Southern Railway Coach Group

About the Group

The Bluebell Railway has a long and successful track record in the restoration of Southern Railway designed rolling stock, from Bulleid coach restorations in the 1970s through to more comprehensive restoration of Maunsell and Bulleid stock from the 1980s onwards. However, with a number of vehicles that have been in traffic now stopped for comprehensive overhaul, there is work to be done to deliver the Railway's long term plan of operating full sets of Maunsell and Bulleid carriages.

Left: Visiting Gresley A4 No 4464 Bittern with a set led by Bulleid coaches 1464, 1482 and 2526 nearing Horsted House Farm bridge, 31 Oct 2015. Keith Leppard.

Vision

To restore, maintain and promote awareness of the Bluebell Railway's rolling stock designed and/or operated by the Southern Railway.

Objectives

The current objectives of the Group:

Increase the number of Southern Railway built and designed vehicles in use at the Bluebell Railway, with the initial focus of completing sets of Maunsell and Bulleid carriages
External promotion activities and raising awareness in the Bluebell Membership and a wider audience through published articles and social media
Subscriptions, and fundraising for restorations
Leadership of campaigns for specific vehicle restoration
Working with the Carriage and Wagon Trustee, Director and staff to identify the most effective approaches and timescales for restoration and to support maintenance programmes
Working with the Bluebell Railway Trust to help secure external funding for vehicles along with other fund-raising activities
Providing a focus for volunteer coordination for those with an interest of this type of vehicle

Above right: The newly constituted four-coach Maunsell set departs Horsted Keynes on 31 May 2025 with 3687 nearest the camera. (Alex Morley).

SRCG Organisation

The Southern Railway Coach Group is an internal group under the umbrella of the BRPS in a similar way to the Bluebell Railway Goods Division. Money raised will be directed into Bluebell Railway Trust restricted funds and used to meet the group's objectives.

The SRCG Steering Group was set up at an inaugural meeting in August 2023. Follow the link for more about the steering group and its meetings.

Please consider joining the SRCG. Subscription now open for 2025.

SRCG members receive two newsletters per year, by email in March and September, that are made available here 2-3 months later. If you enjoy reading our past newsletters, please consider becoming a member so you can see them as soon as they are published.

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Southern Railway Coach Group

About the Group

Vision

Objectives

SRCG Organisation

SRCG Newsletter Archive