Bluebell Railway

The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for 11mi along the border between East and West Sussex, England, run by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between and, with intermediate stations at &.The first preserved standard gauge steam-operated passenger railway in the world to operate a public service, the society ran its first train on 7 August 1960, less than three years after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes had been closed by British Railways.On 23 March 2013, the Bluebell Railway commenced running through to its new terminus station. At East Grinstead there is a connection to the national rail network, the first connection of the Bluebell Railway to the national network in 50 years, since the Horsted Keynes – line closed in 1963.Today the railway is managed and run largely by volunteers. Having preserved a number of steam locomotives even before the cessation of steam service on British mainline railways in 1968, today it has over 30 steam locomotives - the largest collection in the UK after the National Railway Museum. The Bluebell also has almost 150 carriages and wagons, most of them pre-1939.HistoryIn 1877 an Act of Parliament authorised construction of the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway (L&EGR). The line was sponsored by local landowners, including the Earl of Sheffield. A year later an act enabled the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company (LB&SCR) chaired by Samuel Laing to acquire and operate the line.