Bluebell Railway

The Bluebell Railway is a heritage railway running for 11 miles along the border between East Sussex and West Sussex, England. Steam-hauled trains are operated between Sheffield Park, with two intermediate stations at Horsted Keynes and Kingscote and then into East Grinstead.

In Sodor Stories, two of its engines are featured. Which are Stepney and Captain Baxter.

The railway's motto upon its coat of arms is "Floreat Vapor", which is Latin for "May Steam Flourish", or literally, "flower".

## Engines

* Captain Baxter - *No. 3*
* Stepney - *LB&SCR No. 55*
* Primrose - SE&CR *No. 27*
* Bluebell - *SE&CR No. 323*
* Adams - *LSWR No. 488*
* Cromford *- LNWR No. 58850*
* Fenchurch - *LB&SCR No. 672*
* Birch Grove - *LB&SCR No. 473*

## History

In 1877 an Act of Parliament 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 in thinly populated areas. Chailey parish had two stations, one at Sheffield Park and the other at Newick and Chailey. It was customary 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 its sponsors. Thus Sheffield Park station was built for the Earl of Sheffield and the Newick and Chailey stations 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.

Significantly, 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 requirement 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 and 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 15th June 1955, although the line actually closed prematurely on 29th May due to a rail staff strike. 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 required by 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.

Spring 1959 saw the formation of the Lewes & East Grinstead Railway Preservation Society, the forerunner of today's Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. Its 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 diesel multiple unit (DMU), as soon as funds allowed. These plans 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 (which was at first leased and eventually purchased from British Railways) as both a steam railway and museum was planned and approved.

## Stations

* Sheffield Park
* Horsted Keynes
* Kingscote
* East Grinstead

## Trivia

* The Rev. W. Awdry and Dr. Chris Cook contributed to the writing and publishing of "A Guide to the Steam Railways of Great Britain" by Pelham Books in August 1979. They also made a documentary of the Bluebell Railway where Wilbert met Britt Allcroft, the producer for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series.
* The train chase scene in the film version of "The Wind in the Willows", starring Terry Jones and Eric Idle, was filmed on the line.
* Railway scenes from the British drama "Downton Abbey" were filmed at Horsted Keynes station, renamed Downton for filming.