The Bluebell Train is one of largest tourist attractions in
Sussex. The railway is operated by “Bluebell
Railway PLC” and through the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, is majority
owned by the volunteer membership, who also supply the labor necessary to keep
the Bluebell running. We may not have
arrived early enough to see the beautiful fields of bluebells in the springtime
in England but I can enjoy a ride on the Bluebell train.
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| Welcome to Sheffield Station |
We chose to ride from Sheffield Park station for a return
trip, which also offers adequate parking space, not always the case in other
stations. We parked and took the short
walk to the rather grand looking entrance to the station, although the food
adverts are slightly distracting! Lol
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| Stepney Special |
Steamworks is the onsite museum that houses several steam
engines and their history. We had time
before our train was to leave so we spent some time wandering about and
learning some history. I must admit that
Stepney Special meant nothing to me, but lesson is coming.
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| Tomas the Tank Engine |
Now there is a familiar face. So the story continues……Stepney was a real steam
engine and became the cartoon train who befriended Thomas the Tank Engine who
entertained our kids and grandkids on Saturday mornings for years! It would have been great had his face been
mounted on the front of the engine but this is real life and not cartoon
world! I am sure Thomas comes out on
special occasions but here is the idea.
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| Bluebell train arrives |
Our train awaits us at the Sheffield Station so we get on
board and get settled into our ‘compartment’.
There were four of us in a 6 seat until ‘Steve’ joined us at our stop in
East Grinstead and entertained us with his stories for the rest of the ride!
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| Students on travels |
Out our window we see a class of students who are on an
outing to honor D-Day and dress appropriately for the 75th anniversary
of that special day. They will be on the
train for this ride today, although we won’t be hearing them while in our ‘compartment’. I think the kind porter was well aware of
that when he showed us to our non-reserved seats.
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| Steam hangs over the view |
We are enjoying the views and the ride on this old steam
engine train. The puffs of steam are
visible out the window as we ride through the countryside of Sussex. At one point this ride crossed the line between
East and West Sussex.
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| Friendly waves |
There was a lot of clearing being done along the rails and
every group we passed took the time to wave to the passengers of the train. It is likely these men are part of the
volunteer team that so willingly give up their time to keep this Bluebell
going.
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| Steve |
Here is Steve, an obvious regular on the train, who invited
himself to join us and continued to tell stories until we finished our ride
back. He was very chatty, had quite a history
to share and some of the stories seemed to be a possible ‘tale’; he must have
told them before and he wasn’t going to stop now. He was happy to pose for the photo.
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| Pub lunch |
What day would be right without stopping at the pub for a
late lunch after that train ride. Most
pubs have been added on to since the original one was built but are still very
old buildings. They are so interesting,
lots of ‘things’ to look at that can go back a long ways.
For more info on the Bluebell, click here to see their
webpage.
