NEW-BUILD NEWS

Group looks to the future as ‘Atlantic’ nears final stages of construction.

What next after Beachy Head?

With its replica 4‑4‑2 No. 32424 Beachy Head expected to steam in 2020, the Bluebell Railway Brighton Atlantic Group is turning its thoughts to the next LBSCR new‑build project. From a list of candidates drawn up in the organisation’s Atlantic News house magazine, the popular front runners are currently a Billinton ‘K’ 2‑6‑0, or a Craven outside‑framed 2‑4‑0, originally a product of Beyer Peacock in 1861. Other suggestions have included an ‘L’ 4‑6‑4T, ‘C2X’ 0‑6‑0, ‘D1’ 0‑4‑2T, ‘D2’ or ‘D3’ 0‑4‑4T, ‘I3’ 4‑4‑2T or ‘J’ 4‑6‑2T, although all pose problems, such as size or a lack of drawings. Like the original Beachy Head ‑ which enthusiasts hoped would be saved when it was withdrawn in 1958 ‑ the ‘K’ was a tantalising ‘might‑have‑been’ from the early preservation era: an example was set aside for the Bluebell, but preservationists were unable to raise enough money to save it. However, while a ‘K’ would be of greater operational use to the 11‑mile long Bluebell, the Craven locomotive would provide a rare working machine to represent the 1860s ‑ and preservation’s only operational standard gauge 2‑4‑0 tender engine. Chairman Terry Cole writes: “There are pros and cons to each. The Craven would cost less overall and be quicker to build, but needs substantial research and design, given that all we have is a general arrangement drawing. The ‘K’ would cost more and take longer, although we have substantially more information (50‑plus drawings). It is an awkward engine to build, but it was a locomotive that the Bluebell should have had, and could be of much greater use on the main service trains. “For either engine (and especially in the case of the Craven) we would need to start preparatory work some time before No. 32424 leaves Atlantic House to run trials.” Beachy Head’s emergence from its Sheffield Park workshop was originally targeted for 2018, to mark the 60th anniversary of the original engine’s demise, but is now expected in around three years. Work will shortly commence to fit the 134 small tubes and 32 superheater flues into the locomotive’s GNR ‘Atlantic’ boiler.

THE ‘K’ WAS A TANTALISING ‘MIGHT-HAVEBEEN’ FROM THE EARLY PRESERVATION ERA