ANNOUNCING TRACK TREK 2015

  

 

 

Have you ever wanted to walk through Sharpthorne Tunnel? Now is your chance! This year's Track Trek will take place on the evening of 24 May, 2015, going from Kingscote to Horsted Keynes. Led by Roy Watts and Dick Fearn, it will start just after 5:30 p.m.

 

By showing a sponsorship form, walkers can use either the 4 p.m. from Sheffield Park/4:17 p.m. from Horsted Keynes or the 5 p.m. from East Grinstead to get to Kingscote. Parking is not permitted at that station, but participants may be dropped off and collected, and bicycles can be parked there. 

 

After all walkers have finished, a free train from Horsted Keynes will return walkers to Kingscote, East Grinstead, and non-stop to Sheffield Park.

The 4.5-mile walk includes 731 yards through Sharpthorne Tunnel, the longest tunnel in preservation. It can be damp, so appropriate clothing and stout footwear is required. The tunnel will be illuminated, but Trekkers should carry a torch.

We hope you will take this unique opportunity to trek through an exciting part of the Permanent Way--and raise lots of money through sponsorship! Funds raised will be equally split between the Keep Up The Pressure and Cash for Cover appeals.

Because it will cost more than previous treks to stage this one--including running a special train and lighting the tunnel--the minimum expected sponsorship is £25 per person and £40 for a couple or family (up to three children between 7 and 16).

If space permits, it will be possible to turn up on the day, but numbers are limited, so pre-registration is advised by e-mailing tracktrek@bluebell-railway.co.uk with the names of the members of your party. Please indicate which members are children.

You can download a sponsorship form with additional information at  tinyurl.com/track-trek . You also can set up your own sponsorship from at this JustGiving page .

Whether your interest is in carriages or locos, we hope to see you at this event!

By Roger Kelly, Fundraising Director

RAILWAY SHORT-LISTED FOR GROWTH AWARD

For the first time, a comprehensive index is being compiled of the fastest growing companies in Sussex. In the run-up to the Sussex Super Growth awards in March 2015, The Argus business editor Finn Scott Delany has profiled the Bluebell Railway, which has been shortlisted for the awards.

From the story ...

"Commercial director Tim Baker said: 'The growth has definitely come from expanding the line into East Grinstead.

"'We are a tourist attraction, but we do also get regular people that use us to go into town to do their shopping.

"'We appeal to families, enthusiasts, corporate guests--all sorts of different people visit.'

"He added: 'The Pullman has also helped grow the business. We are working with hotels and people are coming to the area to stay for two or three days to see the other attractions.

"'Longer term we want a track from Horsted Keynes to Ardingly, and there's opportunity to run between Haywards Heath and Horsted Keynes, though that won't happen in the next five or six years."

"MAYFLOWER" BLOSSOMS AT PRESTON PARK

Keith Duke's gallery  shows "Mayflower" shunting at Preston Park station near Brighton, during a visit to Sussex on 14 Feb., 2015. This will be the loco used for the upcoming Steam Dreams trip to Cambridge and Ely on 21 March.

PROMOTING THE RAILWAY

It is too easy to assume that the world knows everything there is to know about the Railway and that people stand ready to beat a path to our door. However, that is far from the case, and there remains a constant need to promote our product to a wider audience.

We are fortunate to have a small team of members ready to undertake this task by visiting clubs and societies across the south east, as well as further afield on occasion.

During 2014, Matt Cousins, Tony Drake, David Jones, Nigel Simpkins, Graham Todd, Ian Wright, and myself--supplemented by others on an ad hoc basis--made 37 such visits. The clubs/societies to which we spoke covered a wide spectrum, including transport interest groups, Rotary and Probus clubs, senior citizen clubs, and others. Venues ranged from London to Eastbourne to Windsor to Tenterden, Kent. To date we have 14 talks booked for 2015.

These outreach efforts do much to encourage follow-up visits by the clubs' members and their families. So, if you are aware of other clubs and societies that would be interested in a visit by our team of speakers, please encourage them to get in touch with me at mike.pettit@gmx.com .

Similarly, I'd be interested to hear from members who'd like to join our team. Powerpoint presentations are the norm on these occasions.

By Mike Pettit, Talks Coordinator

DOWN MEMORY LINE: CLOSING THE HAWKHURST

Reader Mark Thompson sent us some lovely video (two parts, here and here ) about the Hawkhurst Branch Line : "A delightful little film, made just before, and at, closure."

Adds Neil Cameron ...

Shed no tears for the single track, for perhaps we may come back. / And if we do, you can be sure, we'll see you all again once more.

So, with admirable sentiment, the crew chalked this couplet on one or both of the two SECR-built C class tender locos allocated for the Hawkhurst Branch line's last day in public service on 10 June, 1961.  

SECR-built H class tank locos normally worked the line's push-and-pull, two-carriage trains, for which a driving cab at one end of the train made for economy in the daily operation, as seen in a photo taken at Horsmonden (courtesy of the Bluebell Railway Museum).

Extra carriages were brought in to strengthen the last trains for the anticipated crowd, which indeed came from near and far to celebrate and mourn the last Kent rural branch line, 11-miles from Paddock Wood, through Horsmonden , Goudhurst , Cranbrook , and Hawkhurst .

It was a sad but perhaps inevitable pre-Beeching closure, occasioned by the imminent southeastern division electrification scheme.  Peter A. Harding's book about the branch line can be purchased in the Bluebell Railway Shop online. 

The line's freight traffic was agricultural. Fruit, hops, and potted plants for Woolworths would load out and coal and other deliveries would load in. Hop picking , a seasonal activity in Kent , was often done by London families on a " working holiday ," as seen here in 1946. Here a World War II evacuee recalls the four years he spent in Horsmonden.

On 11 June 1961, the South Eastern rail tour was the last train to run on the line. 01 class No. 31065 and C class No. 31592 visited the now-closed branch that day. This was the locos' last BR turn of duty. They returned to Tonbridge Shed and now can be seen in preservation at our Railway, thanks to the locos' owners.

Finally, here's some more information on the Danger On the Old Pull 'n' Push TV series, which was filmed on the line. In this article we learn that Elisabeth Beresford's Wombles are more Wealden than Wimbledon and that Beresford's son, Marcus Robertson, now runs the Steam Dreams company!

By Neil Cameron

• John Sandys (10 Feb., 2015): "The Q-Class steaming through in preparation for its steam test."
• John Sandys (12 Feb., 2015): "Including The Tamper brought in to bed in the recently re-laid track at Freshfield Bank."
• Jonathan Hughes (8 Feb., 2015): "
  H class No. 263 storms away from Sheffield Park hauling today's 1:30 service in the wonderfully warm winter sunshine."

• Mike Anton (various dates--a very artistic set!)

• John Sandys (17 Feb., 2015): "Tuesday of half-term and the Railway very busy! "
• John Sandys (19 Feb, 2015): Looks as though John is back to full strength!--The Editors