Wednesday, 31 August 2022

Bluebell Railway revisited

Today's post, 31 August 2022, (seems ages ago that I last posted) features a 500-piece jigsaw from House of Puzzles titled All Aboard.
The Bluebell Railway was the first, standard gauge preserved heritage line in Britain; passenger services began in August 1960.The jigsaw photograph shows the 'Dukedog' class 4-4-0 locomotive No.9017, Earl of Berkeley, at Sheffield Park Station. The loco, superbly turned out, is heading a train, recently loaded with passengers, for a trip on the line. Many passengers and visitors are included in the station scene. The locomotive is an amalgam of two earlier types - the frames of 'Bulldog' class No.3425 (built 1906) and the boiler and cab of 'Duke' class No.3282 (built 1895). The locomotive amalgam carried the number 3017 when assembled at Swindon Works in 1938, but in the 1946 renumbering system, both 'Dukes' and 'Dukedogs' were reclassified together, as class '90xx'. No.3017 became No.9017 and last ran in 2011. She is currently on static display, awaiting overhaul. For previous posts describing the Bluebell Railway, just enter Bluebell into the search bar above.