BLUEBELL RAILWAY TO BATH SPA RAILTOUR - SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER 2019

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.

ROYAL CRESCENT BATH

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.

LOCOMOTIVE

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.

BURY St EDMUNDS MODEL RAILWAY CLUB - 70th Anniversary Model Railway Exhibition

Saturday 28th September
Bury St Edmunds Model Railway Club - 70th Anniversary Model Railway Exhibition

ADDRESS
Thurston Sixth, Beyton Campus,
Drinkstone Road, Beyton,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP30 9AQ
OPENING TIMES:  10.00 - 16.00
ADMISSION:    Adults £5.00
     
The great 70th Anniversary Exhibition celebrating that splendid milestone in the Clubs history.Will have a grand selection of quality layouts, in many scales, with our usual high quality professional traders. Free parking and easy access from A14. Hot and cold refreshments. Wheelchair access friendly. Open 10.00 - 16.00 with last admissions 15.30. Entry £5.00 children under 14 free when accompanied by an adult.

Our 70th anniversary exhibition - founded in 1949 this is one of the longest surviving Clubs in the region and intends to show off itself by putting together an even better show than 2018 when we broke all records for footfall and sales, we are told! so here goes! the Club has a record of putting together layouts which have been rarely or indeed never seen at our Exhibition and this year is no exception. Yes, we do have one or two invited back "again" but this is by public demand - however a number of our layouts have never been seen before. Whatever the collection we offer is quality - as befits the anniversary, an selected to ensure constant active operation and professional display. Just compare the tramways with Cobbolds Wharf for size and detail style: the origins of the USA layouts and the European versions - all good and selected for your enjoyment. Naturally the show would not exist without the support of our very generous and professional traders - pretty mush all of whom are now "regulars" coming back year after year - must be the bacon rolls!

Charities:
As defined by the vote amongst Members of the Bury St Edmunds Model Railway Club, the following charities have been invited;

EAAA -- Once again the East Anglian Air Ambulance will attend. They were most appreciative of last year's success and will be doing similar this year.

SARS -- is an emergency medical charity which was founded in 1972. They provide specialist volunteer responders to assist the East of England Ambulance Service at the scenes of serious incidents - in the home or at the roadside.

List of Layouts Attending :

Ambleton Vale - (N Gauge, above) Set in rolling countryside somewhere in central England in the 1950s, Ambleton Vale station is a fictitious terminus at the end of a branch line connecting the village of Ambleton Vale with the county town some 20 miles away, Ray and Anna are a wonderful couple, regularly seen at exhibitions and have created some excellent award winning scenic layouts. [Presented by Ray Taylor & Anna Bass.]
Beal Street Depot - (00, c2000) Based on what is now once again Leicester TMD this DCC controlled modern image layout reflects the modern light maintenance depot [Presented by Ray Pond.]

Bishops Lane Brewery (Above) - (0, Industrial) Excellent "pointless" layout which is a shunting puzzle with six permutations. Throw a dice and see what you can direct. [Presented by Colin French.]
Brackenbury Works - (00, Industrial) Interesting layout which represents the "next generation" in our wonderful hobby. Conceived and built with some guidance, this Industrial shunting layout is DCC is the product of a your man almost in his teens, but not quite. It is exhibited to demonstrate what can be achieved when you let the young mind develop in a productive and constructive way. [Presented by Jude Hayward-Brackenbury.]

Cobbolds Wharf (left) - (S7, 1950's) Bury St Edmunds MRC newest and probably very best ever layout depicting in a very exacting scale part of Ipswich Docks. You may even recognise buildings that currently exist! [Presented by Bury St Edmunds MRC S7 team.]
Coldfair Green - (S4, pre/post war) Although entirely fictitious, the layout is based in East Anglia between 1920 - 1960 and is a typical country terminal station serving a large village. Both passengers, coal and goods traffic are catered for, with the addition of a private mill siding. All structures will be hand built from card or plasticard and represent East Anglian architecture. [Presented by Norfolk & Suffolk Area Group, Scalefour Society.]
Copsey - OO - (00, c2010) A typical Kelvin Barnes layout, exceedingly well built representing a 20th century end of branch station. Quality manufacture and presentation. [Presented by Kelvin Barnes, a very regular exhibitor at BSE MRC.]
Coronado Shortline - (0, USA 1960's) This fascinating 1960's American layout has been superbly built and is operated by Members of Bury St Edmunds MRC. David is busy with his next project so this layout could be for sale: take a look and see whether the lovely exhibit is as good to you as it is to us! [Presented by David Fennell, Member BSE MRC.]

Fenwick TMD - (00, 2019) 
(right) A layout that you will always find something different appearing on. Look for the scratch built high quality track machines in this wonderful modern depot. Representing the most modern of modern periods many liveries appear, mostly hand sprayed before the RTR ones have been manufactured. [Presented by Dan Lawrence.]
Hartenburg - (German Tramway, 1920 - 1939) A new layout to the circuit this highly unusual exhibit is set in a town square with 42 buildings with interior lights and super detail. A Faller road system is used with DRG period trams as rolling stock. [Presented by Chris Hart, Felixstowe area N Gauge Group.]
Longframlington - (N, 1958-1963) Set in North British areas of Northumberland you will see representative traction with correct rolling stock: much of it kit built. Operated by DCC control of both track and traction this layout is built by Members of N Gauge Forum. [Presented by Richard Hall.]
Oak Lane TMD - (00, Modern Image) Small modern TMD using Lenz DCC control with a clever track plan allowing optimum movement and great interest. [Presented by Greg Marshall.]

Orford - (00, late 1950's, above) although Orford never had an actual railway connection, nor, so far as we are aware was one ever contemplated it lies conveniently situated not far from the former GER Aldeburgh branch and the GER Snape branch. Orford represents an imaginary extension of the old Aldeburgh branch to Orford ...a 'never-was' but 'might-have-been' railway, on the assumption that traffic on the Aldeburgh branch grew as originally hoped by the Great Eastern - which in fact, it never really did. Superbly built and wonderfully presented look at the detail and quality of each and every detail. [Presented by Paul Clarke.]

Passage Lane TMD - (00, 2019) This finescale layout (above) is a fictitious East of England modern day depot. There is ample space for many locomotives and a mixture of operators can be seen visiting the maintenance shed, fuelling bays or visitors’ sidings. In 2019, DRS purchased some more land, extending their depot to include a stabling yard for overnight locomotives and further areas for essential locomotive work. As part of the redevelopment, Network Rail built a ballast terminal to stock permanent way maintenance. Under the glare of the yard’s tower lights, class 60s, 66s and 68s are frequently seen pulling into and out of the yard. The busy resident class 08 is often seen taking a diesel tanker to fill the tanks up and moving freight into position for its bigger counterparts to collect. Visiting vintage locomotives arrive for overnight stabling and refuelling, departing for their charter trains the next day. A yard with a hive of activity with the yard manager’s men working hard on new developments.. [Presented by Charlotte Sanderson.]
Ruffles Road - (00, Modern Image) Based in an urban London setting this layout accommodates a station with passenger and parcels working as well as a busy goods yard for modern rolling stock. Operated with DCC sound most modern traction can be seen. [Presented by Simon Veasey.]
Signa Dale - (009, Narrow Gauge 1950's) Nestling in a valley in the limestone hills in the Peak District, Signa Dale is a small town served by a narrow gauge railway. the layout is set in 1950's when trains continue to serve the isolated farms and villages of the local area against the rising tide of road transport. Signa Dales station has been adapted from the surviving building at Hulme End on the sadly closed Leek & Manifold Railway. [Presented by Peter Rendell.]
Sutherland - (N, USA 1956) An American layout based south west of Kansas City operated by Union Pacific The Rock Island branch connects into an industrial area allowing "switching" operations. The layout is designed to operate prototypical long mainline trains on the UP route. DC controlled main line with DCC branch and industrial area. [Presented by Trevor Buck, Felixstowe Area N Gauge Group.]
Templefield - (00, 1970) This layout represents a fictitious location somewhere in west London and is inspired by the West Drayton - Uxbridge Vine Street branch. The layout shows the post steam period with DMU operation struggling to exist. Freight is offered by the presence of the oil terminal with parcels and newspapers making up the balance of the operation. [Presented by David Fisher.]
Thunder Mountain - (N, USA 1955) Based in Montana, USA this layout features passing thunder storms to back up the rail operation! The main line is a stiff gradient with shorter trains or strengthened "head end" power. There is a branch to an old mine but this is now predominantly used by leisure seekers. There are several other working accessories to watch for and various cameo scenes to entertain. [Presented by Brian Willcocks.]
Townsend - (N, 1960) Inspired by Dawlish and Teignmouth this GW mainly operated by GW traction and BR stock. Also to be seen are green era diesel traction and DMU's. SR stock is seen also on "diversionary and training route learned" moves which adds further interest. [Presented by Bishops Stortford Railway Society.]
Wattisham & Coombs - (N, freelance) The names Wattisham & Combs are fundamentally not known in railway circles. Indeed this layout is purely fictitious and are chosen because they were near the makers home! Much of what is seen is based on local productivity, the sugar beet works, grain flows, flour and similar. The main station is based around Ipswich with the crossing Manningtree. [Presented by Mike Chester, former BSE MRC Member.]

Nearest Railway Stations :
Thurston  [1.63 miles]
Elmswell  [3.33 miles]
Bury St Edmunds  [5.32 miles]
Stowmarket  [7.64 miles]

MAP [IP30 9AQ]

THE MERCHANT OF AVON RAILTOUR -- SUNDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER

THE MERCHANT OF AVON - 'STEAM ON A SUNDAY'
Running on 22nd September 2019

With steam all the way from Burton to Stratford this tour is bound to revive memories of rail travel in its heyday. Our engine will be the star attraction as it makes its way through England´s industrial heartland to the home of the country´s most famous playwright. The sound of escaping steam and the smell of smoke is so evocative as it drifts past the windows of our train and will no doubt bring with it waves of nostalgia as we glide past the traffic jams, so typical of a summer Sunday these days.

THE MERCHANT OF AVON
After two hours of steam travel we arrive in Stratford where you can enjoy five hours of free time before rejoining our train to retrace our route to home stations. Stratford is of course famous for its connections with William Shakespeare and rightly so. Being the birthplace of the famous bard and now the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company makes this town a big draw. You may wish to visit Shakespeare´s birthplace with its museum collection or maybe take a tour of Anne Hathaway´s cottage with its gardens. All these attractions are on the route of the hop on hop off open top bus which operates around the town.

However there is much more to Stratford than just William Shakespeare. A charming medieval centre with timber framed buildings and lots of independent shops makes for a lovely visit. Add to this the canal with its boat trips and also the river, which wends its way through the central park, means Stratford has a most attractive centre worthy of a visit in its own right.

About the locomotive
We are expecting this event to be steam hauled by LMS/BR Stanier 8F Class No. 48151. Built at Crewe in 1942 for the LMS it was transferred to BR in 1948 where it served until being sold initially for scrap in 1968 fortunately during the mid 1970s it was set aside and preserved, allowing us to enjoy it's service now. Has spent it's time in regular touring service particularly over the Settle and Carlisle line.

Train Departure Times