Great Western Coffee Shop

The Trustees & Volunteers have met today to discuss the future of the ERM site in the light of a recent meeting with Roxhill who are going to develop the land for commercial purposes.

We have reluctantly decided that we will close the Electric Railway Museum at its present location after the open day on OCTOBER 8th 2017.

We will be actively working with the railway heritage sector to ensure that vehicles and locomotives currently on the site are not endangered with a view in the longer term to establish a new site for the ERM.

We would like to thank you for your support over the past ten years and continuing support in the future as we work to relocate the collection.

If you can offer the ERM any help with this transition then please contact us.
Our remaining open days for 2017 will go ahead as planned on the following dates:
Sunday August 13th
Saturday & Sunday September 9th & 10th
Sunday October 8th

From the Bluebell Railway's FAQ (http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/faq.html):

Q: When will the railway extend Westwards? A: We own the track-bed from Horsted Keynes to Ardingly, but this is a project for maybe 10 years time. The signalling and trackwork at Horsted Keynes have been designed and laid to accommodate the junction when the time comes. Any such development is also subject to obtaining planning permission, meeting other statutary requirements, and funding being available. It is accepted that the Railway must put its energies into the maintenance and development of the existing infrastructure for some years to come, now that the extension to East Grinstead is completed, before turning our attention westwards. But plans are being formulated, our options are safeguarded, including work towards reinstating the missing viaduct using second-hand bridge sections, a route agreed around the edge of the aggregates terminal, and space set aside for a Bluebell platform at Haywards Heath, although access to it would have to be via the main line. Further details of our plans are in the Long Term Plan on the Society's web pages.

Q: Could the line to Ardingly be re-electrified? A: This is something we have not ruled out. However, it would be very expensive, so it would probably require outside financial assistance since such a project is not core to the Bluebell's operation. In addition, there are safety issues which would have to be addressed, and which it might be quite a challenge to resolve.

To quote the Bluebell Railway's long-term plan (http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/soc/ltp.html):

From an earlier discussion on another thead:


Might the developments at Coventry, unwelcome though they are, provide assistance in the form of a pool of volunteers and stock looking for a new home and probably motivated to make a phoenix rise from the ashes of the ERM.

There's a section on UK rail Forums which includes a crowdfunding site.

The level of electrically qualified / competent volunteers required, the insurance not to mention the assurance that would have to be given to the ORR to operate an electrified railway makes it almost a non starter for a heritage railway

Energy cost would make it very expensive to operate and the switchgear, transformers etc are expensive

I think your 'almost' is a key word here, to be read in conjunction with the Bluebell's nicely understated 'quite a challenge'. The preservation movement has done so many near-impossible things that perhaps some of us get complacent about what can be achieved; however the Bluebell is perhaps better placed than most to draw on the level of expertise needed to make an electrified line a reality.