New-build Atlantic Beachy Head emerges!

HISTORY was made at Sheffield Park in early March, when newbuild ‘Marsh Atlantic’ No. 32424 Beachy Head emerged from its non-rail-connected workshop, Atlantic House.

The 4-4-2 was moved the short distance to Bluebell Railway metals using a low-loader and it was partnered with its tender for the first time on March 6. No. 32424 subsequently moved into the railway’s maintenance shed for commissioning work as part of getting the loco into public service.

The roots of this project can be traced back to 1986 when Nick Pigott, the then editor of The RM, found a Great Northern Railway Atlantic boiler, subsequently identified as boiler No. 9359 built at Doncaster in 1941. Since the LBSCR Atlantics were built to drawings modified from the GNR design, it was recognised that the boiler could correctly form the basis of a Brighton

Atlantic re-creation, hence when it was offered for sale, it was bought by the Bluebell Railway.

Members of the team in Atlantic House will now begin work on their next projects – Adams Radial Tank No. 30583 (488) and Adams ‘B4’ No. 96 Normandy – which as previously reported, are to be returned to steam inside the dedicated workshop. The pair have moved into the space vacated by

No. 32424.

JAMES CUMMINS/BLUEBELL RAILWAY Coupled to its tender for the first time on March 6, new-build Marsh Atlantic No. 32424 Beachy Head sits in the yard at Sheffield Park ahead of its move into the maintenance shed for final assembly and commissioning to start. Although no date has yet been given for its debut, it is hoped that running trials will commence by the summer.