Updated: 1st November 2022

Geoff began his railway career as an engineering student on British Rail’s Southern division in 1971. He was the last graduate engineer taken on in the Southern region. His initial training was at Selhurst and he also worked at Eastleigh Works, Derby and around the country.

His managerial career included commissioning the 4VEP and he was Managing Director for Network South East’s South East Division. He wrote the timetable for the opening of the Channel Tunnel. He later became the privatisation director for the British Railways Board and, after privatisation, was the Managing Director of Connex Rail.

Geoff has also been an adviser to Transport for London, deputy chief executive of Qatar rail and has been a railway management consultant since 2012.

He first visited the Bluebell Railway in 1971 and is now a life member.

Steve has been a finance director for various companies covering different sectors including housebuilding, recruitment, oil and gas, and most recently mergers and acquisitions.  

He led commercial strategy at group board level for an international services consultancy, and was responsible for finance, commercial and resources. He is now semi-retired. 

Steve grew up around railways as his father was a rail enthusiast and he spent many hours at GWR’s Didcot centre. 

He has also been a school governor and managed the financial reporting for a charity supporting an orphanage and school in India. 

I am Vice Chairman of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, Chief Guards Inspector and a Shunter. 

I joined the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society in 1990 and started as a volunteer on the day before my 14th birthday in 1991.  

In my day job, I’m Commercial Manager for local bus operator Compass Travel. We are the largest independent bus operator in South East England with buses operating across Sussex and Surrey and two of our bus routes serve the Bluebell Railway.  

From a career railway family, my grandfather worked for London Brighton and South Coast Railway and was awarded an MBE for his services to the railway. My father spent all his working life as a railwayman and amongst many roles managed the Royal train for a period of time.

I was born in Brighton and have spent my entire career in the food industry. I started out as an accountant and worked for Sainsburys initially, followed by a spell in sales and marketing with United Biscuits. I then entered a period of general management for a variety of smaller food businesses. During this time I gained a great deal of experience in how to turn an ailing business into a successful business and became a company turnaround expert.

Before retiring in 2012 aged 57, I spent my final 10 years building up a group of food businesses as Managing Director and shareholder. During this time I spent a lot of time in Italy and the rest of Europe as well as America and travelled extensively seeking new and exciting supply chain opportunities.

My passion is motor sport, but I do have a soft spot for steam trains which do take me back to my childhood when my father used to manage to smuggle me onto the footplate and have a cup of tea in the breakdown crane support carriage. I can remember seeing the last steam engine running from London to Brighton just before it entered Clayton Tunnel.

My other passion is music and I am finance director and presenter with Ashdown Radio and broadcast a heavy metal and hard rock programme.

I joined the railway in December 2011 as a carriage restorer, working on the Stroudley 4-wheeler known as Betty. I fully retired the following May having spent 40 years in the water industry as a civil engineer.

In 2015 I joined the platform staff at Sheffield Park, and passed as Lead Porter a year later, and subsequently as Station Foreman. I started training as signalman in 2016 and passed for Kingscote in 2018. I have been managing the construction of the OP4 carriage shed at Horsted Keynes since 2017.

The infrastructure director’s portfolio is huge and varied, from Permanent Way and buildings to air-conditioning as well as everything in between. An interesting challenge!

I first visited the Bluebell Railway in 1975 on a primary school trip. I still remember the experience and it was a lasting influence on my interest in all things mechanical and engineering. After leaving school, I found myself in one of the last traditional electrical apprenticeships and had a lucky break to move into the technology sector.

I have worked across all aspects of the technology industry from IT infrastructure, application, modernisation and digital use cases for business and the consumer. While a technologist at heart I have had the opportunity to build programs which help people and organisations evolve their culture and simplify technology so it is not seen as a barrier to using it. My current role is with Amazon Web Services where I lead a team of technical architects helping customers adopt the latest Amazon technology and move their business to the cloud.

I really appreciate being involved in organisations which have a community presence. I was the Chairman and Councillor for Cuckfield Parish Council and over nine years was able to deliver on community-based projects for the environment, events, planning and highways. Something I still look back on was saving the local playgroup and village hall from closure.

It is this belief of communities which brings me to the Bluebell Railway as IT Director.

Chris comes from a railway family – his grandfather was a signalman on the East Coast Main Line and his father worked on the engineering side of signalling, so railways have always been a topic of interest for him.    

Chris has had a varied working career serving in the Royal Air Force and the police in addition to holding various senior HR and Business Change and Transformation roles in both public and private sector organisations such as PwC, Serco, American Express and Mercedes Benz. Chris currently works in the defence industry and has travelled widely with work spending a lot of time on projects in the Far East, South Africa and the USA. He also has significant board level experience in the charity and heritage sectors.   

When not working, Chris enjoys shooting, motor cycling and all things steam having for many years been involved in a hands-on role in the preservation of a Burrell Special Scenic Road locomotive. 

Paul has worked for more than 30 years on the management of maintenance operations and major construction projects within the cement industry.

He has been volunteering for more than 40 years at the Bluebell Railway working through the grades to Locomotive Driver and has also worked on many locomotive restoration projects such as the North London Tank Adams, E4, Baxter and also the steam crane. He is also the Diesel Traction Engineering Co-ordinator for the Locomotive Department and part owner of the class 09 and class 33 diesel locomotives at the Railway.

I have worked at director level in the transport industry for nearly 20 years and have also owned my own businesses.

I have been a member and working member of the Bluebell Railway since 1989. I have previously been a Trustee and Operations Director from 2007 to 2010. I was Station Master at Sheffield Park as well as having qualified as a guard, signalman and shunter.

I have been a member and regular visitor to the Bluebell Railway since 1965 when I started volunteering in the station buffet and polishing the carriages. I am a chartered accountant with a background in dealing with trusts and charities.

In 2014 I was appointed the administrator of the Trust which supports the railway and in 2019 I became chairman.