Stepney The Bluebell Engine - Tumblr Posts

Beachy Head

Last month, the Bluebell Railway finished constructing their new Atlantic and were able to release it into traffic. It is a complete new build, yes, but unlike Tornado, it’s more of a replica, rather than a continuation, because this engine shares its name and number with one of the original H2 Atlantics from the LBSCR. The only part of the engine that wasn’t made from scratch is the boiler.

D.E. Marsh, the man who first designed these engines way back when, was educated on the GNR under Mr. Ivatt. Because of this, when Marsh went to become the LBSC’s chief mechanical engineer, he closely followed GNR practice. So, if you think the H2 resembles the famous C1 Atlantics on the GNR, you’d be right! They are extremely similar, and their boilers are nearly identical. Years ago, a spare GNR C1 boiler was discovered somewhere up north, and the Bluebell Railway, knowing everything I just described, jumped at the chance to get a hold of it and fill a gap in Southern Railway preservation.

Last week, I got the chance to visit the railway and ride behind the engine during the Bluebell Railway’s beer festival. I drank quite a few high quality brews, but the highlight was, of course, riding behind Beachy Head. The best part of it all? The Bluebell Railway operates a section of former LBSCR track, so Beachy Head, being an LBSCR engine, is on home turf. These engines would have traveled down this way in the old days, so I’ve been told.

Anyway, the Bluebell Line is an exceptionally friendly railway, and I recommend it to anyone who makes a trip to the south of England. It’s an easy day trip to make from London, with mainline trains running straight to the Bluebell Railway’s northern terminus at East Grinstead.

Further Adventures at Bluebell

The front half of the shed at Sheffield park was cleared out and turned into a bar for this event, so I didn’t get to see quite all of the engines. However, there were still a few in the back half, the main, sort of, museum bit of the shed.

Obviously Stepney and Captain Baxter were in there, as were the Wainwright C Class, the standard 4 75027, and a cute little LMS 0-6-0 that I didn’t photograph.