Bluebell Railway

This was our first visit to the Bluebell Railway for some time - maybe 5-6 years? In part it felt wholly unchanged - the route, carriages and trains, etc. But there were differences, and of course we had changed.

It was a wholly wet day, towards the end of last week - so we spent more time on the trains and less on the platforms. Hence lots of shots from inside the compartment.
Arriving at Sheffield Park we jumped on a train went through Horsted Keynes (as featured in this month's Railway Modeller) to Kingscote.

I remember a rather nice OO gauge model railway being housed at the latter, but that seems to have disappeared now.

It was a traditional corridor carriage, and I have to say that as only a day or so previously we had been to see Harry Potter 6, it felt rather like the teenagers' scenes on the Hogwarts Express.

I thought the film was poor. Given the huge size of the book, a lot had of course to be edited out for the film. I just think they removed exactly the wrong elements of the book.

The Railway also runs past the Ashdown Forest, where a few months ago our eldest had a Duke of Edinburgh Expedition. And they took pictures of Bluebell Railway engines while they were hiking.

So some of these pictures were obligatory shots of the route they followed.

And of course, it should be DofE Expotition given that the Ashdown Forest was also apparently the original for The Hundred-Acre Wood.
As the photo above shows, the Bluebell is a real, working railway with the obligatory level of crud.

As you can see, it was a very wet day. These photos are of Horsted Keynes.

The way the Bluebell has preserved so much of the old station paraphernalia is impressive...
...as are the conserved seats in the carriages.


(Preserved railway workers?)





There is one major tunnel on the route.

Taking photos of the inside was a challenge. It was impossible to see what the image would be like, as it was pretty much pitch black until the camera flash triggered (apart from the carriage lights).

Back at Horsted Keynes on the return journey.

There is a lot of good-looking stained glass in all of the station buildings. I don't know how original it is.


The Bluebell Railway, of course, has a star. Just one star. He is based at Sheffiled Park. And this is his number (James times Oliver).
Those who know, know who this is....


Actually, while standing beside Stepney, we also spotted Fenchurch. Another Terrier, just like Stepney, and another star, in my book (no photos though).

In passing, someone who at the time appeared to know their stuff said that Fenchurch had worked on London Underground for a while (ie on one of the very early cut and cover lines). However there is no mention of that in any references I can find.