The Bluebell Railway Diesel Gala held on the weekend of the 17th to 19th April 2015 featured the following locomotives;
Class 55 Deltic 55009 ‘Alycidon’
Class 55 Deltic 55019 ‘Royal Highland Fusilier’
Who would ever have thought that the Bluebell would hold an advertised Diesel Gala after years of being a ‘Steam only’ line?
This was the first time two Deltics had visited the Sussex heritage railway with both locos arriving via the Bluebell’s mainline connection at East Grinstead.
A two-train service was in operation each day with the locos switching diagrams on the Sunday.
It's was good to see that a wider approach was being taken by this heritage railway who have in the past run a Steam Only policy albeit unofficially, recent work on the line including the completion of the link to East Grinstead and a connection with Network Rail has seen the use of modern traffic and some heritage Diesel traffic too including the loan of a DMU in use during last year.
The weekend was busy and I think took a few people by surprise!
