Q: How much are the fares? A: Details of the train fares (and admission charges for those not travelling on our trains) are here.
Q: Is the railway open on days when trains aren't running? A: Yes, except on Christmas day.
Q: What are the opening hours? A: On days when trains are running (see the timetable for operating dates and train departure times) opening times are roughly half an hour before the first train until half an hour after the last. On other days (except Christmas Day), at Sheffield Park, the loco sheds, museum and shop are open between 11am and 4pm. The sales and information office is open 9am to 5pm, every day. Our "Bessemer Arms" Bar and Restaurant at Sheffield Park are usually open for lunch on these days as well.
Q: What facilities are there for the disabled? A: When visiting, we hope you will find that the railway is fairly "disabled friendly". Full details of the facilities are available on a separate web page.
Q: Can I bring my dog? A: Yes. More information here.
Q: Why is the entire railway No Smoking when the law only requires that of enclosed spaces? A: If we were selective about where we allowed smoking we would need a proliferation of large, conspicuous, modern no-smoking signs on every carriage door and loco cab, as well as lines/signs painted on station platforms (since the canopies are substantially enclosed, at least whilst trains are in the stations). These signs would rather spoil the vintage atmosphere! We had banned smoking on our trains a few years earlier, to reduce the fire risk, both on our trains and on the lineside. Not only is a complete ban much simpler, but, since smoking is similarly prohibited on all national rail stations and trains, we are also consistent with the public rail network. Smoking is of course still permitted outside the front of each station.
Q: How do I get to the Bluebell? A: The Bluebell Railway is between London and the South Coast, in the beautiful Sussex Weald near the Ashdown Forest. Full details of access to the railway are here.
Q: Can I drive a steam engine? A: Yes, join us as a volunteer, working through the grades from Cleaner, via Fireman and Passed Fireman to Driver
Q: How long is the line? A: Nine miles from Sheffield Park to Kingscote. When the extension to East Grinstead is open, it will be 11 miles.
Q: How long is the tunnel? A: At nearly half a mile it is the longest on any heritage line in the UK. It's actually 731 yards long.
Q: Which steam engines are likely to be working when I visit? A: The Loco Roster shows the intended locomotives, but may be subject to change, and can only be a rough guide. Further information is usually available on the "Next Week's Services" page.
Q: Can I see the other locomotives? A: Many of the locomotives are accessible in the loco shed, or can be seen elsewhere at Sheffield Park. The locomotive workshops are not generally accessible, but this only accounts for usually three locos. A few others may be tucked away in out-of-the-way sidings, but the vast majority are there for our visitors to see.
Q: How many of the staff are volunteers? A: All the station staff, signalmen, drivers, firemen and guards, and many other staff carrying out restoration and maintenance. Our Trustees and Directors are also unpaid volunteers. We do also have a core of full-time staff, involved with administration, maintenance of the locomotives and carriages, and in catering, but many volunteers also help in these areas. If you would like to help, details are here.
Q: How can children get involved? A: The Stepney Club is for children up to 8 years old, whilst the 9F Club enables 9 to 15 year olds to get more actively involved.
Q: What other attractions are there in the area? A: Quite a few. Details are here.
Q: Does "Thomas" visit the Bluebell? A: He has done in the past, but this annual event has now been replaced by Family Fun Weekends.
Q: How many locomotives have you got? A: About 30 steam engines. See the Loco Stock List for details.
Q: Which engines are in working order? A: There is a page for the operational locos here.
Q: Why aren't they all servicable? A: Steam engines are expensive to maintain, and after an overhaul they can normally only run for another ten years before the insurance company insists that we dismantle them again to inspect and overhaul the boiler. We always have a range of different sized locos available for service to meet our needs.
Q: When can I see them all running together? A: We very rarely do this, since it is very expensive to do so. Some of the bigger special events days will have more locos working, but in fact it's not unusual to find four or five locomotives in steam on an ordinary weekend.
Q: Which is your most famous engine? A: A difficult question. "Fenchurch" became famous in the late 1950's and early 60's as the oldest locomotive running on British Railways, built in 1872. Our other Stroudley Terrier, "Stepney" became famous after the Revd. Awdry wrote a book about him. "Stowe" is one of the Southern Railway's famous Schools class locomotives. SECR P-Class No.323 has become something of a celebrity, after 40 years painted in 'Bluebell Blue' and carrying the name "Bluebell".
Q: Can I get the "Event Guides" in advance of Special Events? A: Yes, they are advertised on the relevant Special Events pages when they are available.
Q: Do I need special permission to take photos or videos? A: You may take photos/videos at any of the public areas at the stations. To take photos/videos along the lineside you must obtain a lineside photographic pass from the booking office, since you would be trespassing without one. You may take photographs for your private collection or the railway press whilst on our stations and in possession of a valid travel or station ticket, or from the lineside if holding a lineside permit. Commercial photography/videoing/filming is not permitted under these arrangements. If you wish to use such material commercially, or to arrange for specialised filming facilities to be available, please contact our office.
Q: Is the Railway a Museum? A: We are foremost an operational railway. We have a section of the railway which is a registered museum, mainly to further the educational side. The railway maintains a large archive, and there is a significant museum of small artefacts on Platform 2 at Sheffield Park, which will be enhanced as a result of our HLF grant. In a way the entire operation is a "Living Museum" as well as an operational railway.
Q: What can the railway offer to schools? A: Phone or e-mail Sheffield Park (see the contacts page) to discuss what the railway can offer. Visits can be tied into the national curriculum.
Q: Does the Bluebell have a "no diesel" policy? A: Not as such, but being the only heritage railway in the country without one has marked us out as unique. We have in the past been able to undertake all our shunting using steam engines, and don't actually have enough space to accommodate or service main-line diesels. Since the family visitor comes to see steam, and the scene we re-create is from 1880 to 1955, diesels wouldn't fit in very well in any case. The "policy" is that the Society will consider any request to bring in any item of rolling stock (be it a loco of any type, a wagon or a carriage) on its individual merits, taking into account its potential usefulness to the railway, how it will be maintained, and how it fits into our collection. For the removal of spoil from the Imberhorne Cutting on the East Grinstead extension we need to run daily spoil trains, and, whilst during 2005 we were able to hire in an additional steam locomotive to undertake the work, the lack of a suitable locomotive available for 2006-7 meant that we needed to hire a diesel shunter to undertake that job for a couple of years. In 2008 this loco was replaced by another similar one, also under hire, since the removal of spoil on the extension was set to continue. This hired locomotive is considered an item of plant, is not part of the Railway's locomotive stock, and will not haul any passenger services.
Q: What is so special about the Chesham Carriages? A: The coaches, built by the Metropolitan Railway in 1898-1900, ended up operating on the Metropolitan's "Chesham" branch, and when withdrawn in 1960 they were the oldest coaches running in the country. During the early and mid 1960s they carried most of our passengers on the Bluebell. These four coaches have been restored by volunteers to as close to their original condition as possible, and make a unique century-old train of matching "close-coupled" coaches. The web pages about the restoration of these coaches were the first such pages to be published on the Internet.
Q: Why do you have First Class tickets? A: Some of our visitors prefer to pay a little more to travel in greater comfort and seclusion, and we have some beautifully restored first class carriages. So again we are preserving and operating the railway in the same way as it did historically.
Q: Why are there "Third" class tickets? A: In the 19th century there were 1st, 2nd and 3rd class carriages. The railway companies simplified things by abolishing second class (except on some special trains, such as international trains to the continent). In 1956 Third Class was re-named "Second", and is now known as "Standard" Class on the national rail network. We continue to use the old description, since it matches the way the coaches are restored to their original condition. There is more information about the development of the British railway carriage here.
Q: Are there discounted tickets for local residents? A: We have a local residents' railcard, offering discounts for journeys on the Bluebell line. Details are available from Bluebell station booking offices.
Q: Why does the Bluebell need wagons? A: Historically goods traffic was actually more important on this line than passenger traffic, so, since we are aiming to preserve the whole railway scene, we have to have goods trucks. We have a large collection of historic wagons, some of which have been restored, and run occasionally on demonstration trains. We also have a significant fleet of slightly more modern wagons which are used in the maintenance of the railway track. These are all listed in the wagon stock list.
Q: How is it safe to run trains in both directions on a single line? A: The signalling system we use is designed to prevent more than one train being on the "single line" at a time. The train driver must have a staff or token before entering the section of line, and the machine that issues these in the signal box at one end of the line is linked to the machine at the next signal box, and also with the signals, and so "blocks" the line to any other train. There is more detailed information available here.
Q: What is the speed limit on the line? A: 25 miles an hour. Whilst many of our steam engines would be capable of running much faster than this, there are many places on our line where the trains ran at this sort of speed in the old days.
Q: Do you have a turntable? A: No. The line is sufficiently short that the engines can run backwards in one direction. But they are always on the front of the train, even when the engine itself runs backwards. They use the loop at the stations at each end of the line to move from one end of the train to the other.
Q: Can I dine on the train? A: Yes, our Golden Arrow Pullman Dining Train recreates the elegance of the 1920s, and our Lounge Car Service offers elevenses and cream teas.
Q: Do you have a royal coach? A: Yes, we have a "semi-royal" carriage which was used in the LNWR and LMS royal train. More details and a photo are here. It is occasionally included on our dining train, and is a superb vehicle for parties of between 4 and 20 people.
Q: Can we get married at the railway? A: Yes, our Birch Grove Suite at Sheffield Park and a smaller room at Horsted Keynes are licenced for civil weddings, and we frequently also host wedding receptions, either in the Birch Grove Suite or on the Golden Arrow Pullman Train. Details are here.
Q: Is the Bluebell often used for TV and Films? A: Yes, we are often quite busy with filming. The biggest film was the 2000 Carlton TV film of "The Railway Children", as well as many others including the BBC's "The Young Visiters", "Miss Potter", "Wind in the Willows", "102 Dalmations", Ken Russell's "Mahler" and "Lisztomania", "Station Jim" for the BBC, "Ruby in the Smoke" and countless others, as well as documentaries, pop videos and fashion shoots. Details here.
Q: Wasn't The Railway Children set in Yorkshire? A: The earlier film (1970) and TV (1968) versions were filmed in Yorkshire. However, the story in the book suggests that the location is not too far from London, and some people think it was set in Kent where Edith Nesbit spent much of her childhood. A study by the Edith Nesbit Society has identified five plausible locations all over the country. The very first (1950s) TV adaptations were also made in the South of England. However, given that the railway in the story is called the "Great Northern and Southern Railway", it was clearly not intended to be anywhere in particular!
Q: Which locations, locos and coaches were used in "The Railway Children"? A: All the details are on our web pages about the October 1999 filming of The Railway Children.
Q: Is there scope for running a commuter service on the Bluebell? A: The line runs through a very sparsely populated area, so this is unlikely, even when we reach East Grinstead. People who live nearby do on occasions use our trains, and our bus link, to visit East Grinstead.
Q: Will you be building a station at West Hoathly? A: The planning permission for the extension currently prevents this, although if demand for a station came from local people, and the money could be found, it might be possible.
Q: Does the railway make a profit? A: The Bluebell Railway plc is a "Not for Profit" company. Any profit made is more than swallowed up by the restoration of more rolling stock, improvements to the railway and development of visitor facilities. All these aspects are also subsidised enormously by donations and volunteer labour from our members. We can spend any additional money we are given on worthwhile projects almost immediately.
Q: Who owns the railway? A: The
Railway is a plc, with shares issued. The majority of the shares are owned
by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, which is the democratic body
of which we are all members. So you can share in this ownership by joining the society. There are over 10,000
members, and all the volunteers are members. In addition some of the
shares are owned by individuals. Many members own a few hundred shares
each, since share issues have been an effective form of fund-raising which
largely financed the construction of the Northern Extension. No dividend is
paid, so any profits remain to be spent on the railway.
Percentage of Bluebell Railway PLC shares held by Bluebell Railway Preservation Society: 82% (as of end 2007)
Q: With work starting on the final part of the extension to East Grinstead, will there be another share issue? A: Yes, it was launched in July 2008 - details of how to obtain the prospectus are here.
Q: Why isn't the railway a Charity? A: It's because of the way it developed, as a democratically controlled society, answerable to its members. A charity is answerable first to the Charity Commissioners, so would not be able to be controlled in the same way. However, there is a Charity, the Bluebell Railway Trust, which enables us to undertake projects for which funding would not otherwise be available, and enables donations towards suitable projects and bequests to attract tax relief.
Q: When will the railway extend Westwards? A: We own the track-bed from Horsted Keynes to Ardingly, but this is a project for maybe 15 years time. The signalling and trackwork at Horsted Keynes have been designed and laid to accommodate the junction when the time comes. Any such development is also subject to obtaining planning permission, meeting other statutary requirements, and funding being available. It is accepted that the Railway must put its energies into the maintenance and development of the existing infrastructure for some years to come, after the extension to East Grinstead is completed, before turning our attention westwards.
Q: Could the line to Ardingly be re-electrified? A: This is something we have not ruled out. However, it would be very expensive, so it would probably require outside financial assistance since such a project is not core to the Bluebell's operation. In addition, there are safety issues which would have to be addressed, and which it might be quite a challenge to resolve.
Q: What about extending Southwards? A: The railway has no plans currently to extend southwards, and there would be formidable difficulties in doing so (removed bridges, filled in cuttings, and many houses built across the route). It might also make the railway too large for the resources available for its maintenance. Having said that, no one can tell what the situation will be in 50 years time!
Q: Why not apply to the Lottery? A: A Millenium Fund application for the northern extension was turned down. Six years of work has led to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £2.875 million towards the Bluebell Railway's £3.9 million Operation Undercover construction project. For the East Grinstead extension we are planning a variety of other fund-raising methods, including a share offer (launched in July 2008), a charitable appeal and targeted fund-raising.
Q: Why do you do it? A: We gain enormous satisfaction from the pleasure we are able to give to our visitors, and take a pride in a job well done. We also have a good social life on the railway. For many of us it's a chance to do something different at weekends from what we do in our work. Many of our volunteers are retired, and find the work stimulating. We all enjoy a challenge.
Q: Can I have some facts and figures about the railway for a marketing/tourism project? A: Some figures extracted from the Railway's published accounts for the 12 months ended 31 December 2007:
Turnover:
£3,041,911 (2006: £2,904,453; 2005: £2,874,830; 2004: £2,730,800; 2003: £2,485,645; 2002: £2,343,606; 2001: £2,353,243; 2000: £2,340,229; 1999: £2,114,940)
(including fares and station tickets of £1,573,040 (2006: £1,506,062; 2005: £1,503,765; 2004: £1,387,956; 2003: £1,290,119; 2002: £1,202,880; 2001: £ 1,161,244; 2000: £1,129,494; 1999: £998,509);
Shop and Bookstall: £400,841 (2006: £427,179; 2005: £425,023; 2004: £400,713; 2003: £311,153; 2002: £320,320; 2001: £305,167; 2000: £300,224; 1999: £264,742);
Catering: ££890,027 (2006: £823,316; 2005: £791,174; 2004: £786,930; 2003: £737,101; 2002: £703,398; 2001: £722,858 2000: £739,720; 1999: £684,882))
Average number of paid employees during the year:
56 (2006: 54; 2005: 47;2004: 49; 2003: 47; 2002: 46; 2001: 46; 2000: 40; 1999: 38).
Publicity and Marketing costs:
£79,060 (2006: £63,055; 2005: £58,750, 2004: £58,934; 2003: £63,507; 2002: £63,296; 2001: £74,690; 2000:£71,163; 1999: £71,964)
Locomotive coal bill:
£184,334 (2006: £164,373; 2005: £146,425; 2004: £124,837; 2003: £104,616; 2002: £101,406; 2001: £105,286; 2000: £102,883; 1999: £97,391)
Maintenance of rolling stock, track, signalling and other equipment
and property:
£487,535 (2006: £504,763; 2005: £395,070; 2004:£422,137; 2003: £433,743; 2002: £420,759; 2001: £465,762; 2000: £492,066; 1999: £422,608)
Profit/Loss of PLC (after including donations, before taxation):
Profit £50,436 (2006: Profit £120,714; 2005: Profit £258,296; 2004: Profit £127,183; 2003: Loss £17,970; 2002: Loss £46,311; 2001: Loss £67,198; 2000: Profit £50,362; 1999: Loss £15,501; 1998: Loss £46,298)
NB: as a not-for-profit company, the aim is not to make a profit, and any profits are used for preservation activities.
Donations and Bequests received:
Society £38,021 (2006: £29,012; 2005: £28,377; 2004: £25,399; 2003: £68,179; 2002: £25,767, 2001: £30,465; 2000: £29,319)
Trust £243,070 (2006: £355,712; 2005: £420,519; 2004: £478,008; 2003: £679,487; 2002: £64,927; 2001: £139,936; 2000: £10,051)
Other useful figures:
Visitor Numbers 2007: Travelling: 154,950; Admission only: 20,009;
Total visitors: 174,959
Visitor Numbers 2006: Travelling: 157,953; Admission only: 19,490;
Total visitors: 177,443
Visitor Numbers 2005: Travelling: 164,777; Admission only: 20,809;
Total visitors: 185,586
Visitor Numbers 2004: Travelling: 162,150; Admission only: 20,050;
Total visitors: 182,200
Visitor Numbers 2003: Travelling: 159,171; Admission only: 20,215;
Total visitors: 179,386
Visitor Numbers 2002: Travelling: 159,521; Admission only: 20,074;
Total visitors: 179,595
Visitor Numbers 2001: Travelling: 153,124; Admission only: 20,644;
Total visitors: 173,768
Visitor Numbers 2000: Travelling: 159,119; Admission only: 22,416;
Total visitors: 181,535
Visitor Numbers 1999: Travelling: 146,885; Admission only: 21,592;
Total visitors: 168,477
Visitor Numbers 1998: Travelling: 152,855; Admission only: 23,816;
Total visitors: 176,671
Web Site Stats:
Monthly hits (all files downloaded to unique servers): Apr 2006: 4,325,822; Dec 2004: 2,989,237; Dec 2003: 2,114,838; Dec 2002: 613,311; Dec 2001: 387,614;
Dec 2000: 306,675; Dec 1999: 114,222; Dec 1998: 65,614; Dec 1997: 16,241
Page impressions (html pages downloaded to unique servers): Apr 2006: 525,520; Dec 2004: 585,438; Dec 2003: 240,580; Dec 2002: 73,850; Dec 2001: 59,123;
Dec 2000: 55,390; Dec 1999: 19,741; Dec 1998: 13,113; Dec 1997: 4,184
Monthly, Unique Servers Accessing: Apr 2006: 34,697; Dec 2004: 19,059; Dec 2003: 16,056; Dec 2002: 9,071; Dec 2001: 6,671;
Dec 2000: 5,155; Dec 1999: 4,095; Dec 1998: 2,374; Dec 1997: 990
These figures are for the sub-domain
www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/ only, and so not include those of associated groups hosted
elsewhere, or, up to 2004, the Locomotive Department Photo news pages.
If this page has not answered your question, try searching this web site, or E-mail: info @ bluebell-railway.co.uk.
Last updated by Richard Salmon, 26 July 2008