A trip to the Bluebell railway for the Giants of Steam weekend and a chance to see some locomotives from other lines around the country. My day started at East Grinstead where the Bluebell connects with the national rail network.
Waiting in the platform was a train pulled by BR Standard 73082 ‘Camelot’. The Standard was a common locomotive on British rail with over 150 being built. 73082 was built in 1953-7 and the name ‘Camelot’ was given because, on Southern Region, they replaced the King Arthur Class, the names of which were transfered to their replacements. Still relatively young they were withdrawn from service in the 1960s as steam was phased out. It is believed to be the only surviving named standard in existance and is permantly housed on the Bluebell.
Soon we were off and experiencing the unique feeling and sound of travelling behind a steam train. Passing through Kingscote station, where we made a brief stop. This is a popular picnicing point in the summer, but deserted on a wet autumnal day in October.
Our next stop was Horsted keynes and a chance to look around at the station, which has five platforms.
Here Stroudley Terrier ‘Fenchurch’, a loco which spent most of its time around Newhaven Docks was in steam on a goods train. It is something of a celebrity as built in 1872, it was still working on BR lines in 1964, 92 years later, when it was finally withdrawn.
Whilst here, one of the two ‘guest’ loco’s came into the station going North. This was 34070 Battle of Britain Class ‘Manston’. These is something about this loco that reminds me of those armoured trains you see in war films. It was built in 1947 for the Southern Railway and since it’s rescue from Barry Scrapyard and restoration it has operated on the Swanage Railway.
The next stage of my journey was to Sheffield Park Station on a train hauled by another guest loco, West Country Light Pacific 34027 ‘Taw Valley’. This is a truly magnificent loco and I will blog about it seperately later in the week. It’s normal home is the Severn Valley Railway.
Sheffield Park is the southern End of the line and the home of the Loco shed. Sadly on this visit I didnt have the chance to visit as I had to reboard the ‘Taw Valley’ train for my trip back to East Grinstead.
Despite the weather, which was not as bad as forecast, a good day out.
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