BLUEBELL RAILWAY TO BATH SPA
This weekend there's a chance to experience not only a wonderful heritage railway but also the beauty and heritage of Bath via a Steam powered rail tour. It's an early start for a 7am departure from Sheffield Park with the service being driven by visiting Class B1 locomotive Mayflower. After leaving the Bluebell at East Grinstead the train makes it way around the Southern Region towards Clapham Junction where it will head across the River Thames on the West London Line and onto the Great Western metals at Old Oak Common arriving in Bath early afternoon, sounds like a long trip so suspect it's not a direct run through Reading and Chippenham it's more likely to tour around and come back via Bristol.
Mayflower will be back at the Bluebell Railway the following weekend for their "Giants of Steam" Autumn Gala on 11th, 12th & 13th October. This year’s event, two very special locomotives will be visiting the Bluebell Railway:
- BR Britannia Class No. 70000 ‘Britannia’
- LNER Thompson Class B1 61306 ‘Mayflower’
So if you cannot get onto this tour perhaps have a trip down and enjoy these beasts along with all the Southern Hospitality that the Bluebell Railway is famous for.
Expected Departure / Arrival Timings
Historic Bath Spa
Bath is in the valley of the river Avon, 97 miles (156km) west of London and 11 miles (18km) south east of Bristol. The city became a Spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ("The waters of Sulis") c.60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the river Avon, although hot springs were known before then. The City became a World Heritage Site in 1987.
Bath is also home to several museums including the Museum of Bath Architecture, the Victoria Art Gallery, the Museum of East Asian Art, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Fashion Museum, and the Holburne Museum. The city has two universities – the University of Bath and Bath Spa University – with Bath College providing further education. Sporting clubs include Bath Rugby and Bath City F.C.
Built for the London & North Eastern Railway, 61306 Mayflower is one of two surviving B1 Class locomotives. The B1's were designed as mixed traffic locomotives capable of hauling express passenger trains as well as freight traffic. As powerful, go anywhere engines, the B1's worked across most of the UK rail network from East Anglia to Scotland.
Mayflower was built in 1948 by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow but was delivered post-nationalisation and acquired the number 61306 by British Railways. She was first allocated to Hull Botanic Gardens Depot followed by a spell at Hull Dairycotes Depot before being finally transferred to Low Moor Depot, Bradford. She was the last B1 in service, her final trip was hauling the 'Yorkshire Pullman' from Leeds in September 1967.
Mayflower was immediately purchased for preservation and was initially based at Steamtown in Carnforth. She was fully restored for mainline operation and worked a number of railtours in the 1970's. Acquired by Steam Dreams owner David Buck in 2014, she returned to the mainline in 2015 before being withdrawn for an extensive overhaul. Resplendent in the early British Railways apple green livery as she was originally given when delivered in 1948 she returned to full mainline operation in early 2019.
The Great Northern examples have been replaced by new six-carriage Class 717s (left). The transition commenced on 25 March 2019, with the first two 717s entering service. The first of the Great Northern fleet withdrawn was 313026 in February 2019. It was the first dispatched for scrapping in April 2019. Upon retirement 313201 will be preserved by the National Railway Museum.
