Volunteers restore Brighton Belle (BBC News)
 

Volunteers restoring one of the UK's most iconic trains say they hope to have it back on the rails by 2012.

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I hope this project succeeds. It is one of the great icons of British Railway History.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

The project is on schedule, even if the cost has risen significantly. Car 88 is on show at the Bluebell 50th - when she leaves in September, she will go to join Car 91 at HNRC, Barrow Hill, to have newer bogies, control gear, brakes, wiring etc fitted. Cars 85 and 87 will shortly be taken to Ramparts of Derby for body restoration, then shipped to Barrow Hill for the engineering upgrades.

This is the biggest rail restortaion project currently underway, now that Tornado is completed, so 2012 is a difficult target, but we think we will get there.

Does anyone have any original artefacts from the Belle that they would like to donate to the project?

Neil Marshall
5BEL Trust
[email protected]

Car 88 at Horsted Keynes last Sunday.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

Would anyone care to comment on the colour of the Pullmans that were on display at Horsted Keynes over the weekend? Car 88 and Doris next to it were completely different shades of brown.

I think car 88 was painted for the event. I wouldn't expect it to look like that when it is complete. For astart it wasn't lined out.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

John
Car 88 was pulled out of our restoration line for the event, so it was indeed a quick paint job. The colour looks light largely because of the number of coats, but Doris now has the patina of age, which makes comparisons hard. Any chance of a higher res image? ([email protected])
Neil

brightonbelle
 

Remember going from Brighton in fifties lunch was fantastic but ride comfort left a lot to be desired.A waiter dropped a tray of salmon when we went over one junction the staff did not like the driver that day!!!!!!!!!!Hope the new train has better bogies but track is a lot better nowadays.