Bluebell Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East Sussex and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between Sheffield Park and Kingscote, with an intermediate station at Horsted Keynes.
The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers, and has the largest collection of steam locomotives after the National Railway Museum (NRM) and a collection of carriages and wagons which is unrivalled in the south of England. In addition to the 30 locomotives resident on the line, one more is on loan from the NRM (another has recently returned there), and a project to recreate a long-lost type of locomotive (A London, Brighton and South Coast Railway H2 Class Atlantic) from a few surviving parts is well under way.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Bluebell Railway was the first preserved standard gauge railway in the world - it opened in 1960, shortly after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes was eventually closed by British Railways. It also preserved a number of steam locomotives even before the cessation of steam service on British mainline railways in 1968.
In 1877 an Act was passed to authorise the construction of the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway (L&EGR). The line was sponsored by a number of local landowners, including the Earl of Sheffield. A year later an Act of 1878 enabled the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company (LB&SCR) to acquire and operate the new line.
The line had six stations, but only the station at Barcombe was within walking distance of an existing village. The remaining five were located in thinly populated areas. Chailey parish had two stations, one at Sheffield Park and another at Newick and Chailey. It was traditional at that time for a rural railway line that was supported by a private company or notable individuals to have stations sited in close proximity to the residences of the sponsors. Thus Sheffield Park station was built for the Earl of Sheffield, and Newick and Chailey for Newick Park and Reedens, the residences of two other sponsors. The other stations on the line were at Kingscote, West Hoathly and Horsted Keynes; a branch line ran from a junction at Horsted Keynes to Ardingly and Haywards Heath on the LB&SCR main line.
Interestingly, the 1877 and 1878 Acts included a clause stating that:
Four passenger trains each way daily to run on this line, with through connections at East Grinstead to London, and to stop at Sheffield Bridges, Newick, and West Hoathly.
This imposed a legal commitment on the railway owner to provide a service, and it emerged much later that the only way to remove this obligation was to pass another Act of Parliament to rescind it.
After the passage of the 1878 Act, the new line opened in 1882, with the usual pomp and ceremony and a great deal of celebration. The whole line from East Grinstead was built to take double track, which was actually laid between East Grinstead and Horsted Keynes; However, south of the junction at Horsted Keynes the line was only single track with passing loops at the stations. Like a number of rural branch lines of that era, as well as conveying passengers a substantial quantity of local produce was transported: milk, farm products, coal, and timber to and from Albert Turner & Son, a local sawmill. Curiously, the only time Sheffield Park station received a substantial number of passengers was when Lord Sheffield entertained the Australian Cricket Team, with the inevitable match between them and Lord Sheffield's own team.
As early as 1954, and certainly long before Dr Richard Beeching (whose programme of railway closures and service cuts became known as the Beeching Axe) became Chairman of the British Railways Board, the Branchline Committee of British Railways had submitted a proposal to close the section of line from East Grinstead to Culver Junction near Lewes. This was challenged by local residents, but eventually the closure was sanctioned in February 1955, and a closure date fixed for 28th May 1955. The ensuing battle fought between British Railways and the users of the "Bluebell Line" (as it was known) became infamous, as a result of four years of acrimonious argument which the transport users conducted in opposition to the Transport Authorities.
Shortly after the closure a local resident of Chailey, Miss Margery Bessemer, discovered in the wording of the 1877 and 1878 Acts the clause (mentioned above) relating to the "Statutory Line", and demanded that British Railways honour this legal obligation and reinstate the services according to the Acts. On 7th August 1956 British Railways was forced to re-open the line, and so began the "Sulky Service", with the trains only stopping at the stations mentioned in the Acts. Meanwhile, in 1957 British Railways took the case to the House of Commons, resulting in a Public Inquiry. British Railways were sternly censured, but later the Transport Commission was able to persuade Parliament to repeal the special section of the Act. By this means the line was again, and this time finally, closed on 17th March 1958.
Spring 1959 saw the formation of the Lewes & East Grinstead Railway Preservation Society, the forerunner of today’s Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. Their initial aim was to re-open the whole line from East Grinstead to Culver Junction, and to run it as a commercial service. This was envisaged as using a diesel railcar, a two-car DMU, as soon as funds allowed. These plans sadly came to nothing, for two reasons: firstly, the Society failed to purchase the whole line; and secondly, most local residents were not that interested. So in the interim, the re-opening of the section of line from Sheffield Park to Bluebell Halt just south of Horsted Keynes (that was at first leased and eventually purchased from British Railways) as both a steam railway and museum was planned and approved.
[edit] Present and future
The Bluebell Railway Preservation Society completed an initial extension from Horsted Keynes to Kingscote in 1994, which included relaying track through Sharpthorne Tunnel (731 yards, the longest on a UK heritage railway), and is working to reinstate the remaining two miles of line from Kingscote to East Grinstead. The Bluebell Railway has now bought the land for a station at East Grinstead; however, the layout may be changed to provide a direct link with Network Rail [citation needed].
Work has now started on the final northwards push towards East Grinstead, where the line will once again join to the national rail network. The small matter of 600 metres of rubbish filling a 50 metre deep cutting will be removed by convoys of road freighters, although some of the clay is being taken south by rail to help fill the site of a removed embankment on the old Ardingly spur.
It is hoped that in the future the Ardingly spur will also reconnect with National Rail at Ardingly, and thus gain access to the London to Brighton main line at Copyhold Junction. This will restore a bypass of the London–Brighton line which proved very useful in the past (during the Second World War the signal box at Horsted Keynes was manned night and day, to provide a alternative route for troop trains). There is also occasional speculation about long-term plans to extend south towards Lewes; but the removal of the road bridge just south of Sheffield Park station, the in-filling of the cutting and route under the A272 road, and the housing built on the location of Newick & Chailey station makes this a very distant prospect.
The station at Sheffield Park has been restored to a generally Victorian ambience, as close as possible to how it would have appeared during the time of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (up to 1922). Horsted Keynes tries to emulate the style of the Southern Railway (1922–1948), and Kingscote echoes the early British Railways period (1950s). Between Horsted Keynes and Kingscote the line passes through the site of West Hoathly station, at one end of Sharpthorne Tunnel. West Hoathly station is now in the middle of a modern housing development, so remains closed in deference to the wishes of the local residents.
Christmas is a peak time for bookings, as the Santa Special is very popular with families. Complimentary Clown entertainment, a children's visit from Father Christmas, Mince Pies and refreshments are served during the journey. Also running during the Christmas season is the Luxury Golden Arrow Dining Train which serves traditional Christmas Dinner on 13 different evenings throughout the season.
[edit] Stations
- Sheffield Park
- Horsted Keynes
- West Hoathly (closed)
- Kingscote
- East Grinstead (extension under construction)
[edit] Claims to fame
The Bluebell Railway has been used as the location for several films and television programmes. In October 1999 the film The Railway Children based on the book by E Nesbit was filmed at the railway.
The Bluebell Railway is also featured in The Railway Series written by the Rev. W. Awdry. The book was called Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine , with Stepney as the main character, visiting the fictional Island of Sodor.
[edit] Line to Lewes
The line originally extended beyond Sheffield Park to Culver Junction (at Culver Farm just south of Barcombe Mills), with intermediate stations at Newick and Chailey and Barcombe. At Culver Junction it joined the 1858 Lewes to Uckfield line (part of which is now restored as the Lavender Line), thereby gaining access to Lewes. The section from East Grinstead to Culver Junction was closed in 1958, and the Lewes to Uckfield line in 1969.
[edit] External links
- Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
- Web site covering Horsted Keynes; the village at the centre of the line
