Bluebell Railway

Location

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OS Ref: TQ373293

Last Visited: 2003

The Bluebell Railway was the first standard gauge railway preservation society opening in 1960. Since then it has gone from strength to strength and is now a thriving concern. Check the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society's website for opening times etc.

Third Class Carriage

Originally only the eight kilometres (five miles) between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes were preserved, and trains used to crawl between them, spinning the journey time out to 15 minutes or more. The long term plan was to reopen the line to East Grinstead, and in 1994 the line was extended to Kingscote allowing the trains to be worked in a much more realistic way.

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LBSCR 7598 First
Class Interior

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Now all they've got to do is shift about 300,000 cubic metres of garbage out of Imberhorne Cutting, and they'll be there.

Frequently used as a film set, the Bluebell just about manages not to feel like one. However, if I have a quibble (and this wouldn't be the Strolling Guides site without a quibble) if anything everything is all too immaculate. It's certainly very different from the worn out post-war British Railways of the 1950s that I remember. Click the More Button for a Route Map.

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Go to the Bluebell Railway Map Page

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Coupling up

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SE&CR No 65

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SE&CR No 65

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Sheffield Park Water Tower

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Sheffield Park Signalbox

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SE&CR No 65

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Sheffield Park Signalbox

SE&CR No 65 Detail

Blackmore Vale

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43909 - Great Northern Railway Directors' Saloon

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Pulling out of Kingscote

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Third Class Interior

Blackmore Vale

Kingscote Signalbox

Luggage Trolley

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Bikes - Kingscote

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External Links and References

External Links
- Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
  The award-winning and very comprehensive official site. Navigation's a bit untidy though.
- Profile of O1 Class No.65
  The engine featured in these photos
- UK Heritage Railways
  Comprehensive listing of all preserved railways and rolling stock in the UK with links to the individual railway sites
- HorstedKeynes.Com
  Possibly slightly more than all you ever wanted to know about Horsted Keynes
- Bluebell Railway
  Wikipedia Article
Maps of the Area
- Landranger Maps Sheet 198
  Brighton and Lewes, Haywards Heath
Recommended Books
- Thomas the Tank Engine - The Complete Collection by W Awdry
  All 26 books from the famous railway series combined into one huge volume. Also includes articles on the author and illustrators.
- The Landscape Trilogy by L T C Rolt
  Autobiography of one of the pioneers of industrial preservation, if not the pioneer. Proto-hippy born before his time.
- An Illustrated History of the Lewes & East Grinstead Railway by Klaus Marx
  Definitive history of what is now known as the Bluebell Line by the man who has been the railway's archivist since 1960. Very readable for the most part, except for a few passages were he gets bogged down in the minutiae of day to day running. [Currently out of print]

Comments

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04/01/2005 no

r dogs allowed

05/01/2005 Strolling Guide

Apparently. There is even a special ticket available for them. See http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/bluett.html for further info. Ant

18/01/2005 1668

are guide dogs permitted to travel with owns

19/01/2005 Strolling Guide

I can only quote what it says on the official site's web page mentioned above: "Dogs are welcome ... The only restrictions are the buffet/restaurant building and Golden Arrow Pullman Dining Train, for obvious reasons. However picnic style tables are available just outside the buffet at Sheffield Park. Guide dogs are most welcome, and travel free."

05/05/2005 annonymus

i have a friend who is blind and wished to go on as this is where she met her husband who has passed and it was thier wedding anniversery but she was not allowed.

18/05/2005 Strolling Guide

The question is - was her guide dog allowed on?
(Smells like a troll to me - apologies if it isn't)

05/02/2007 Jon Goff

Fabulous all steam railway. Only full size railway where you can guarantee that if you ride on a train, it will be pulled by a steam engine. They do not have any diesels.

07/02/2007 Strolling Guide

Thanks for your comment Jon. Sorry to quibble but the Bluebell Railway merely claims to be the only full-sized railway in the UK where all scheduled services are steam hauled. There may be others world-wide.

They also currently have a Class 08 diesel shunter (D3023) on loan to them to help with the East Grinstead extension works so have lost their all-steam status, at least temporarily.