Bluebell Railway news

[rodent279]

Though I think NYC livery would suit them better. But I won't distract this topic any further!

[phil_sutters]

On 13/11/2022 at 10:07, steve1023 said:

I would absolutely visit the BR if the Thumper goes there (more than once!). Mini diesel gala with the Crompton. 

You could visit the Spa Valley if you want to ride one sooner

 

[Neal Ball]

A 2 carriage Thumper and a class 73 at the Bluebell in 2023.

 

73133 is currently at Eastleigh for bodywork repairs. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1101391470555524/

 

The Thumper will need considerably more work - although it is operational.

[Oldddudders]

36 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

You could visit the Spa Valley if you want to ride one sooner

 

I don't know. All the effort we put into creating new DEMU berthing sidings at New Cross Gate in 1985 - and obviously one got left behind! 

[papagolfjuliet]

Apparently the three LMS sleepers, Mk. 1 sleeper, Maunsell TPO and Maunsell TK which were on the Bluebell's disposal list and were removed from the line last month have all gone for scrap. The Night Ferry sleeping car has fared rather better and is heading to Belgium for restoration.

[steve1023]

On 30/12/2022 at 11:23, phil_sutters said:

You could visit the Spa Valley if you want to ride one sooner

 

Yes - have done, although quite a long time ago now when the Lavender Hampshire was visiting the line.

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, papagolfjuliet said:

Apparently the three LMS sleepers, Mk. 1 sleeper, Maunsell TPO and Maunsell TK which were on the Bluebell's disposal list and were removed from the line last month have all gone for scrap. The Night Ferry sleeping car has fared rather better and is heading to Belgium for restoration.

Hopefully the sleepers have released lots of fixtures and fittings to LMS carriage groups and any of the surviving Mk1 sleepers, of which I think we may now be into single figures........ This was the last Mk1 SLC so that is a type now extinct.

 

Lest this be seen as a why-oh-why-didn't-someone-form-a-group-to-preserve-these moan, to which the response is rightly, "Why didn't you?", I could probably have bought one several years ago but baulked at the realistic long-term costs, especially the rental of storage space during restoration.  

[papagolfjuliet]

Well, that's the thing. They'd been on the market for 18 months, and the Bluebell didn't even want any money for the LMS sleepers, and yet there were no serious takers. The TPO had been on the market for thirty years (with luck it will yield spares for the TPO collection at Wansford). The 'linear scrapyard' is becoming a thing of the past; long lines of unrestored rotting rolling stock with no realistic prospect of overhaul and no dedicated support groups block the views for which passengers pay, they make for bad PR and unhappy neighbours, and they also provide playgrounds for vandals. Quite a few railways, not only the Bluebell but also the KESR and NYMR, have had major culls in recent years and it's a trend I'd expect to continue. Let this news serve as a warning and a wake up call.

[Dunsignalling]

17 hours ago, papagolfjuliet said:

Apparently the three LMS sleepers, Mk. 1 sleeper, Maunsell TPO and Maunsell TK which were on the Bluebell's disposal list and were removed from the line last month have all gone for scrap. The Night Ferry sleeping car has fared rather better and is heading to Belgium for restoration.

A salutary tale.

 

Storage space is a perennial problem for heritage lines and, increasingly, everything on the premises needs to have a function, or at least a realistic potential for one.

 

I guess the sleepers may once have been used for volunteer accommodation and have been superseded by alternatives. TPOs can make interesting static exhibits, but only if the interior fittings remain in place. The TK might have had potential, but was presumably too far gone to offer a realistic prospect of restoration and will no doubt have yielded spares for similar vehicles on the line prior to disposal.

 

Unfortunately, unless a static museum can take non-usable items off an operational railway's hands, "preservation" sometimes only provides a "stay of execution" with eventual demise hastened by the vehicle having to be stored in the open. 

 

John 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[papagolfjuliet]

The LMS sleepers were rotten and asbestos-ridden and have been replaced by Mk.IIIs. The Mk.1 SLC had been the subject of a conversion to a camping coach, but this had stalled with no prospect of resumption. The Maunsell TK was structurally unsound to the extent that the Bluebell's original disposal document advised that it would probably have to be 'flatpacked' before removal.

 

The TPO's story is a sad one. It was fully restored forty years ago, but the paint supplied proved to be something of a Friday afternoon job and the paintwork fell off in huge flakes, sending the vehicle right back to the end of the overhaul 'queue' in a matter of months.

Edited January 5, 2023 by papagolfjuliet

[papagolfjuliet]

The Bluebell buys a Thumper: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/bluebell-railway-press-releases/?fbclid=IwAR3wVkQqOJsJwkCtBvaJL-LTLtGpUpjY3B72toxA-w8uvCsP2hbKD38yWDc

[Nick C]

6 minutes ago, papagolfjuliet said:

The Bluebell buys a Thumper: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/bluebell-railway-press-releases/?fbclid=IwAR3wVkQqOJsJwkCtBvaJL-LTLtGpUpjY3B72toxA-w8uvCsP2hbKD38yWDc

I didn't realise it was actually being bought by the railway - I'd assumed it was going to be a separate group in the same way as the 09 and 33 are.

[Neal Ball]

41 minutes ago, Nick C said:

I didn't realise it was actually being bought by the railway - I'd assumed it was going to be a separate group in the same way as the 09 and 33 are.

 

I wonder if the class 73, which is currently at Eastleigh being refurbished has also been bought by the railway as well. 

[60526]

No, not owned by the railway, it will be on a 10 year pay as it is used deal.

I noticed some words in the latest Bluebell Times concerning the use of the new HK carriage shed, implying that after the recent carriage cull there might be more. Perhaps to make space for the DEMU?

Charlie

[thegreenhowards]

The thumper arrived today.

 

[Nick C]

DMBS at the uphill end - that's going to be loud for the driver!

[papagolfjuliet]

On 20/01/2023 at 08:44, Nick C said:

DMBS at the uphill end - that's going to be loud for the driver!

 

The unit only has one ammeter, in the DMBS, so it makes sense for the driver to be able to monitor that on a sustained climb.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

There were two Bulleid coaches on low loaders parked up on the Northbound M1 near Northampton yesterday waiting for the road to reopen. One was a shallow vent and one was a large vent one. Were they Bluebell vehicles? What's going on with them?

[Neal Ball]

20 minutes ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

There were two Bulleid coaches on low loaders parked up on the Northbound M1 near Northampton yesterday waiting for the road to reopen. One was a shallow vent and one was a large vent one. Were they Bluebell vehicles? What's going on with them?

Yes they are Bluebell vehicles, “heading North”, definitely not for disposal.

 

There was a comment on the unofficial Bluebell Facebook page yesterday, but no confirmation about what and why.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

7 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Yes they are Bluebell vehicles, “heading North”, definitely not for disposal.

 

There was a comment on the unofficial Bluebell Facebook page yesterday, but no confirmation about what and why.

They were stuck at junction 16 when I saw them. I was passing over on a bus so couldn't circle the roundabout and try to see. 

[G-BOAF]

Reading Bluebell Times and I must say I'm a little concerned about the turnover of PLC leadership. The 'new' (appointed 18 months ago) director, Geoff Mee, has resigned. The previous 'permanent' company chair also resigned in 2019 after 5 years (as compared to his predecessor who was in post for 13 years), while the interim replacement did not stay on (2019-2021 I think).

There has also been a bit of a turnover in general managers (with two lasting only a couple of years) in the late 2010s. Is this post event filled now?

 

Throughout my (near lifelong) interest and membership of the Bluebell, the railway has always appeared to have stable leadership and management (especially compared to other major lines) but the recent current churning appears rather concerning.

[papagolfjuliet]

On 01/02/2023 at 08:18, Neal Ball said:

Yes they are Bluebell vehicles, “heading North”, definitely not for disposal.

 

There was a comment on the unofficial Bluebell Facebook page yesterday, but no confirmation about what and why.

 

Some sort of contract job also involving West Coast. They are part of this formation this morning, so if you're in Hull and you fancy popping down to Paragon at twenty to twelve... https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U91549/2023-02-13/detailed?fbclid=IwAR3hzytDruGTLBbz1fAQqzfSO_xN5x7Pxy3ihWRmxjwy_1pPVSyDZHTs3_c

Edited February 13, 2023 by papagolfjuliet

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, papagolfjuliet said:

 

Some sort of contract job also involving West Coast. They are part of this formation this morning, so if you're in Hull and you fancy popping down to Paragon at twenty to twelve... https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U91549/2023-02-13/detailed?fbclid=IwAR3hzytDruGTLBbz1fAQqzfSO_xN5x7Pxy3ihWRmxjwy_1pPVSyDZHTs3_c

 

Presumably its for a filming job somewhere....

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

Reading Bluebell Times and I must say I'm a little concerned about the turnover of PLC leadership. The 'new' (appointed 18 months ago) director, Geoff Mee, has resigned. The previous 'permanent' company chair also resigned in 2019 after 5 years (as compared to his predecessor who was in post for 13 years), while the interim replacement did not stay on (2019-2021 I think).

There has also been a bit of a turnover in general managers (with two lasting only a couple of years) in the late 2010s. Is this post event filled now?

 

Throughout my (near lifelong) interest and membership of the Bluebell, the railway has always appeared to have stable leadership and management (especially compared to other major lines) but the recent current churning appears rather concerning.

 

Not only that, but the railway reporting a loss does not sound good.

 

I guess its a similar story at the Severn Valley, where they have announced there will be no more loco overhauls once the current ones finish through the works - I suspect the story is similar across all the heritage railways - in terms of cost cutting.

 

Clearly though, someone is looking to the future as there are a lot of track repairs going on.

 

On the Bluebell there has been a big relaying scheme at Vaux end, which has been an issue for a number of years.

 

Its good to read that some of the new volunteers for the Thumper are volunteering for the first time.

[Michael Hodgson]

I can't help thinking that all these rolling stock movements by road must be expensive, and I wonder about the value of the "visiting engines" practice common in the heritage railway industry and when are so many alternative uses for their limited preservation funds.  I'm not quetioning any particular trip, as some definitely are either necessary or generate additional revenue, but are they really all cost-justified?