I have been back to the Bluebell Railway on several occasions since that fateful first visit in 2019 where I bought my DSLR but no SD cards, forcing me to learn how to use my to that point barely used Sony RX100 IV camera – but on each of those occasions I’ve either been partially or wholly responsible for a small child and so I’ve not been able to take as many photos as I did on that first trip. Sometimes I only grabbed a handful of shots on each of those visits, so it makes sense to group them all together and release them in one batch.
After 2019, Covid kept us away in 2020, and then a far too young child kept us away for a few more years. We finally returned in early 2023, when our child was getting to an age where he could tell us he actually wanted to go look at some steam trains.
The footbridge at Sheffield Park Station is never a bad place to start for taking pictures, or taking in the view.
On steam on this day was 32636 Fenchurch, a cute little engine, alongside some of the railway’s more antique-looking carriages.
As you can see this was back during a rusty phase where I tended to start shooting with whatever settings I’d used on the camera previously. It may have been an overcast day, but I still did not need to shoot at an ISO of 640 whilst outside.
On the carriage we travelled on was a lovely old heat regulator valve, which made for the sort of interesting, textured images that I’m often partial to. It was, however, mounted on a mirror, so for the straight-on view more eagle-eyed readers might be able to spot me.
Clearly at this point I clearly needed ISO 640.
I switched to my 50mm prime and shot from a different angle to stay out of the photo.
Something I’ve always loved is photographing the machinery by the railway. Heritage railways generally have a lot of this, as they make the most of the track they have available to store equipment and spare carriages not in service. It’s not the easiest subject to photograph, however, when you’re shooting from a moving train through a dirty window.
The Bluebell Railway has an assortment of things of that nature to be seen from the train:
On this visit, due to engineering works, trains were only running to Horsted Keynes, the next station about four miles up the track. This made a bit of a change as the last time we visited, we rode the train to the end of the line and straight back again, without exploring any of the other stations. We didn’t exactly explore Horsted Keynes much this time either, but I did take a few photos from the platform as Fenchurch changed ends to return to Sheffield Park.
One of the things that caught my eye the most was the rusty (and therefore textured) signal gantries .
I also managed to get a decent shot of Fenchurch as it went past to reconnect to the other end of the train.
As well as another shot of the carriages we’d travelled on.
I also fired off a quick snap of inside the train cab.
We rode the train back to Sheffield Park.
When we got there I took a few more closeups of the engine.
I took one last shot of Fenchurch changing ends, then we called it a day.
Before our next visit a month later, we decided to become members of the railway. This gave us, alongside reduced fares, free access to the station to look at the trains, making it easier to pop along just for a look without actually riding any trains, making it effectively a free day out.
That visit was a shorter one, we looked around at the trains for a bit, and I spent more time as a parent than a photographer. Even so, I squeezed off a handful of shots worth sharing. On steam that day was 73082 Camelot.
This time, I used the occasion to get a closeup of some of the mechanisms of the engine. I love that industrial, steampunky look.
And I was ready when one of the crew stuck their head out of the window.
I trekked down to the little viewing area at the end of Platform 1, which is a great spot for the public to get a look at the engines, which tend to overhang the platform when configured with a full set of coaches. I closed up the aperture to f/8 to make sure most of the train was in focus.
Our next visit was later in summer, when the weather was a bit less drab. I love steam trains, but they don’t look their best when they’re in black livery on a dull day. By this time I had just bought the EOS R6 Mk II, and this was also the same day that I spent a decent amount of time photographing some pretty cars, so I was in a shooting mood that day.
Camelot was the engine on duty again that day.
I once again headed to the public viewing area to get some closeups of the mechanisms of the train.
I also often use a railway platform to take a nice perspective shot.
My penchant for shooting nice mechanisms also includes a shot of a bogey.
As I write this, deep into this post, I’m starting to think that ‘mechanisms’ isn’t the word I’m looking for, but it’ll do.
Before too long the train began to depart. I hopped over the bridge, grabbing a shot on the way.
And made it to Platform 2 in time to get some closer shots of it departing.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably have gone to the end of Platform 1 for a better angle of the train leaving, rather than standing so close. I think I was also trying to get some closeups of the mechanics (maybe that’s the word I meant) of the train, rather than a wide shot of the train itself.
With the train gone, I took a few photos around the platform.
Soon, however, another steam engine showed up.
This was 31065, getting ready to pull the Golden Arrow dining train for a lunchtime service.
This beautiful engine was built in the late 1800s. It’s one I’d not seen before, and it made a change to see something in green livery rather than the black we usually see.
Shortly the Pullman coaches that formed the service were shunted onto Platform 1, and I took a few shots framed by the windows.
I also took a closeup of one of the roses on a table.
Dining on the Golden Arrow is a special occasion. Customers are expected to dress smartly, and the staff do the same.
We also explored the engine shed. This museum of sorts has a lot of locomotives in it, some fully operational, some mainly shells to look around. It allowed for a few interesting angles on some engines.
I should probably take a pause after that last photo to talk about my ISO settings. With my EOS 60D, I found the ISO performance fell off pretty quickly, so I never trusted the Auto ISO setting, in case it got carried away and started shooting at too high a setting and resulted in a noisier picture than I would have got if I’d selected the ISO manually. But as you saw at the start of this post, that often meant I missed shots or shot at too high an ISO because I would forget to check it, especially between trips. With the R6 Mk II, the noise performance is much better. I’ve shot photos at ISO 25600 with similar noise performance to the 60D at ISO 6400. The advance of technology, I guess. The point is that with the R6 I almost exclusively shoot in Auto ISO mode. The only times I’ve had to override it were when it wasn’t being aggressive enough, and my subject was moving more than it was prepared for. Which is a long way of saying that the picture above was shot at an ISO of 10000, which is the highest-ISO shot I’ve posted to this site. So far. (Foreshadowing.)
The engines tend to be packed quite closely together, and the layout changes from time to time. Rarely are you able to get nice wide angles of the locomotives, but today I was in luck.
At the end of the engine shed you can see out into the yard, where occasionally you can see some interesting things going on. Today there was just a diesel parked with a coal truck.
Our final visit in this set was earlier this month. This time we had the plan to ride the train to the end of the line, then get off and explore the town a bit rather than just turn straight around. Our son has recently started getting interested in Thomas the Tank Engine so it was also a bit more exciting for him. By this point, I had added the RF 24-70mm f/2.8L to my kit bag.
When I was able to take photos, I once again honed in on the steampunkiness of the train’s mechanisms. I’m not sure if I prefer this one with or without smoke – the smoke certainly adds to the atmosphere.
East Grinstead at the other end of the line connects up with the mainline, but the Bluebell Railway portion of the station is not very big. It is, like the other stations on the line, decorated with the accoutrements of the era.
The carriages we got back home were the old set we’d travelled in with Fenchurch last year. I like them. They are very Poirot.
On the journey home, there is a brief stop were our train waited at Horsted Keynes whilst another train came into another platform from the other direction (the Bluebell Railway, like many restored heritage railways, is single track for much of its length). This does mean I had the time to hop off our train and photograph the northbound train arriving.
When we got to the other end, I grabbed a shot of the carriage coupling, which is more of the sort of details on the railway I love.
Finally, I grabbed a shot of the inside of one of the carriages. Far, far more comfortable than the train I take to London several times a week, that’s for sure.
That’s us mostly caught up with my trips to the Bluebell Railway. Almost. The next time I’d return, it would be after I’d completed the Personal Track Safety training, and was in possession of a lineside photographer’s permit and the authority to go trackside.
Creative Splurges 