THE FURNESS RAILWAY TRUST

Furness Railway Number 20 visited the Bluebell Railway in August 2010, as the star visitor at the landmark gala marking 50 years of standard gauge preservation.

The oldest working steam locomotive in Britain was the obvious first choice for the Bluebell volunteers for their special event to celebrate the first half century of volunteer-run standard gauge passenger railways in this country, a tradition begun by the Bluebell in 1960.

Another big name visitor - new build A1 Pacific "Tornado" - was unable to make it to the Bluebell due to boiler problems, so FR 20 was the big name guest for what was described as the "gala of the year".

FR 20 was in action at the Bluebell on the 6th, 7th and 8th August for the gala itself.

It ran what seemed like countless shuttle trains full to bursting with passengers on the as-yet-unopened section of the Bluebell north of Kingscote to Imberhorne, towards the Bluebell's ultimate northern destination of East Grinstead.

The third photo in this sequence shows FR 20 with LNWR saloon No. 1503 , at the current railhead - you can see the bufferstops under the bridge, and behind it, the waste tip that has to be removed before trains can once more reach East Grinstead.

The engine remained at the Bluebell for three further steamings on the 11th, 12th and 14th August, this time running the full length of the line.

This included a photo-charter on the 11th paired with two Victorian wooden bodied carriages which proved very popular.

The Bluebell crews are already familiar with some pretty old steam engines, so its no surpise that they took very quickly to FR20, the oldest working loco of the lot!

There were many positive comments about FR20 - one supporter emailed the FRT to say "Many thanks for allowing us to enjoy this lovely loco".

And the crews threatened not to let our loco leave at the end of its hire period, as they'd like to keep it for a lot longer!

However, they didn't get their way, and the 1863 veteran made the long journey back north.

Having come south to the Bluebell from Beamish, this time the journey was slightly shorter, as FR20 returned to Locomotion, the National Railway Museum at Shildon, County Durham to resume its role as Operational Locomotive in Residence.

The visit to the Bluebell came at the end of a 3 month tour away from Locomotion, that took in first the Great Central Railway, then Beamish before heading to East Sussex. In the 3 months, FR 20 ran on 33 days, and travelled around 900 miles!

There are photos from the visit to the Bluebell in the FR20 picture gallery.

The FRT wishes to thank Mark Tewkesbury for the use of the photo of FR20 drawing the crowds (4th in this sequence) and Andrew Strongitharm for the shot of FR20 on another loaded shuttle (1st in this sequence).