it'll never happen!

 

Summer of 76 at Freshfield Halt.

31 August 2013 - the Bluebell's Fenchurch is in Littlehampton celebrating the 150th anniversary of the station.



 

Tornado reaches Sheffield Park, 10.9.2013

 

BLUEBELL RAILWAY FACEBOOK GROUP

 

Yesterday Tornado took the first through train from London all the way through to Sheffield Park, the first for 55 years!

 

I grew up in Sussex and was always rather proud that we had the first ex-BR standard gauge preserved line in our county. I visited it a number of times, first in its classic Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes manifestation, later on the extended route to Kingscote. Next year I hope to do the new longer line.

 

This was always a fascinating line, seemingly running from nowhere to nowhere, and the big country station of Horsted Keynes was a gem. Back in 1968 I was on a horrible camp with the scouts near Sharpthorne and one night a group of us set out on a night hike with the intention of walking through West Hoathly tunnel - a trip destined to fail when we found the tunnel bricked up!

 

In the early 80s I remember reading an article in the Railway Magazine where a self-proclaimed expert said (and I paraphrase) 'I would love to see Horsted Keynes become a through station again but sadly it will never happen'! Hopefully the writer is still alive and has been feasting on those words! Not only is Horsted Keynes a through station but the Bluebell also own the Haywards Heath branch which they will begin to restore now the extension is complete, so Horsted Keynes will, at some time in the not too distant future, become a junction again too!

 

So I'll now make a prediction (that will no doubt rouse some of the still-extant 'it'll never happen' community again!) - not only will the Haywards Heath line open before 2025 but before then the Bluebell will look at a serious push south to link up again with the county town of East Sussex, Lewes. Then not only will they be accepting specials off the Network, but will also be accepting through specials to the seaside from London. I suspect that by 2035 the Bluebell network will be complete.

 

Centovalli

 

Back in May 1987 I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours in Locarno, which back then had the big attraction of street running along the lake. I'd come over on the spectacular Centovalli Railway from Domodosolla in Italy, the line is international, about half in Switzerland and half in Italian, though the whole area is Italian speaking.

 

Italian Switzerland is very laid back and quite unlike the German speaking section, it also tends to have a more Mediterranean climate, so May in Locarno is very pleasant - usually!

 

The Centovalli always accessed Locarno over the remaining section of the Locarno Tramway system, the rest of this urban network closing in 1933. About a mile of the line was street-running, followed by a very attractive roadside section. I took some very nice photos!

 

Unfortunately all this has now gone, not because the line has closed of course, but because this section has been put into tunnel. To me that's a shame - the tunnel will add a lot of costs to running the line and what's better than a line that penetrates the heart of a city in the most visible way? This is one of the few things I don't like about Switzerland - the caving in to car drivers which is really what this was all about. The line is more expensive to run, less attractive and less visible than it was, hardly progress! Perhaps as Peak Oil hits the roads will empty, the tunnel expense will become too much and Locarno may reopen the old lakeside route and perhaps the whole Locarno tram system as well!

trains down the village street!

The Gruyeres-Fribourg-Morat system is a network of narrow and standard gauge lines in the west of Switzerland. To me the best bit is at Montbovon, junction with the Montreux-Oberland-Bernoise route, where the first half mile or so of the route runs down the village street. Although not that unusual in Switzerland it's still always a bit of a surprise to see the trains running down the middle of the road!

These shots are all June 1987, but the line is still running of course, though the trains may be a little more modern these days!

murren

(All 22.5.1987)

The small village of Murren lies on a ridge in the heart of the Bernese Oberland and is only reachable by train, there's no road. Until a few years ago you made the journey in two stages, by funicular from Lauterbrunnen on the BOB up to Grutschalp, and then by tram from Grutschalp to Murren. Unfortunately the funicular had to close recently due to the land becoming unstable (an early victim of climate change) and this section is now done by cable car, but the rest of the journey carries on as always, via the spectacular tramway.

This was all far in the future in 1987 of course, and I did ride on the funicular one more time in about 2004.

The tramway, like most minor lines in Switzerland, is metre gauge, and is well worth a visit. Be warned, the weather can be wintry well into May, as it was here on 22 May 1987, with quite heavy snow falling for a time.

 

wynenthal suhrenthal bahnen

ALL Muhen 20.5.1987 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

FACEBOOK - SWISS NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS

Back in 1987 I spent a wonderful month travelling round Switzerland visiting most of its narrow gauge railways. First stop was the Wynenthal Suhrenthal Bahnen in Canton Aargau in eastern Switzerland. This was a busy two line system, much of it being roadside or street running, and metre gauge. There have always been plans to extend the Schoftland line to the SBB route via the Sursee-Triengen Bahn, a standard gauge line that would be reduced to metre gauge, but this still hasn't happened.

Part of this line has relocated since these pictures were taken, the former route between Suhr and Aarau being moved to the former standard gauge line that (in 1987) still ran between these two places, so there has been some expansion of the metre gauge.

Some of the street running on this line has been moved to private right of way since 1987, but plenty remains. Part of the metre gauge route between Menziken and Reinach was moved from the street to the trackbed of the former Seetalbahn which formerly ran between these places, and which I was lucky enough to travel on.

Expect much more on Switzerland over the next few weeks as I have reached this point in my photo albums!

first generation DMUs in yorkshire

 

Micklefield is a busy little station in Yorkshire, the junction for lines from Leeds to York and Hull. Back on 6 April 1987 there was a constant dream of first generation DMUs running through, as well as some HSTs, class 45s, class 47s and one or two newer DMUs. Of course at the time I didn't appreciate any of this, but luckily snapped away anyway!

 

My favourite shot from this location was one of those really lucky ones. I was walking back to my lorry when I glimpsed this scene in the mist. I probably heard a train horn so knew one was approaching - result a lovely composition of soft afternoon light, straight lines, a first generation DMU and the gentle arch of the bridge dead centre! I've posted this on a general photographic group and people love the composition! A lot more pics of Micklefield are on the Rail Thing Facebook group Rails of Yorkshire.

a walk up the line

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - REOPEN THE HORSHAM-SHOREHAM LINE

On 20 November 1986 I took a walk along the remains of the Horsham to Shoreham line, which retained track as far as the old Beeding Cement Works.

This was a strange closure, a double track line that provided an excellent alternative route from Brighton to London (with junctions facing the right way) and serving a number of sizeable towns on route. It actually closed on the very same day as the S&D, 6 March 1966.

I did actually see this line when it was still open to passengers, from the car as we were on the way to Bramber castle. I could see Bramber station but, being only 9 years old, was not allowed to visit it. On the next visit the line was closed and overgrown, and I still wasn't allowed to visit it!

Not long after closure the line was lifted apart from the 2 or 3 miles between Shoreham and Beeding. But eventually even that section closed. There was an abortive preservation bid, the main stumbling block being that the last short stretch of the line into Shoreham was still a busy BR route.

So on that sunny November day in 1986 I said goodbye to the line, though I didn't know it at the time. I walked the whole length apart from about 500 metres in Shoreham.

There have always been mutterings about reopening the route. It would seem a sensible time to start planning this now. There are a few of the usual stupid 'blockages', characterless houses plonked for some reason right on the trackbed even though it must have always been clear that the line would be needed in the future. Towns like Henfield and Steyning are ridiculously without railway stations! Other places like Bramber, West Grinstead, Southwater and Partridge Green have (currently unfulfilled) potential to be commuter towns. I can't see the Adur Valley being without trains for much longer, but for now the route is silent, yet another disgusting reminder of the stupidity and shortsightedness of the Flower Power generation.