The Bluebell Railway, in East Sussex, has released their April update on their Operation Undercover Phase 4 project. This project will see rolling stock be undercover and away from the elements.

Sadly, the past few weeks have been extremely wet and has prevented any further work on embankment stabilisation or the removal of the spoil heap.

However, the last week of March saw some progress on the movement of the stock.

The 29th March 2018 saw temporary track slewed across to G Road and six vehicles were shunted across the running line from the Ardingly sidings and into the shed. The 3rd April saw a seventh vehicle shunted into the shed, which now fills G road.

H and J roads cannot have any further carriages shunted into them due to the ground in the south-east corner being unstable. The ground is hoped to be stabilised soon.

Over the next few days, the temporary track linking the headshunt to the shed will be lifted to allow the earthworks to be started as soon as weather permits.

In the meantime, work is progressing well on the detailed design of the Heritage Skills Centre. The completion of the design will provide details of finished ground works to the east of the building and enable the northern and eastern wall cladding to be specified.

Donations

The work is being entirely completed by donations and a further £150,000 is now required to complete the brickwork and cladding. If you would like to support this project, please visit the OP4 MyDonate page

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