|
The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for along the border between East and West Sussex, England.〔 It uses steam trains which operate between and , with intermediate stations at & . The first preserved standard gauge steam-operated passenger railway in the world to operate a public service,〔 the Society ran its first train on 7 August 1960, less than three years after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes had been closed by British Railways.〔 On 23 March 2013, the Bluebell Railway commenced running through to its new terminus station. At East Grinstead there is a connection to the UK National Network, the first connection of the Bluebell Railway to the national network (in 50 years) since the Horsted Keynes – line closed in 1963. Today the railway is managed and run largely by volunteers. Having preserved a number of steam locomotives even before the cessation of steam service on British mainline railways in 1968, today it has the largest collection (over 30) of steam locomotives in the UK after the National Railway Museum.〔 The Society also has a collection of almost 150 carriages and wagons, most of them pre-1939.〔 == History == In 1877 an Act of Parliament authorised construction of the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway (L&EGR).〔, pp 189-190.〕 The line was sponsored by local landowners, including the Earl of Sheffield. A year later an act enabled the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company (LB&SCR) chaired by Samuel Laing to acquire and operate the line.〔〔 The line had six stations, but only Barcombe was within walking distance of a village. Chailey parish had two stations, one at and the other at . It was customary for a rural line supported by a company or individuals to have stations close to the residences of its sponsors.〔 Thus Sheffield Park station was built for the Earl of Sheffield, and Newick and Chailey for Newick Park and Reedens, the residences of two other sponsors.〔 The other stations were at , and . A branch ran from a junction at Horsted Keynes to and on the LB&SCR main line.〔 The 1877 and 1878 Acts included a clause that:〔〔 This imposed a legal requirement to provide a service and the only way to remove this obligation was to pass another Act. Designed under instructions from LB&SCR Chief Engineer Frederick Banister,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Federick Dale Banister )〕 the line was constructed to take double track. However, only the section between East Grinstead and Horsted Keynes was laid as such; south of the junction at Horsted Keynes the line was single track with passing loops at stations. The line was opened in 1882. Goods traffic on the line consisted of local produce; milk, farm products and coal, and timber to and from Albert Turner & Son, a sawmill. The only time Sheffield Park received a substantial number of passengers was when Lord Sheffield entertained the Australian cricket team, with a match between them and Lord Sheffield's own team. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bluebell Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|