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Ladies & Gentlemen,i give you the Bluebell Railway.







Kent Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,062
Tenterden, Kent
East Grinstead Station.jpg

East Grinstead Station in the late 1950s. The loco is preserved on the Bluebell today. if you look closely at the posters on the notice board, the one on the bottom left is advertising football specials to Hove!
 






Pinkie Brown

Wir Sind das Volk
Sep 5, 2007
3,637
Neues Zeitalter DDR 🇩🇪
You would be able to go to EG Sainsburys direct by train, making a change to shopping at the HH one. And EG has a Wetherspoons!

Or if he fancies a change of scene - Change at EG, up to Oxted, down to Eridge, then onto the steam railway that terminates next to the Tunbridge Wells Sainsbury. Just for good measure to keep BG happy - I believe the old West Station at TW has been turned into a pub, owned by one of the national chains? A nice Spoons, Toby Carvery, or Beefeater Inn to keep BG happy?
 




Pinkie Brown

Wir Sind das Volk
Sep 5, 2007
3,637
Neues Zeitalter DDR 🇩🇪
And eventually new tracks all the way to the Amex our very own private transport system ......nice!

A long time ago in another age when the planning battle was warming up, a public meeting was held at Sussex University, chaired by Paul Samrah, Dick Knight & Martin Perry.

One nutcase stood up & asked MP if as part of the planning schedule, the club would include a commitment to fund the missing link between Lewes & Uckfield?! Whilst it would of course been useful for shipping people to & from The Amex, Perry pointed out he was in the business of building football stadia, not railways.
 


Leekbrookgull

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2005
16,386
Leek
Lewes,would be 'romantic' (?) however H/K and the line to H/H up to Ardlingly is B/B owned (?) Therefore surely it is down to 'Roadstone' and how long they use the link ?
 


drew

Drew
NSC Patron
Oct 3, 2006
23,631
Burgess Hill
Although he died 15 years ago and was before I met my wife so I never knew him, my father in law was on the Extension committee for many years and would have loved to have seen it finally open. Been a long time coming.
 




Or if he fancies a change of scene - Change at EG, up to Oxted, down to Eridge, then onto the steam railway that terminates next to the Tunbridge Wells Sainsbury. Just for good measure to keep BG happy - I believe the old West Station at TW has been turned into a pub, owned by one of the national chains? A nice Spoons, Toby Carvery, or Beefeater Inn to keep BG happy?

The old West Station is now a "Smith and Western" cowboy themed restaurant which I am sure most real ale (and real food) lovers would wish to avoid like the plague! However in a few years time the Kent and East Sussex Railway will hopefully run right through to Robertsbridge and Kent Seagull will then be able to travel all the way to Sheffield Park from Tenterden (another town wasted on Kent, lovely little place) with just a modest peregrination between the two TW stations. Hoping to visit the Bluebell for a ride sometime over Easter.
 


goldstone

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 5, 2003
7,179
I went to East Grinstead on Sunday and took the train to Horsted Keynes and back. Great to see the line restored. I moved to Sharpthorne in 1957 just as the line closed so never got to use it.

Bloody cold on Sunday which is why numbers using the trains were lower than I had expected. Also Network Rail had decided in their wisdom that it would be a good weekend to close the line between E.G. and London which must have put off some people from coming down by train from London.
 


Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
31,274
Great news, we took the parents out for a meal on the Bluebell Railway and announced to them we were expecting our first child. Happy times! Looking forward to going to EG now.
 






Kent Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,062
Tenterden, Kent
The old West Station is now a "Smith and Western" cowboy themed restaurant which I am sure most real ale (and real food) lovers would wish to avoid like the plague! However in a few years time the Kent and East Sussex Railway will hopefully run right through to Robertsbridge and Kent Seagull will then be able to travel all the way to Sheffield Park from Tenterden (another town wasted on Kent, lovely little place) with just a modest peregrination between the two TW stations. Hoping to visit the Bluebell for a ride sometime over Easter.

I hadn't thought of that! There's a great train ride for the future! I was thinking of driving to T Wells and catching the train from there to Sheffield Park next week.
 


Barry Izbak

U.T.A.
Dec 7, 2005
7,424
Lancing By Sea
I took a trip on the Bluebell yesterday and i was amazed by how deep that Imberhorne cutting is?
I am a member of the Bluebell and have been following the extention project closely but nothing I have seen really shown how deep that cutting is.

Amazing - well done everyone
 




BlockDpete

Well-known member
Oct 8, 2005
1,144
Would be great if they could re open the line from EG back to Three Bridges.

Most of the track bed is there, plus one station. Though would mean knocking down a lot of Crawley Down.
 


Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..


Leekbrookgull

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2005
16,386
Leek
Would be great if they could re open the line from EG back to Three Bridges.

Most of the track bed is there, plus one station. Though would mean knocking down a lot of Crawley Down.

Commonsense years ago would have said keep the E/G to T/B via C/D & Rowfant under British Rail/Network Rail ownership whether by rail or road most has been Westbound.
 


GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,191
Gloucester
They WILL get to H/H. It will take time,but they will get there.

Sorry to disillusion you, but they will never get to Haywards Heath, sadly. There is no way that network rail - or anybody else - would give them running powers over the intensively used electrified couple of miles from Copyhold Junction into Haywards Heath.
 




Leekbrookgull

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2005
16,386
Leek
Sorry to disillusion you, but they will never get to Haywards Heath, sadly. There is no way that network rail - or anybody else - would give them running powers over the intensively used electrified couple of miles from Copyhold Junction into Haywards Heath.

Good point,thats the issue with so much of the Southern,most is double track but rammed to capcity. Maybe a Sunday only service is possible ?
 


GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,191
Gloucester
It's a heritage line, it's not public transport.

It could be both - they could run a couple of commuter trains morning and evening to and from Sheffield Park to connect with mainline(!) services at East Grinsted. That might (or might not) be commercially viable.
 


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