them:
  • John Staveley,
  • Nick Beck, and
  • Tom Parsons.

• We are pleased to report that the main CV Emergency Appeal has now raised £334,805. The Virtual Track Trek is also raising funds for this vitally important appeal.

• Another of Nigel Sealey's photos today; BR Standard tank No. 80064 is pictured at Holywell on 20 April 1986.

• A reminder to sign up to participate in our Virtual Track Trek taking place on 27 June.

• Stewart Moon has also created a fundraising page for the Virtual Track Trek, and can be sponsored here.

• Nine years ago today, on 15 June 2011, work started on turning a carriage body (which had been built into a bungalow in Yarcombe in Devon since 1935) back into a serviceable carriage. It had been built in 1897 by the London Chatham & Dover Railway. Recovered by the Bluebell Railway Trust in 2005, after a comprehensive rebuild No. 3188 was launched into Bluebell service 5 years and 3 days later.

• Please do support the various trekkers who have online fundraising pages for our Virtual Track Trek:
  • Our Top Team,
  • Deborah Carver,
  • Neal Ball,
  • James Funnell,
  • Richard Salmon,
  • Roger Kelly,
  • Kirsty Lowe,
  • Graham Bucksey and
  • David Chappell.

• There is a new Bluebell Storytime video on our YouTube Channel for children: "Mrs Molesworth's Cottage".

• Nigel Sealey has submitted some great photos from the 1980s, and today we are taken back to 5 March 1988 when the sole surviving locomotive from the North London Railway, No. 58850, was captured departing southwards from Horsted Keynes on a passenger service.

• Please do sign up to join in with our Virtual Track Trek taking place in two weeks time, on 27 June.

• Today would have been one of our regular "Goods Train" days. So we take you back to 2006, when an entire weekend event was held celebrating the memory of how goods were moved in times past, and Derek Hayward's photo shows the Dukedog with the Grouping-period Goods Train on Saturday 8 April 2006 at Tremains. There was another goods train running, using pre-grouping vehicles, and further photos can be seen here.

• If you are unable to participate yourselves in our Virtual Track Trek, then why not sponsor our Official Walkers, The Mayor of East Grinstead, Councillor Danny Favor, Stephen Bigg, Chairman of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, Vernon Blackburn, Chairman of The Bluebell Railway Trust and Paul Lelew, Commercial and Marketing Director, Bluebell Railway plc, via this page.

• Back in June 1997, Great Northern Railway (GNR) J52 No. 68846 visited us to help celebrate the centenary of our resident GNR Directors' Saloon, and the centenary special is seen passing Leamland Bridge in this photo by David Haggar.

• Our CV Emergency Appeal has now raised over £325,000, and further donations will enable us to continue steaming forward through what will undoubtedly be a very difficult remainder of the year.

• As part of the Bluebell Railway countdown to our virtual 60th birthday, we are inviting visitors and enthusiasts to submit video clips taken at the railway. We would like to include some of your clips on our social media and YouTube channel. Please read the news item here for full details.

• John Goss provided this photo showing H-class No. 263 and C-class No. 592 setting off from Sheffield Park with the 1.15pm departure for East Grinstead six years ago today.

• There is a 10-page article celebrating 60 years of Bluebell steam in the new edition of Heritage Railway magazine.

• Martin Read has very kindly given us permission to use his photo of Schools class No. 928 'Stowe' at Sheffield Park, which was taken during the early 1980s.The locomotive is currently waiting for the overhauled copper firebox to be refitted to its boiler, and we are all very much looking forward to seeing it running again.

• It's now just over 15 years since we ran the first spoil extraction trains to complete the extension to East Grinstead. Jon Bowers' photo shows Ivatt tank No. 41312 at Kingscote on 6 June 2005. Jon's report from that day includes many more photos and three videos. That was the first of many trains removing soil down to Horsted Keynes, prior to the extraction of the rubbish tip itself to other landfill sites.

• Sunday saw the publication of a new edition our e-Newsletter, which includes Chairman Chris Hunford setting out the Railway's initial plans for reopening and the process being followed to allow visitors and volunteers to return safely. The Emergency Appeal has now reached its initial target of £300,000, and fundraising organiser Trevor Swainson sets out how the money will be used, and why we need to keep the appeal open, since we still need to raise more. It also reports that Chartered civil engineer Barry Luck is to join the board as Interim Infrastructure Director, and Jan Kozminski has become Treasurer Designate of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society.You can subscribe to the e-newsletter here, and also access the archive of past newsletters.

• Updates to the Who's Who page with the changes outlined above.

• Since 2013 the Railway has often run a Track Trek (that is a sponsored walk along all or part of the running line) to raise money for variety of causes. This is not possible during Coronavirus Pandemic conditions and with the Railway closed. Even it were open a Trek would not be possible if social distancing were to be observed. We are therefore inviting our supporters to raise money for our CV Emergency Appeal by participating in a Virtual Track Trek by obtaining sponsorship for walking 4.5 miles, the distance from Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes at a location of their choice (but not at the Railway itself). Ideally this could be at home or nearby where the social distancing can be achieved without inconveniencing the public. However if there is somewhere imaginative where you can safely carry out the Trek please do, and let us know. Full details of how to participate.

• Updates with either new or re-scanned photos for Bulleid Brake carriage 2515, Esso Tank wagon 1921, Maunsell Corridor Third 2356, Maunsell Corridor Composite 5644 and LSWR Ventilated Luggage Van 5498.

• Today is 60 days until the Railway's 60th birthday. Every day, running until 7 August, there will be a special post on the Railway's social media channels to mark 60 years of operating as a preserved railway. The posts will include fun facts, archive videos, and photographs from yesteryear.

  There will also be a series of new videos called "60 seconds with ..." which, as the name suggests, are one minute long and feature people talking about a different aspect of volunteering at the Railway. These were all filmed and edited before lockdown.

  All the posts will use the hashtag #SteamingThrough60 and will appear on Facebook, our Twitter feed, and on Instagram.

  There is also a special webpage for the countdown that will include the plans for a virtual celebration of 60 years of operation. The major celebrations of 60 years of operating as a heritage line have been postponed until next year.

• The sixth edition of The Bluebell Times, our newsletter for members, staff and supporters is now available. Contents include:
  • The initial plans for a phased reopening of the railway
  • Closing in on the fundraising target for the Emergency Appeal
  • Details of a 'Virtual Track Trek' sponsored walk
  • The start of the 60-day countdown to the Railway's 60th birthday
  • New puzzles as well as the regular favourites
  • Special kids' section with a new puzzle and evacuation story
  • ... and much, much more

• Our CV Emergency Appeal continues to make great progress, thanks to all our donors; just one last push to reach our target.

  The Bluebell Railway Trust's Trevor Swainson, running the fundraising campaign, appears in this BBC Sussex Video on Twitter, explaining how the appeal is going. After making the recording yesterday, Trevor collected another batch of cheques delivered to Sheffield Park station, so we can update you on the total given in the video, since the appeal has now raised £250,000.

• The portrait of No.65 preparing to haul the "Golden Arrow" Pullman dining service, below, was taken by Chris Rose on 6 October last year.

• Chris Rose's photo of 73082 'Camelot' creates a 1950's feel with matching carriages but it was actually 13 October 2018.

• Our latest Children's Storytime video is of Ruth Rowatt reading Crossing Time on the Blueberry Line.

• Operation Dynamo - 80 years ago today: 26 May 1940 saw the start of the Dunkirk evacuation, and Graham Muspratt describes in his Blog the part played by the Southern Railway in the movement of 180,982 of those troops away from the Kent coast, in which our late President played his part as most trains from Dover and Folkestone were routed via (and changed locos at) Redhill where Bernard Holden was stationed and from where the railway operation was coordinated.

  

• Our CV Emergency Appeal continues to make progress - please do help us raise the money we need to be able to re-open the railway once the lockdown is further lifted.

• The fifth edition of The Bluebell Times, our newsletter for members, staff and supporters is now available.

  

• Our CV Emergency Appeal, has now raised over £201,000, a fantastic response from our membership, shareholders, regular donors and the public, although there's a lot further to go yet.

• Chris Rose provided some photos to keep us going through this difficult period. Here, No. 65 is setting off from Sheffield Park with the Golden Arrow Pullman train on 6 October 2019, and below on the very last day of services before the lockdown, 15 March 2020, we see the vintage shop display in the old W.H.Smith stand at Horsted Keynes.

• Paul Bromley spoke about the appeal on the Mid-morning Show on BBC Radio Surrey & BBC Radio Sussex yesterday and mentioned some of the people who have contributed. Since it was recorded, the appeal passed its half-way point.

• We cannot let up on the fund raising, since all £300,000 will be needed to enable the Railway to survive the lockdown and forthcoming re-opening phases. With this in mind, we would ask people to take a minute or so to Nominate the Bluebell Railway Trust for a Movement for Good award.

  We have chance of being given £1,000 through this scheme run by Ecclesiastical, which is a financial services company originally set up to protect Anglican churches and church buildings against the risk of fire, but which is now one of the largest independent British-owned insurers, and much more.

  If you would like to nominate the Railway at this link, the deadline is coming up this weekend (24 May). The Bluebell Railway Trust charity number is 292497 and the Charity Type is "Heritage Arts".

  The more nominations we have the better our chance of receiving a grant.

  
  

• Our CV Emergency Appeal, has now raised over £155,000 towards our £300,000 target just two weeks after the updated appeal was launched.

• 60 years ago today Stroudley Terrier 'Stepney' brought our first two carriages into Horsted Keynes station from the direction of Ardingly, before heading down to our headquarters at Sheffield Park. We thus became the first preserved standard gauge line to run a steam train, although on that day only members could be carried.
  The photo on the right, taken exactly ten years ago, shows the same locomotive hauling one of those carriages, Southern Railway Maunsell 6575 (photo by Richard Clark). Tony Sullivan took the photo below showing our late President, Bernard Holden MBE, flagging the special train into the platform.

  Further photos below from our 50th anniversary celebrations, 10 years ago today, are by Richard Salmon and Derek Hayward, who also has a gallery from the day.

• We have added three special Bluebell Storytime videos to our YouTube Channel for children, particularly aimed at members of our Stepney Club:
  • The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train,
  • Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine, and
  • Mrs Molesworth.
  You can find more details of our Stepney Club and various Children's activities and resources on the Children's Section of our website.

• ITV Meridian News have featured our Emergency Appeal, to which you can Donate here.

• Under normal circumstances, tomorrow would have been our first "Goods Train Day" of the year, with some of our vintage wagons running during the morning behind the locomotive that was also going to haul the Wealden Rambler Afternoon Tea Train.

  Derek Hayward's photo from 14 April 2007 shows our pair of LBSCR Stroudley Terriers with an appropriate pre-grouping goods set passing Kingscote's up distant signal in the down direction, whilst below, David Warwick's shows LBSCR E4 No. 32473 with the second train, and Derek's photo from the following day shows U-class No.1638 with the combined set of wagons.

• Our only income at present is through our online shop (which incidentally has an expanding range available). The intention is that the shop will be open for telephone orders between 9am and 12 noon every Monday & Thursday on 01825 720803 and the orders will be posted out that afternoon. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take off the Members' Discount through the website, so if members wish to take advantage of the discount, you will need to phone the shop, on the days and times mentioned above, with your membership number to hand.

  
  

• Our CV Emergency Appeal, has now raised over £90,000 towards our £300,000 target just a week after the updated appeal was launched.

• Chris White
  We are very sorry to report that Chris White, a plc Director and Loco Driver, passed away last night after a short battle with cancer.

  Chris was the driving force behind the completion of the extension to East Grinstead. He was key in achieving much on the project, not least organising the removal of roughly 100,000 tons of waste from the cutting at the lowest possible cost, but also the challenge posed by Railtrack's plans to sell the reserved station site at East Grinstead to Sainsburys for a petrol station.

  Our condolences go to his partner and his family.

  The photos show Chris driving 9F No. 92212, which was hired in at the time the extension was completed, (Mike Hopps) and below, during the naming ceremony for GBRf's 66739 'Bluebell Railway' just a couple of weeks after the extension opened, in March 2013 (Derek Hayward).

  
  

• The BBC have picked up on our Emergency Appeal, which following its wider launch has now raised £79,000.

  
  

• The Bulleid Society have just added a report, including some pictures taken earlier this year, showing stay fitting to the new syphons for No. 21C123 at South Devon Railway (Engineering). In addition, the update includes is a newspaper cutting about No. 96 'Normandy' after its arrival on the Bluebell.

• LBSCR 5-compartment third No. 328, known as 'Betty' after its former owner, has not featured on here recently. The photo below from 5 January 2020, also reflected on the updated web page for the carriage shows progress with re-panelling and undercoating the exterior, scumbling (grain-painting) of the interior, and in the foreground, under protective dust sheets, preparation of the roof timbers, jointed up from the narrower boards available these days, with channels routed out (with metal covers made) to hold the electrical wiring, and painted up to topcoat prior to final fixing. Work has also restarted over the last year or so on the doors for the carriage, a motley selection from a number of different sources, which will need a lot of work.

• A new web page is available for Carriage No. 35419 which acts as our East Grinstead Buffet, and there has been an update to the web page for Metropolitan Railway carriage No. 412.

• Steaming Through 60 update - The Bluebell Railway turns 60 years old on 7 August 2020.

  We originally intended to hold three days of activities and displays from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August but this event has now been postponed until next year. However, we will instead be holding a virtual event to celebrate our big birthday.

  Robert Hayward, chairman of the Bluebell Railway's Diamond Anniversary steering group, said: "The pragmatic decision not to hold the event as previously planned allows the Bluebell Railway to focus its efforts on reopening. We will be holding a virtual event this August and are currently working on various ideas for the event because we are still going to celebrate 60 years of operating as a heritage line." He added: "New opportunities may be available to us in 2021 that are not possible now. Next year's event will be on a date to be agreed. I'm sure everyone will understand and appreciate the decision the railway has reached."

  Read our full press release here, which includes information on how you can help us create the event.

• All events at the Bluebell Railway up until the end of August have either been cancelled or postponed. Events from September until the end of December are still under review.

  

• The fourth edition of The Bluebell Times, our newsletter for members, staff and supporters is now available.

• Overhaul update on the FaceBook page for Schools-class 928 'Stowe'. The report is reproduced here, for those not on Facebook.

• Martin Lawrence's superb 2015 video: Sheffield Park to East Grinstead in 5 minutes is worth 5 minutes of anyone's time!

• Back in 1999, a radio programme called "Chuffed" was broadcast, about the Bluebell.

• David Cable's images from Jon Bowers' Charter with Q Class 30541 in early January 2016.

• 12 years ago, one of the highlights of our 10-11 May "Southern at War" weekend was flypasts from Spitfires. Derek Hayward's photo show these, and our Southern USA tank 30064 in its wartime guise.

In mid-March, we launched an Emergency Appeal via Virgin MoneyGiving. The informal target was £25,000, but we raised over double that in six weeks from 700 donors.
 
Now, we are expanding this appeal by launching a major appeal to members and supporters to raise the total to at least £300,000 including Gift Aid recovered.
 
This appeal will fund the immediate costs of re-opening the Railway. We will re-engage our volunteers and paid staff to ensure our Railway is fit to run but this will incur substantial costs with little revenue.
 
Our paid staff and volunteers have important skills to enable the Railway to operate. Not only are these skills required for regulatory and insurance reasons but also staff have developed detailed knowledge and experience that in many cases is irreplaceable. It is within the Trust's charitable objects to ensure that vital heritage skills are preserved and through this appeal the Trust will fund the costs of achieving this until such time as the income from visitors is sufficient to do so once again.
 
We are extremely grateful to you for your generosity if you have already responded. However, if you have not yet been able to support the Bluebell Railway in these unprecedented times we would be very grateful if you would consider doing so. Details of how to donate are set out here. Any donation to support the Railway at this difficult time will be most genuinely appreciated.
 
Remember: if your donation is eligible for Gift Aid every £100 donated will be worth £125 to the project.
 
So please help us secure the future of the Railway, and donate now.
 
Full details of the Appeal are available here.
 
Thank you for your support.

• Ten years ago:  Saturday 1 May 2010 saw the official re-launch into service of SECR P-class No. 178, as seen in Andrew Strongitharm's photo on the right.

  To enable it to run for our planned 60th anniversary events this year, we had managed to extend its boiler certificate by a few months, but seeing it in steam again this year is sadly now not at all certain.

  Derek Hayward's photos below. also from the relaunch day, show some of the restoration team with the loco at Horsted Keynes, and later the same day the loco to the north of Sloop Bridge double-heading with the C-class, which had been overhauled a couple of years earlier by the same volunteer team, the "Loco Works Working Group".

• During April 2020 there were 41,683 hits on this page from 20,664 unique visitors

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John Padgham
Michael Toplis provides the tribute below to John, who died yesterday evening after a battle with cancer, just a few days before what would have been his 80th birthday. The photo is thanks to Mike Hopps.

 
John was a fireman at Three Bridges during the 1950s/early 1960s, and he brought to the Bluebell the relaxed, confident skills, which the true ex-professionals had. He also possessed an effortless, understated, very subtle sense of humour, which meant every turn with John was enjoyable. As well as occasional weekend rostered turns together, he and I spent more than a dozen mid-week holidays together and a day with John was always instructive, relaxed and rewarding experience. He was a natural teacher, which was notably illustrated when we worked together on the driving and firing experience courses, which the candidates never failed to enjoy.

When Clive Groome was obliged to use qualified help to assist with his Footplate Days and Ways courses, John was a natural to be employed as one of his assistants, and this relationship lasted many years, and continued also when Clive conducted courses on other railways up and down the country.

Following his railway career, John was an HGV driver, then for some years ran his own landscape gardening business before latterly working extensively with Matt Crawford on Bluebell permanent way tasks.

For a number of years John also made a big contribution to the running of the Lavender Line nearby at Isfield.

• We are pleased to be able to publish the first edition of our Preservation Standards Manual, which details how everything on and about our Railway should be presented. This is a major undertaking, and there are some sections yet to be fully completed, and it will probably always remain a work in progress as new research is still uncovering refinements.

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• We are very sorry to report that John Scrace, a former loco man (as had been his father) and a renowned and hugely knowledgeable railway photographer, passed away peacefully on Friday 24 April at his care home in Balcombe, having been ill for some time. The photo on the right, courtesy of Pat O'Neill, shows John at Sheffield Park during a Nine Elms reunion in 2015. Until recently he had been providing help remotely on a monthly basis in support of the work of our photographic archive.

• Adrian Lee (Chief Signalmen's Inspector) conveys the sad news that Ken Deans (February 1933 to April 2020) passed away in his nursing home earlier this month. Adrian had spoken to him in February and he was a bit breathless but still as sharp as ever.

  Ken was already an experienced signalman at K&ESR, so having passed for the original ('temporary') Kingscote Signal Box in July 1999, soon added SP and HK to his list. He gave up HK on account of the stairs when he was having joint trouble and wasn't sure about the 'new' Kingscote, but did do a conversion and passed with flying colours.

  Joint replacement surgery and recuperation in 2018-19 meant that he had to take a break from signalling but was fully intending to return. Whilst the joints were 'running in' he had a stairlift fitted to ensure he could get upstairs at home without assistance. He called this his 'Mountain Railway'. Unfortunately he subsequently suffered a shoulder injury which prevented him raising his arm beyond horizontal. He then submitted his formal resignation in the latter part of 2019.

  In these times his funeral will only be for his family but he had expressed the wish that when the time came, his ashes be placed in the firebox of an engine at the Bluebell - his preference would have been U-class 1638.

  Our thoughts are particularly with his son John. There have been memories of Ken sent from railway friends all over the world. The first photo below is of Ken in SP Signalbox and the other is of him on his 80th birthday, when he chartered the GN Saloon. He may be gone, but certainly won't be forgotten.

• Issue 3 of our Bluebell Times newsletter is now available. Amongst the articles is an important one from company chairman Chris Hunford who introduces the Railway's four-part strategy to ensure that not only can we survive through a lockdown of uncertain duration but will also be operationally ready to run when it is safe to do so. Part of that strategy is a targeted appeal to cover the unexpected costs of re-opening: as the members, staff and supporters of the railway, please look out for the launch of that appeal. The railway has come through tough times before: with your help, we can survive again to enable "Steam to flourish" through our sixtieth year and beyond.

• Update to the web page for Metropolitan Railway Brake Third carriage No. 387.

• The Wednesday lineside gang (North) have provided a report from their last day of volunteering before the lockdown. The first photo below is by David Thair, taken during the lunch break on 18 March, and shows part of the Wednesday Gang (North) at Horsted House Farm Bridge. They picked up from where the South Gang left off the week before and were working north towards Vaux End on both sides of the line, in preparation for a Jon Bowers charter. Due to the extremely slippery conditions underfoot, progress was difficult. In the event, of course, the charter had to be cancelled due to closure of the Railway. Pictured from left to right are Peter Beynon, Paul Young, Mick Parker, Brian Kidman, Ian Aitken, Colin Morse and Alan Coomber.

  Meanwhile, on the same day, a second WG(N) group was clearing up on the west side of Lindfield Wood. This area had received attention from the North Gang the previous week, including clearing fallen trees and generally tidying up after recent storm damage. The second photo, taken by Roger Hillman, shows the clear-up in progress.

You can listen online to this interview from the weekend on BBC Radio Sussex. Our Communications Director Paul Bromley was discussing the latest on our Emergency Appeal and the new Bluebell Times newsletter.

There have also been interviews over the last few weeks on Brighton's Radio Reverb.

• Update to the web page for SECR Guard's van No. 719, with a better scan of the original photo, and including a photo (as seen here) of a model (made by the late Phil Coutanche about 50 years ago) of a similar van. This photo is provided by Trevor Coleman.

• Update to the web page for our 9F locomotive No. 92240, adding three photos by Mike Esau, and details of the fundraising towards its overhaul.

 

Please do support our emergency funding appeal.

• Two photos from Keith Leppard taken three years ago today recalling the visit to the Bluebell of the National Railway Museum's flagship locomotive, 'Flying Scotsman'.

• Update to the web page for our London & South Western Railway Adams "Radial Tank" Locomotive No. 488 adding more photos, in particular new ones with thanks to Barry Taylor taken over three decades ago.

• Carriage Working Notices, Lancing Set Cards and Vehicle Cards held in the Bluebell Railway's extensive and carefully managed Museum Archive have provided the answer to an apparent conundrum from previously published material which indicated that our Maunsell carriage No. 1365 was formed into a set of coaches used on services between Tunbridge Wells West, Oxted and London between 1944 and 1947, and also apparently saw use during the same period as an ambulance carriage. Information researched by Glen Woods shows that it was removed from its service on the Oxted lines only for a few months in 1945 during which time it performed its war service. In consequence the web page for the carriage has been updated.

• The Bulleid Society latest news includes a notice of postponement of their forthcoming AGM, in addion to news (if you missed it last monthy) of work commencing on the overhaul of 21C123 'Blackmoor Vale'.

• From the weekend before the lockdown - the SECR O1 with the Maunsell carriages at Sheffield Park under portentous skies. (Saturday 14 March - John Sandys)

• The second edition of The Bluebell Times is now available, to keep you informed and entertained while the railway is closed.

• Listen to Paul Bromley, our volunteer Communications Director, talking on Uckfield FM about how Covid-19 is affecting the Bluebell Railway, and what we're doing and planning while we're closed.

• Update to the web page for Metropolitan Railway carriage No. 394.

• Country Living has an article about the Bluebell and our Emergency Appeal.

• Taking the opportunity to highlight further photos by Fred Bailey taken from the Brighton Atlantic project's recent News Update.
  Right: The final assembly and fitting of the fireman's seat in the cab has been completed, and Dave is clearly quite satisfied it is strong enough as he is seen trying it out whilst doing some intricate fitting to one of its parts.
  Below: At the front of the tank Fred has fitted the two stainless steel strainers fitted over the two holes for the injector water feeds. All parts laser cut by MLFabcuts and TIG welded by Henry Mowforth. The design of the baffles and the internal supports left a clear way through the centre to get as easy an access possible within the tank. At the stage of drawing up the tank Fred also added a feature not present on the originals. A manhole in the bottom to allow those of us of a slightly fuller figure and in advancing years access to the inside. The tank filler is an oval of just 14" x 10". Hands up those that could not only drop through that hole, but be able to climb out afterwards!

• Update to the web page for Pullman Car 'Fingall' with an additional photo.

• The Mid Hants Railway have a news update about Bulleid Carriage 1456 which is owned by the Bluebell and has been on long-term loan to them since 2012. The 25-year free loan has enabled them to access National Lottery Heritage funding for its overhaul as part of their "Canadian Pacific project" training new apprentices and overhauling a second Bulleid carriage in addition to locomotive No. 35005.

• Bluebell 2020 Anniversary Wagon
  For 2020 we have produced a Firework / Gunpowder wagon, quite appropriate for our 60th Anniversary Year. The wagon is unusual by having two running numbers, 1960 on one side and 2020 on the other.

  This is a limited item from our friends at Dapol and there are only 115 available. A little tongue in cheek maybe, but a fun way to celebrate our first 60 years, the van is available to order online from our shop.

• Latest news on the Brighton Atlantic project from Fred Bailey, including the two photos below, showing some of the complexities of the beading and coal rails on the tender. All the fixings currently in place on the beading are temporary, and will be replaced by rivets. Full details and further photos are available here. Of course, along with everything else, all volunteer activities on the Bluebell, including on this project, are currently suspended.

• In our 60th Anniversary year it's interesting to look back to look back 30 years, when the Bluebelll was at the centre of Channel 4's 'Steam Sunday' on 23 September 1990:

  Part 1 of 'Steam Sunday'. Our 9F had returned to steam just a couple of weeks earlier, the first ex-Barry 9F to be restored to working order. Featuring Mike Read, Joe Brown and his daughter, Sam Brown, Jools Holland (playing the piano on board our GNR Directors' Saloon), John Hill, Miles Kington with Instant Sunshine, and David Shepherd.

  Part 2 of the programme again featured Sam and Joe Brown, in the pouring rain, and a few minutes later, when the sun came out, Sally Thomsett, Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, Gary Warren, Pete Waterman, John Hegley, George Hinchcliffe and Ray Towell from the NRM. Many of these are sadly no longer with us.

• Peter Evans' photo is another taken that day, showing the setting up for the filming.

• Peter Evans' photo shows the visit of the operational replica of Stephenson's Rocket, on 23 September 1990 for a major live Channel 4 feature as part of their 'Going Loco' season, during our 30th Anniversary year.

• In a parallel universe our annual Branch Line weekend started today, and it's great to see that Philip Bull has provided the best video coverage he was able, under the circumstances. Good to also see the Project 27 fundraising stand in evidence.

• New web page, using a photo provided by Peter Evans, for LMS Corridor Third No. 1272 which was used as volunteer dormitory accommodation at Sheffeild Park between 1971 and 1993.

• Updates to web pages for more carriages (with improved photos): Bulleid 2515, Mk.1 CK 16210 and RMBs 1818 and 1838.

• Tony Page provides this photo, taken on 13 October 2019, of LSWR B4 No. 96 'Normandy', seemingly attached to the tender from SR 'Battle of Britain' No. 34059 'Sir Archibald Sinclair'. The suggestion that this was for a trial of adapting 'Normandy' to run with a tender was needless to say, an April fool joke, although the information about the four ex-Schools-class/snowplough tenders which were acquired by the Bluebell in the 1990s was correct, with ADS70225 still remaining in its snowplough form, ADS70228 rebuilt to run with U-class 1638, ADS70227 going to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway with S15 No. 30830, and one went to Southern Locomotives Ltd. with parts used to construct a new tender for one of their Bulleids.

• There have been two major updates recently on the Project 27 Blog; having finished all the riveting to attach the new rear dragbox to the new frames, the team have attached the running plate brackets and are moving to the front of the locomotive, in preparation for fitting the cylinders, together with work on the hornguides, and earlier, of work on the new cylinder block, new piston rods, and refurbished brake rigging.

• During March 2020 there were 47,447 hits on this page from 24,228 unique visitors.

• Introducing an exciting new publication packed with news, quizzes, puzzles and games to keep you informed and entertained while the railway is closed.

  The Bluebell Times is designed to fill the gap for anyone missing their steam train rides or visits to the Bluebell Railway.

  It's a publication for all; railway staff working from home or in self-isolation, volunteers in all departments, members, supporters, visitors, friends, train enthusiasts and general readers. It's perfect for train-mad youngsters or anyone who wants a bit of light relief.

• We have a new web page for The Friends of Kingscote, who maintain Kingscote Station and its environs in good order. The Friends were formed in the late 1980s as a fund raising group, enabling the restoration work started in 1985 to continue.

• Are you looking for ways to keep the kids entertained at home? Download and print a selection of our Stepney Club Magazines for fun actitivies and challenges. They are sure to keep the little ones (and perhaps big ones too) amused! Visit our children's section to download.

• Update to the web page for Metropolitan Railway carriage No. 368.

• Photo: The cab of the Maunsell Q-class, Saturday 14 March. (John Sandys)

• There are 5 new notices on the BRPS Members' information page.

  We start with the sad news that John Woods (right), Horsted Keynes Station Master, Guard, Rail Ale Train and Santa Special volunteer, passed away during the week. There are some tributes here.

  The other four notices appear as a Joint message from our plc and Society:

  1. Explanation from Paul Bromley as to why the Spring edition of our Bluebell News magazine is available to download or read online, rather than in printed form. It is available here as a PDF.
  2. Message from Graham Aitken explaining his resignation as BRPS Chairman.
  3. Message from BRPS Vice Chairman Steve Bigg, who will be acting chairman for now.
  4. Message from BRPS General Secretary Gavin Bennett, concerning the postponement of the BRPS Extraordinary and Annual General Meetings.

• Even before the further restrictions on movement announced by the Prime Minister on Monday evening, the Bluebell had taken the decision to close down all volunteer activities on the line. I have a few photos in stock showing recent activities from the C&W Department and a report from the Atlantic Project, which I will share on here over the coming days. If other volunteers have recent photos and news reports from their areas, I would be delighted to share them also over the coming weeks.

• Dave Bowles has added a few pictures of E4 as BR No. 32473 in 2005 with 3 Bulleid coaches to his website.

The Bluebell Railway, along with many other businesses in the leisure and heritage sector, has been forced to close to visitors due to the current pandemic.

Coming after the early part of the year when trains are not running, our finances are already at their lowest ebb.

We are therefore urgently appealing for donations to help keep the essential services of the railway running at a time when, unexpectedly, we have no income. In spite of our large volunteer workforce, we are also one of the largest employers in Mid Sussex, and we have many ongoing costs and expenses which do not stop when we're not running trains.

Photo: The Maunsell Q-class makes a dramatic departure from Sheffield Park last Sunday, our last operational day, as it turned out, for some time to come. (Chris Rose)

• Coronavirus Update 11am:
   
  All train services scheduled for this weekend, including the Mother's Day Specials, have been cancelled.
   
  Our Customer Services team will contact all customers who have booked tickets for these services.

• Update 4.30pm: Bluebell Railway is suspending its train services and will be closed until further notice.

  We originally decided to stay open and run a minimal service this weekend with enhanced health protection measures in place, but the national and global situation with coronavirus means we will have to close.

  Bluebell Railway plc chairman Chris Hunford said: "The health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and visitors remains our priority."

  "Some people have been calling up asking if we're open and saying they still intend to travel this weekend although several people have also called asking to defer their bookings. Taking all this into account and the latest Government advice, we have decided to suspend all services this weekend and the railway will close until further notice."

  During the closure, there will be no trains running and the shop and catering outlets will not be open to visitors although the railway's online shop will continue to trade.

  We are keeping the situation under constant review in the coming days and weeks and will assess the situation as it evolves.

  Please see our full statement here.

• Chris Rose's photo shows a quiet Sheffield Park on Sunday, as the Q-class with its three Maunsell carriages prepares to leave with the 11.15 am departure.

• Latest Coronavirus Update: In common with some other Heritage Railways and visitor attractions outside London, we currently plan to remain open this coming weekend, but only offering a limited service, with one locomotive in steam, hauling two round trips from Sheffield Park to Kingscote (via Horsted Keynes) only, plus afternoon tea trains. This decision is in line with advice from Public Health England, and we have put special measures in place, as outlined here, including the trains being formed of compartment stock, so that each family will be isolated in their own compartment. East Grinstead Station will be closed. As has been the case for the last week, the situation is under constant review, and please check here before travelling to visit us.

  Booking for future events and trains beyond this weekend has been suspended for the present. The Carriage Shop in Platform 1 at Horsted Keynes now joins the Bulleid Shop and our Museum on platform 2 at Sheffield Park in being closed.

  Details of currently planned train times, and the opening hours of our facilities for this weekend, are available here.

• Three great videos covering the six Bulleid carriages running on the Mid Hants Railway this last weekend: on Saturday hauled by 30925 'Cheltenham' (video by Hils TheTrainLady), all of Saturday's different trains (by 04clemea) and hauled by S15 No. 506 on Sunday (from The Southerner). The four carriages which we loaned to them for Flying Scotsman's visit there are now, I understand, back to the Bluebell.

• Two further photos taken on Sunday by Chris Rose show the Standard 4 No. 75027 in the running shed at Sheffield Park, and the subway at Horsted Keynes.

• Right: The SR Maunsell Q-class about to set off from Sheffield Park, with three SR Maunell carriages, on Saturday 14 March (John Sandys)

• In response to the Prime Minister's COVID-19 statement yesterday evening, it has been decided that our Museum and Bulleid Shop on platform 2 at Sheffield Park are closed as from today.

  The Railway's management will make decisions tomorrow on what further actions/restrictions may be put in place. You can see The Bluebell's current Coronavirus statement here.

• Recently returned to service at the Mid Hants Railway (although running temporarily with an incomplete interior) is Bulleid open third No. 1456, seen here at Ropley yesterday. The carriage is owned by the Bluebell Railway, but is on a 25-year loan to the Mid Hants, who have rebuilt it completely, with the help of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and PRISM. No. 1456 is one of the few surviving Bulleid carriages from the 1947 Bournemouth dining sets which had, in addition to the shallow window vents (like our 5768), the skirts partially covering the solebar.

  It, and Mid Hants' own Bulleid brake 4211, were joined by our four operational Bulleid carriages (which provided additional seating capacity over the previous two weekends for the visit there of 'Flying Scotsman') and this weekend was the first occasion since the early 1990s on the Bluebell that a complete train formed of six Bulleid carriages has run. On Sunday they were hauled by LSWR S15 No. 506, as seen at Ropley below. The second photo shows our four carriages.

• Our Diamond Anniversary book "Bluebell Railway - Sixty Years of Progress" by Colin Tyson, editor of Bluebell News magazine, is now available in our shop, and to order online.

• Some pictures showing the removal of the backhead fittings from 21C123 in preparation for its boiler removal, taken by John Fry, have been uploaded to the Bulleid Society's web site.

• An album from Thursday and Saturday: Springtime at Sheffield Park from John Sandys.

• Some great galleries of photos from Brian Dandridge covering various Bluebell events and locomotives over recent years.

• The Bluebell Railway has announced the appointment of Paul Lelew as Commercial and Marketing Director.

• Brian Lacey's photo shows SECR No. 65 ready to head north from Horsted Keynes on Saturday 29 February.

• Coronavirus Update: The Bluebell Railway continues to operate and is open to visitors.
  The safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers is our priority and we will take all necessary precautions to ensure their continued welfare.
  Read more in our statement realeased on 11 March.

• Trains are running this coming weekend to our Service Two (2-train) timetable with locomotives Nos. 80151 and 65 expected to be hauling the passenger serices. They should be joined by No. 30541 hauling the sold-out Golden Arrow Breakfast and Afternoon Tea Trains on Sunday. [Update Friday 13 March - 30541 replaces 65 on passenger services on Saturday]

• Colin Tomlins' photo, taken yesterday afternoon, shows the visiting Taff Vale Railway No. 85 being unloaded at Sheffield Park, in preparation for our forthcoming Branch Line Weekend taking place Friday 3 to Sunday 5 April.

  No. 85 was built in 1899 by Neilson Reid. The Taff Vale Railway largely existed to enable coal mined in the area it served to be taken to Cardiff docks, and was taken over by the GWR in 1922.

  The GWR's standardisation policy led to the locomotive's withdrawal from service in 1927, but fortunately for posterity, in 1929 it was bought by the Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Colliery in County Durham to again haul coal trains between the inland collieries and the coast. On nationalisation of the collieries in 1947 it became NCB No. 52, eventually entering preservation on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in 1970.

  Rebuilt as far as feasible to its original TVR condition by a group of K&WVR volunteers in the 1990's, No. 85 gave good service there up to 2010. An ideal locomotive for the line, it was soon overhauled, returning to service in February 2016. It carries its original fully lined out Taff Vale Railway livery.

• Dan Ward's photo on the right shows TVR No. 85 being prepared for loading at Ingrow (K&WVR) this evening. It is one of two locomotives visiting for our 3-5 April Branch Line Weekend.

• Details of the thanksgiving service for the life or Klaus Marx are now available on the BRPS Members' information page.

• Peter Skuce visited us on Saturday 7 March to take photographs of and ride behind British Railways Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80151, the results being in this photographic album/gallery. In addition he has updated his gallery dedicated to our carriage fleet, complete with interior shots.

• Peter Edwards' photo below show Maunsell Q-class No. 30541 approaching Town House Bridge with yesterday's sold-out Golden Arrow Afternoon Tea train. Note the presence at the rear of BR Mk.1 Open First carriage No. 3069 'Sapphire' which joined the train towards the end of last year.
  The other photo (also from Peter) shows the newly installed higher level of ramp in SteamWorks! which will shortly allow access to the footplate of SECR C-class No. 592.

• Brian Lacey's photo on the right shows SECR O1-class No. 65 having detatched from its train at East Grinstead and commenced its run-round.

• Keith Duke provides a gallery from today, with the 01 and Standard 4 tank running. In addition, a small group of tractors (plus a Green Goddess and an Austin 7) met up at Sheffield Park before a road run. A quick trip to East Grinstead, both our station and the mainline one are covered along with couple of bus pictures taken there.

• People are already starting to book for our Christmas 2020 Golden Arrow Pullman Dining Trains!
  Your evening will begin with a festive mulled wine and canapé reception prior to boarding your train. Once on board, sit back and relax in the nostalgic atmosphere and enjoy a delicious 3-course Christmas meal, all served by our attentive staff. Your journey will also include a half hour stop at Horsted Keynes Station to enjoy festive carol singing.

• John Sandys was also about today, and his photos are available here. Two of his photos below show No. 80151 with the first southbound train of the day, passing through Imberhorne Cutting (showing just how well nature has "greened" the cutting sides since the former rubbish tip was excavated a few years back) and No.65 arriving at East Grinstead with the second train of the day, formed of three 1930s' Southern Railway Maunsell carriages.

• Brian Lacey's photo from last Saturday shows No. 80151 departing southbound from Kingscote. This locomotive together with No. 65 are planned to be hauling services this coming weekend (timetable here), and the SR Q-class No. 30541 should be hauling the sold-out Golden Arrow Breakfast and Golden Arrow Afternoon Tea trains on Sunday.

• We are sorry to report that Klaus Marx has passed away. Klaus was one of the founder members, editor of Bluebell News for 35 years, and was our Archivist until 2008. He was a founder member of the former London Area Group and hosted their meetings at the school where he was Headmaster for many years. His magnum opus was his 2001 book detailing the definitive history of our line. [Update: Details of his thanksgiving service now available on the BRPS Members' information page.]

• The latest report from the Southern Electric Traction Group who are working towards returning the Bluebell-owned 4VEP electric unit 3417 to working order at Strawberry Hill. See also their previous report and funding appeal.

• Dave Bowles has added some more photos of our S15, taken 11 March 2015, to his website.

• Update with the positions in the 2019-20 Football Competition as of earlier this week. The competition is raising funds for the forthcoming overhaul of Southern Railway Maunsell Restaurant/Dining First No. 7864.

• The two photos below from James Young were taken on Tuesday, and show three of our four SR Bulleid designed carriages running on the Mid Hants Railway, where they are adding capacity during the visit by 'Flying Scotsman' to that line. Composite No. 5768 is seen behind BR 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76017 (No. 1464 was also in the same train), and Nos. 2526 & 1482 were hauled by Schools Class No. 30925 'Cheltenham'.

• Brian Lacey's photo from this Saturday shows No. 80151 arriving at Kingscote from the north.

• Great to see that we're top of the list on The Sunday Express' "very best spring days out".

• A reminder that we are running steam trains each weekend in March, and daily from 1 to 19 April. See our timetables here.
  Tickets available in advance or on arrival.

• During February 2020 there were 42,524 hits from 22,659 unique visitors.

• The second train this weekend was formed of the SECR O1-class hauling the three SR Maunsell carriages, as seen in Brian's photo below, arriving at the same station, from the south.

• John Sandys' photo shows the token exchange as SECR No. 65 arrives at Horsted Keynes with the Maunsell carriage set. With quite a mixture of weather this morning including hail, sleet, snow, and glorious sunshine, more of John's photos from are available here.

• In preparation for planned photo charters the Wednesday Gang (South) has undertaken vegetation clearance work adjacent to the Eye Centre, south of East Grinstead, and also north of Horsted House Farm Bridge, where the team photo below was taken (by David Thair). Despite the abundance of rain, the gang has missed only one working Wednesday, but has had to take great care on the embankments, which have been extremely slippery. At the time of writing the gang has returned once again to Rock Cutting, which needs attention ideally before the season begins, and they expect to be at that location for several weeks.

• The other two photos below show recent work on Hastings-gauge Maunsell Brake No. 3687. The first of the trimmed quarter-pads, in reproduced green SR jazz-pattern moquette, have been temporarily fitted. The plywood floors of all six compartments have been lifted and painted on their undersides; the second photo shows the exposed sections of the underframe, which had been cleaned and painted 20 years ago, have now been treated to some further coats of paint.

• Brian Lacey's photo from Saturday shows No. 80151 being admired by some of our visitors at Horsted Keynes.

• SteamWorks!, our new accessible locomotive exhibition at Sheffield Park, has been given a runner-up award by the Heritage Railway Association in the outstanding visitor attraction category. The awards ceremony was held in Birmingham and Sam Bee (l) and Roger Kelly (r) are pictured below after being presented with the award.

• Some photos from this morning from John Sandys, including that below showing Bulleid brake No. 2526 loaded ready for transfer to the Mid Hants Railway, on loan to provide additional seating capacity for the period while 'Flying Scotsman' is visiting their line. The original plan had been for the four Bulleid carriages to go by rail, but with the line north of East Grinstead likely to be closed until the end of March following a landslip, the plan now is that two will go today and two tomorrow, by road. The carriages are due to return during the week commencing 16 March.

• More of Brian Lacey's photos from Saturday: here is No. 80151 arriving at Horsted Keynes with the 11am service from East Grinstead.

• On 15 February we hosted a photographic evening for Timeline Events, with the SECR O1 in steam, the Metropolitan carriages, and a dozen Edwardian re-enactors. Dave Bowles provides a superb gallery here.

• The photos below (again from Brian) show the S15 arriving at Horsted Keynes, and No. 65 passing through Horsted Keynes with the Wealden Rambler.

• Half term week has proved to be very popular with our visitors. Here, in Brian Lacey's photo from Saturday, we see No. 65 attracting attention as it passes through Horsted Keynes with the Wealden Rambler Afternoon Tea train.

• Two more photos from Brian below, with the Southern Railway S15 at the head of six Southern Railway Maunsell and Bulleid carriages, and No. 80151 (with another Maunsell carriage leading) passing one of the four SR-pattern rail-built bracket signals at Horsted Keynes.

• John Harwood's video includes some great drone shots (complying with our drone use policy) of No. 80151 leaving East Grinstead across the viaduct yesterday during our hugely popular "Kids for a Quid" week which finishes tomorrow.

• We have three locomotives in steam this weekend. In addition to the two larger locomotives hauling the timetabled passenger services, we have the SECR O1 hauling an Wealden Rambler Afternoon Tea service today and a Sussex Belle lunch train tomorrow.

• A reminder that rail access on the National Network via East Grinstead is currently provided by a bus replacement service from Lingfield due to a landslip to the north of East Grinstead. A bus from Three Bridges or Haywards Heath is a good alternative to access our line by public transport.

• Half term week (including our Kids for a Quid special offer) has been going well, although a couple of fallen trees have had to be removed from across the line before the services could run on a couple of days. Passenger numbers have been such that the planned 5-coach set has been strengthened by the addition of 1935-built Southern Railway Maunsell open third No. 1309, and the Q-class replaced with the larger S15 No. 847. The matching Southern olive-green liveried combination is seen here in a still from a video taken by John Sandys earlier today.

• Looking for an unusual present for someone who's got everything? There's been an update to the Brighton Atlantic Component Sponsorship list, with some additional parts looking for sponsors.

• In February 2008 we had the GWR Auto Tank No. 1450 as a visitor together with Auto Coach No. 178. Dave Bowles provides some photos by from a day with 1450.

• John Sandys' photos and videos from yesterday and today include the photo below showing BR 4MT No. 80151 at the head of 6-coach set of Southern Railway Maunsell and Bulleid carriages at East Grinstead.

• Keith Duke's photos from Monday when the Maunsell Q-class was on the 5-coach Mk.1 set, and is seen waiting to depart from Sheffield Park that day, below.

• An Infrastructure News report, from Bruce Healey, details track relaying work being done at Horsted House Farm Crossing, just north of Horsted Keynes.

  Work started on relaying ten 60-foot track panels on Wednesday 5 February. This spot was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, the foot crossing needed replacing and secondly, the Temporary Speed Restriction (TSR) could be shortened. Whereas the recently completed relay in the cutting at Three Arch Bridge went extremely smoothly, this had a few challenges. In the area of the crossing, the formation was found to be unexpectedly wet and so the decision was taken to underlay this part of the line. A collapsed drain under the formation was found, so two cross drains were put in to replace the blocked one.

  

  The first photo on the right shows the gap about to be closed. In the foreground is the extended ditch at the far end of which is the newly rediscovered catch-pit. The water in the ditch was previously seeping into the area of the formation. This view is looking north from the crossing. The second photo, below shows the relaid section of the line, looking south.

  The work was completed, including tamping, in time for the first train scheduled to run over it today. You can read the full report here.

• Details of Roger Williams' Funeral are now available on BRPS Members' information page.

• A landslip north of East Grinstead means National Rail trains are unable to run between East Grinstead and Lingfield until further notice. A rail replacement bus service will be operating between these stations.
  Passengers wishing to join us at our East Grinstead station via National Rail are advised to allow extra time for their journeys and check the National Rail website for regular updates. Alternatively there are regular bus services from Three Bridges to East Grinstead.

• John Sandys' photo shows No. 80151 being warmed through ready for services this weekend, when it will run alongside SR Q-class No. 30541 and SECR O1 No. 65.

  The latter locomotive will be in charge of tomorrow's Valentines' Day Afternoon Tea train. It is seen below in another of John Sandys' photos, on today's shunt, where it was used due to the number of carriages being returned from over-winter maintenance at Horsted Keynes. It is attached to a 6-coach set of Southern Railway Maunsell and Bulleid carriages, which will be in daily use over half term week, prior to the four Bulleids going to the Mid Hants Railway to help out during their visit by 'Flying Scotsman'. Also below the Golden Arrow dining set is seen, which has also returned to Sheffield Park after its winter maintenance.

• Public train services re-start this weekend, with our new Service Two timetable, and two or three locomotives in steam each day over the coming half term week. Don't forget we have our fabulous Kids for a Quid special offer, which applies daily 15-23 February.

• Dates are now available for photographers to book our updated Lineside Photographic Permit courses, and an explanation of the changes is available here.

• Last Sunday's eNewsletter has a lot of interesting information about what's happening around the railway. You can subscribe to receive the Newsletter by email here.

• Dave Bowles' photos of our S15 No. 847 over the years. This year the locomotive will be used lightly, since it is to be withdrawn at some point due to the tyres now nearly being worn down such that they will soon need replacing, which will be done as part of its next overhaul.

• Alex Morley's photos below show recent progress on the exterior of Maunsell Hastings-line brake No. 3687. The refixing of the panelling on the east side was completed over the New Year, and the ends have also now been stripped for repainting. Also note the lowest roof board has been replaced. On the west side, the first green undercoat has been applied, and partly rubbed down. The lowest roof board has also been removed for replacement. In addition, the compartment floors are being lifted to give access to the underframe, to nip any corrosion in the bud and repaint it.

• SECR P-class No. 178 has recently had its boiler certificate extended, so it can continue in service through to our forthcoming 60th anniversary celebrations in August.

  John Sandys' photos and videos from Saturday at Sheffield Park include this one showing No. 178 on a Footplate Taster Experience.

• An update on Operation Undercover Phase 4 (OP4) at Horsted Keynes, with thanks to Barry Luck, is now available on the Infrastructure News page. Two of the photos from that report are shown below.

  With the fitting of the windows and doors to both floors of the Heritage Skills Centre (HSC), the building is now weather-proof, and we can progress with the interior fitting out starting with the trim shop and moquette store (second photo below). We are very grateful for the recent donation which is sufficient to purchase the necessary materials. The full report is available here.

• Track relaying updates:
  A full report of the completion of the work at Three Arch Bridge to the south of Horsted Keynes is awaited, but Jon Goff's photo on the right (taken on 31 January) shows a line of dropped ballast ready for ploughing and tamping on the "extra" panels laid (in bullhead rail) at the north end of the relay, and also shows just how close the end of the job is to Horsted Keynes.

  Horsted House Crossing Track Relay:
  The next piece of track to be re-laid will be a short section that joins onto the November relay north of Leamland. It will be 200 yards long and extends the new track north of Horsted to about 50 yards past Horsted House Farm foot crossing. It will also take another 200 yards off the Temporary Speed Limit (TSR) that currently extends up to Vaux End. Jon Goff's short video was taken on a phone and is from the cab of the 09 running up to the crossing. It bounces around quite a bit anyway when running light engine and this amplifies the effects of the dipped joints etc., causing the camera shake but clearly shows up the difference between the new and the old track.
  The crossing will also be fully renewed together with the eventual replacement of the styles with a kissing gate. This was due to start yesterday if the remaining required sleepers arrived as expected.

• John Sandys' Photos from today, with the Thursday Shunt taking place at Sheffield Park.

• Brian Lacey's photo below is another showing P-class No. 178 on Saturday's Footplate Taster.

• Brian Lacey's photo shows No. 178 on Saturday's Footplate Taster Experience. With the loco facing North and a low sun behind it, he was forced to be inventive, which seems to have worked rather well here!

• An update from January on the Project 27 Blogspot reporting recent work on P-class No. 27.

• Dave Bowles has added some pictures from the Sunday of the fondly-remembered Branch Line Weekend of 2007.

• John Sandys' photos and videos from Thusday and Saturday, including that showing No. 178 below, in a view that may be of interest to model-makers!

• We sadly have to report the death of one of the longest standing members of our Carriage & Wagon Department, Roger Williams, who died in hospital on Thursday last week. Roger had dedicated most of his 45 years on the Bluebell to leading the restoration and maintenance of our Southern "Bulleid" carriages, along with Mk.1 Corridor Composite No. 16210, probably the first Mk.1 in preservation to have had a full top-to-bottom structural, mechanical and internal overhaul, completed back in October 1991. The recent comprehensive overhaul and rebuild of Bulleid Composite No. 5768 was his crowning achievement, which has just been recognised by winning the Southern Railways Group's Denys Fletcher Award. Dave Clarke's photo below shows Roger fixing new steel panelling on Bulleid 5768 in the early stages of its recent overhaul.
  [Update 14 Feb: Details of his funeral on 10 March are now available]

• During January 2020 there were 43,884 hits on this page, from 23,647 unique visitors.

• We can now confirm the full line-up for our 3-5 April Branch Line Weekend.

  Ivatt Class 2 Tank Locomotive No. 41312 will be making a return visit, joining previously announced Taff Vale Railway Tank No. 85.

  The following Bluebell engines will also be running: SECR H-class No. 263, O1-class No. 65, P-class No. 178, SR Q-class No. 30541 and BR 4MT tank No. 80151.

  Pre-book your tickets now for an advance discount. Timetables will be available nearer the event.

  Brian Lacey's photos right and below show the Ivatt tank, which is based at the Mid Hants Railway, on its last visit to the Bluebell, when it was hired during 2005-6 principally to undertake steam-worked spoil trains on the extension, at Sheffield Park on 18 August 2005.

  Jonathan Horrocks' photo below shows TVR No. 85 on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway last June, hauling an array of vintage stock, led by three Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway carriages.

• The first three of this year's Murder Mystery Evening Pullman trains have already Sold Out, so if you're thinking of booking for later in the year, don't delay and take a look at the details now.

• Another of Brian Lacey's photo from last Saturday, with P-class 178 in use on the Footplate Tasters.

• Two further photos below from Brian Lacey. Firstly another of 178 from last Saturday, plus another from New Year's Eve, with No. 80151 passing though the former West Hoathly Station site.

Infrastructure News - Midweek update from Bruce Healey and Brian Kidman reporting great progress with the track relaying at Three Arch Bridge, yesterday.

Bruce Healey's photo on the right was taken early on Wednesday morning. The new rail extends well beyond 3 Arch Bridge. By the bridge, our Signals & Telecoms (S&T) volunteers are working at a lineside cabinet. The S&T involvement is because this area is covered by track circuits connected to the Horsted Keynes signalbox, and the phone post at the bridge also needed to be moved.

The photo below, from Brian Kidman, shows a general view of the cutting looking south, with members of the Wednesday Gang (North) which has been working alongside Matt Crawford's track team for some weeks.

• We were saddened to hear of the death of Terry Jones, who played 'Toad' in Wind in the Willows, filmed on the Bluebell in October 1995. Many volunteers have fond memories of working alongside him (and other "Pythons") as he stole the C-class locomotive, and "crashed" it.

• We are also sorry to report that Jean Cook, ex-wife of Barry Cook, a former loco driver and pub owner (Fireman's Arms at Five Ash Down, now the Pig & Butcher), passed away last week. Jean was very much part of the railway life in the early days, especially when they lived in Newick and she was involved in the Social sub-committee. Funeral details are available on the BRPS Member's Notices page.

• Three Arch relay:  End of the second week.
  Jon Goff's report covers the period 11-17 January 2020, the second week of the track relaying project through the very wet cutting at Three Arch (Nobles) Bridge.

  

  The photo on the right taken from the top the bridge shows the preparation of the track bed north of Three Arch Bridge at the end of the second week. The northern end of the job is to be just before the piles of removed track panels in the distance. The bulldozer is pushing back some of the reusable ballast and is almost up to the point where the membrane will finish. The new second ditch is complete and ready for the drainage pipe. The laser is set up on the tripod to the right and angled to the correct gradient of the line. The two laser receivers on the dozer can be seen sitting on top of the masts at the front. The other important item in the photo is the blue cabin; our temporary lobby where the kettle resides!

  On the other side of the bridge the track has been laid just past the half way point, with 16 of the 29 panels put down and most of the sleepers put out for the 17th panel. More details are in the full report (PDF). The straightness with which we've been able to lay the track was due to the use of our new (gifted) theodolite which we are very pleased with, and the smoothness is due to the use of our laser with the laser bulldozer. This makes tamping a lot easier as it is as good as main line standards.

• A video clip of the work carried out was filmed early last week by John Harwood using his drone in compliance with CAA and Bluebell regulations

• Steve Lee's photo below shows 80151 departing from Kingscote on New Year's Day.

• The second photo below is another of Brian Lacey's from this Saturday, with 178 on one of the Footplate Tasters.

• Brian Lacey visited Sheffield Park on Saturday to see P-class 178 in action on the Footplate Taster specials. The sunshine made a pleasant change, but the low angle of the sun wasn't so helpful when taking photographs! None the less, Brian took some nice shots which we'll also be using over the next few days. Right, as is traditional, the fire devil is in use to prevent the water column from freezing.

• The latest edition of our e-Newsletter was published yesterday.
   
  

• Mid-January OP4 Progress Report from Project Manager Barry Luck. His photo on the right, taken from that report, shows the almost complete back wall of the Heritage Skills Centre, taken from inside the new carriage shed. The gaps in both the ground-floor and first-floor walls are temporary ones to make it easier for material for construction of the internal partitions to be lifted into the now enclosed spaces.

  Once the cladding on this side of the first floor is in place, the final two tracks (H- and J-road) can be laid (using second hand track on concrete sleepers, recovered during the next planned section of track relaying), and further carriages shunted into the new storage shed.

• A photo, taken by John Brodribb, showing the second thermic syphon for the new firebox for No. 21C123 'Blackmoor Vale' being working on at SDR Engineering has been added to the Bulleid Society's web site.

• Two more photos from New Year's Eve from Brian Lacey, showing 80151 pulling into platforms 4/5 at Horsted Keynes, and the SR Q-class arriving at the same station.

• Phil Horscroft's photo shows 80151 making a foggy departure from Sheffield Park on 30 December 2019

• Fancy a treat for half term? Our Kids for a Quid special offer applies daily 15-23 February.

• We have a Pie and Mash evening train on 9 October, and a Curry Special on 30 October, in addition to our regular Fish and Chip and Rail Ale evening specials.

• Pullman Brake Parlour Third Class Car No. 36 arrived at Sheffield Park on Tuesday 14 January, where it was unloaded and later transferred over to the carriage running shed behind the museum. It will go up to Horsted Keynes when the track renewal is completed, although work to put it into service is not expected to start until after Car 54 enters service.

  The carriage was purchased privately for use on the Bluebell, delivery being delayed until after the Christmas season when the carriage had been in use at the Colne Valley Railway. Before entering service on the Bluebell it requires at a minimum rewiring (from 240V AC to 24V DC), provision of steam heat, fitting luggage racks (actually hat racks), and re-instatement of the missing partition, which it is believed is still in existence, as well as some mechanical and bodywork maintenance. The existing non-Pullman seating was retained by the Colne Valley Railway as we will fit original Pullman-type seating in due course.

  The two photos below, by David Jones, show the carriage arriving at the Bluebell, and the bare interior (it had originally been stripped internally when used as a cinema coach on the Bulmers' "Cider Train"). It carried the name 'Morella' and was painted green, red and white whilst in Bulmers' ownership, until 1986, and 'Hermione' after it went to the Colne Valley Railway in 1988 (along with 'Aquila', moving there in part-exchange for 'Gwen' which went to VSOE).

Car 36 had been built in 1926 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd of Smethwick, and entered service in July of that year on the "Southern Belle" between London Victoria and Brighton, initially with 54 seats in a 2+2 arrangement. After electrification of the Brighton line, and replacement by the "Brighton Belle" electric units, Car 36 continued to be used on the central division of the Southern Railway (by now with 42 seats in the more normal 2+1 arrangement) until withdrawn from service for the duration of the war.

In 1946, now as Second Class 'Car No. 194', it was allocated to the "Golden Arrow" running between Victoria and Dover, complete with arrows and "Golden Arrow / Fleche d'Or" insignia painted on the bodysides (soon after, instead painted boards held on with clips were used to give greater flexibility). From 4 May 1947 the second class cars were removed from the "Golden Arrow", and reverting to 'Car No. 36' it served on the "Devon Belle" (alongside the Bluebell's Car 54 and 'Fingall').

When the new cars for the "Golden Arrow" were introduced in 1951, Car 36 was one of the older cars sent to the Pullman Works at Preston Park to be modified to run with them, receiving aluminium panelling on the bodyside, and the oval "cathedral" lavatory lights (windows) were replaced by the rectangular type as fitted to the 1951 cars. It then ran regularly on the "Golden Arrow", and subsequently on other Southern services, and was on the "Bournemouth Belle" at the time it was withdrawn in 1967. One of its lavatory compartments was converted into a guard's compartment and so, like Car 54, it has the heavier guard's doors at one end.

• Infrastructure News update - further to last Wednesday's photos from Bruce Healey showing the first 100 yards relaid, another update shows progress over the following two days, with thanks to Jon Goff. The photo on the right shows work in the cutting now at full swing, and the report describes the scene in detail.

• Compilation of mobile phone video footage from Martin Lawrence, giving an overview of 2019 on the Bluebell.

• John Sandys' photos from yesterday, including P-class No. 178 on Footplate Taster duties at Sheffield Park, as also seen in his photos below.

• Brian Lacey's photo shows the Maunsell Q-class as it emerges from the tunnel on New Year's Eve.

• Two dates have just been released for our Full Steam Ahead experience, which gives participants the chance to fire and drive Standard Tank No. 80151 as part of a full day on the Railway.

• Two photos below, taken by Richard Salmon today:

  The SECR C-class is in the paint shop at Horsted Keynes where Heritage Painting are undertaking a repaint to prepare the locomotive for display in SteamWorks! at Sheffield Park, where the tender and locomotive will be split to enable public access to the footplate, including access via wheelchairs. The footplate is much lower than that on No. 75027, so providing ramped access at much lower cost and complexity than if the Standard 4 had been used for this purpose.

  Representing an investment of around £15,000 by its owning group, the Howlden Trust, here we see newly forged and machined drawhooks for the Great Northern Railway Directors' Saloon. Since the main cost was for the die-blocks for stamping the forgings, making spares at the same time was very cost effective.

• John Sandys' photo from 5 January shows Blackmoor Vale back in the loco shed at Sheffield Park.

• Tickets are now on sale for our 3-5 April Branch Line Weekend - Book online for big discounts on advance purchases. Two-day and three-day tickets are also available, again giving a good discount.

• Another archive photo on the Internet, this time a colour photo from 1967 showing our B4 'Normandy' in industrial service at Southampton, then named 'Corral Queen'.

• Infrastructure News update with thanks to Bruce Healey, with photos, including the first below, showing the first six track panels relaid during the first week of the winter maintenance period. The remaining section of track to be renewed, leading up to Three Arch Bridge, is in a cutting rather than on an embankment, which therefore requires much more work, including provision of greatly improved drainage.

  The update also covers work on two areas of OP4 (Operation Undercover Phase 4) at Horsted Keynes, and John Sandys' photos from yesterday include this one below showing progress with the ground floor windows and doors of the Heritage Skills Centre.

• John Sandys' photo shows SECR P-class No. 178 at Sheffield Park on Footplate Taster duties yesterday, with the driver and fireman taking a close interest in the steam reverser.

  You can see more of John's photos from Sunday, here.
  

  

• Branch Line Weekend (3-5 April 2020): We are very pleased to announce the first visiting locomotive will be Taff Vale Railway 0-6-2 Tank No. 85, thanks to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Another guest is currently still to be confirmed.

  This photo, by Phil 62005, shows TVR No. 85 setting off from Keighley, with vintage L&YR carriages, on 6 August 2017 (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0). You can also view this video of the locomotive in action in 2017 by David Roy Ball.

   
  

• Back to home territory with two more of Brian Lacey's photos below, taken on Saturday 28 December. Firstly the token exchange from the Q-class at Horsted Keynes, and second the Standard tank passes the former West Hoathly station site.

• Brian Lacey's photo from Saturday 28 December shows the Q-class arriving at Horsted Keynes whilst No. 80151 waits to depart southbound.

• Reminder that, although we are not running any services now until 15 February, weekends will see a locomotive steaming around Sheffield Park for our popular "Footplate Taster" experiences. Note that this weekend these only take place tomorrow, Sunday. There are still places available for a few more participants over coming weeks - book up online!

• Philip Bull's great video from 30/31 December.

• Photos from Dave Bowles, showing the Santa Special trains on 23 December, when the sun came out!

• More old photos of our locos online:
  • Q-class 30541 at Ringwood, and two other photos (1 and 2) at unknown locations.
  • U-class 1618 at Eastleigh
  • and other Bluebell locomotives: 34023 'Blackmoor Vale', U-class 31638, rebuild Bulleid 34059 'Sir Archibald Sinclair' and BR Standard 5 73082 'Camelot'.

• Phil Horscroft's photo below shows the Q-class in the mist at Horsted House Bridge on Monday 30 December, and Steve Lee's taken on Wednesday 1 January shows 80151 in the cutting south of Three Arch Bridge.

  Note, in Steve's photo, the rails and sleepers in the cess ready for the relaying exercise which is now under way in this particularly damp cutting; a second drainage ditch is to be provided along with cross-drains and geotextile and impervious membranes laid under the formation, which is being completely dug out and renewed.

2020 is the 60th year of steam operation on our preserved line. We were the very first standard gauge heritage line to operate steam-hauled services, and we are celebrating with a very full programme of special events throughout the year.

• Steve Lee's photo shows No. 30541, the Maunsell Q-class, northbound at Milepost 10 today (see the "location map" to discover where that is!). Lighting conditions were not the best for photography! This was the last day of services until 15 February as we take our customary break at this time of year, which enables us to undertake major engineering works on our line.

• During December 2019 there were 44,085 hits on this page, from 23,028 unique visitors.

• On Monday Sussex was shrouded in mist in the morning. Although the sun broke through later, the conditions enabled some atmospheric shots to be taken in the morning.

  Robert Else's photo below shows No. 80151 as it waits at Horsted Keynes for the arrival of the second up train, slowly being engulfed in steam.

  Phil Horscroft's photo shows the same locomotive at Horsted House Bridge.

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