Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
Notices for Members
Want to be part of a winning team?
Our 50th Anniversary Event back in 2010 and the visit of Flying Scotsman in 2017 both saw the Railway pull together to deliver something really special for our visitors. Obviously COVID-19 stopped our Railway’s Diamond Anniversary from taking place this August, when we were planning to better our 50th Anniversary Event. This celebration will now take place 6-8 August next year.
We do, however, have a golden opportunity to recreate the spirit of the above with this winter’s Santa Trains and our new product, SteamLights. As a result of Covid and the resulting social distancing guidelines, these events will be quite different to the original plans made back at the start of the year. Both products have sold very well, resulting in more trains being added to the original programmes, and we must now ensure we can deliver them, meeting the expectations of visitors.
Santa Trains are booked to operate on 9 days between 5th and 24th December and we will need Stewards on each date. The good news is that we have an established group of Santa Trains Stewards who will shortly be contacted and asked to put themselves forward to cover these turns of duty.
SteamLights will be operating on an astonishing number of 39 days between 13th November and 5th January and will need 5 Stewards on each of them. With no existing SteamLights Stewards group we now need to create one. What an opportunity this is for volunteers, members and employees to work together and be part of a winning team, knowing that whilst you have enjoyed yourselves, you will have earned our Railway a significant amount of revenue in what has been a very difficult period. We need to find cover for almost 200 turns of duty, all involving evening working – the clue is in the name, SteamLights – and all based at Sheffield Park.
So, what happens next? The Roster Clerks in the Operations Dept will be working flat out to ensure that enough Drivers, Firemen, Guards, Signalmen and Station Staff are on duty to ensure that all trains and stations operate safely whilst following social distancing guidelines.
We are therefore asking all our existing Bluebell Railway volunteers – from any department – plus you, our members, particularly those with BN, BR, CR, RH, SN, and TN postcodes, plus members of staff, to put your names forward and play your part in making SteamLights a successful event for our visitors.
If you would like to help, please fill out a SteamLights volunteering form here.
Bluebell News Magazine
The Summer edition of Bluebell News has been published, and is available to download here.
The Spring and Summer issues are available in electronic format only and will not be posted to BRPS members.
Please be assured that this decision is entirely due to the extenuating financial and logistical circumstances caused by the current Covid-19 crisis. The standard magazine format will be resumed at the earliest opportunity.
Obituaries
Please note that a change in policy will result in notices of the deaths of Bluebell staff and volunteers being circulated via internal channels, and full obituaries appearing in Bluebell News magazine.
Preservation Standards Manual
We are pleased to be able to publish the first edition of our Preservation Standards Manual, which details how everything on and about our Railway should be presented. This is a major undertaking, and there are some sections yet to be fully completed, and it will probably always remain a work in progress as new research is still uncovering refinements.
Bluebell News – BRPS Chairmanship – BRPS AGM & EGM postponement
Please see this joint Note from BRPS and Bluebell Railway PLC concerning the online delivery of Bluebell News, Steve Bigg assuming the role of acting chairman of BRPS, and the postponement of the AGM and EGM which had been scheduled for 23 May 2020.
Documents for Members
- “Who’s Who” in the BRPS
- BRPS Objectives, Aims & Plans – 2013 edition (also available as a pdf document)
- BRPS Rules (as agreed in EGM, May 2003 and amended in AGM, May 2008 and EGMs in May 2016 and May 2019) and Bluebell “Rules of Debate” and “Method of deciding tied elections”.
Preservation Standards Manual – April 2020- Accessibility Statement – March 2019
- Safeguarding Policy – August 2018
- Privacy Policy – May 2018
- Agreed preservation policies and strategies:
- Traction and Rolling Stock Collection Policy (as adopted in 2004)
- Carriage and Wagon Restoration Policy (as adopted 2003)
- Van Strategy (as adopted October 2015)
- Historic Wagon Strategy (as adopted May 2008)
- Bluebell Railway Trust – Governance and Management Regulations – March 2018
- Carriage Strategy Review (February 2015)
- Pullmans Strategy Update: 11 October 2015
- Pullman Cars ‘Doris’ and ‘Carina’: Joint Press Release with the 5BEL Trust and Additional information for Bluebell Members from Lewis Nodes – 18 February 2011
- FAQ: Why doesn’t the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society have postal voting at AGMs?
- Options for a turntable or a triangle – October 2011.
- The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for volunteer groups – June 2010
Social Sub-Committee
BRPS Social Sub-Committee – with who’s who, and recent and forthcoming events.
List of Notices
Notification of Members’ Train on 7 August 2020- Please note that deaths of Bluebell staff and volunteers will in future be circulated via internal channels. Obituaries will appear in Bluebell News magazine.
- John Scrace, Ken Deans, John Woods – March-April 2020
- Joint Note from BRPS and Bluebell Railway PLC – Bluebell News – BRPS Chairmanship – BRPS AGM & EGM postponement – 28 March 2020
- Klaus Marx, Roger Williams, Jean Cook, Ray Tanner & Ian Osborne – October 2019/February 2020
- David Burch appointed Finance Director – Dec 2019
Last updated 21 September 2020 by Richard Salmon