A day photographing H2 Class No.32424 Beachy Head at the Bluebell Railway on green coaching stock 

We are delighted to offer a day of photography at the Bluebell Railway in West Sussex featuring the newly-recreated H2 Class Atlantic 4-4-2 No.32424 Beachy Head. Our train formation for the day will consist of two Southern Railway Bulleid coaches and two ‘ordinary’ British Railways Mark I coaches (ordinary is defined as normal service coaches rather than buffet/dining cars). This should make for an authentic and extremely photogenic set with a BR black-liveried Beachy Head at the helm.

The H2 Class locomotives were a handsome group of 4-4-2s built for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1911-1912. The Atlantic design had been introduced to the United Kingdom in 1898 by H G Ivatt for the Great Northern Railway and what was known as the C2 Class eventually numbered 22 locomotives by 1903. A further 94 larger locomotives classified C1 were constructed for the Great Northern up until 1910, and examples of both classes are preserved in the National Collection. While working as Chief Assistant to H G Ivatt at the GNR, D E Marsh had been involved in development of the Atlantics and, when he moved to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway as Locomotive Superintendent, he produced a version of the C1 Class to his own design. There were five C1 and six C2 Class locos (the last introduced by L B Billinton) which began enterIng traffic from 1905, the last of which (as 32424) was not withdrawn from service until 1958. They worked on a variety of routes, perhaps their highest profile duties being on the London to Brighton Pullman services and the connecting services with the Newhaven to Dieppe Boat Trains up until 1940 and then again after the Second World War.

Beachy Head was the last locomotive to be withdrawn after working an enthusiast’s special London-Newhaven-Brighton in April 1958 and none were preserved. However, in 2000, the Bluebell Railway Atlantic Group began work on a replica H2 Class using components from other similar designs, carrying the identity of the last member of the class to be withdrawn, although the new locomotive has the regulator of the original Beachy Head. Some 24 years later, the completed locomotive emerged from Sheffield Park Works and entered revenue-earning service on the Bluebell Railway. It is a tremendous achievement which sees another missing link in the history of steam power filled in spectacular fashion.

We would like to thank Jon Bowers of the Bluebell Railway for his assistance in facilitating this event, along with the host Railway and the Atlantic Group who have brought this fantastic loco-building project to fruition. 

With Beachy Head being a relatively new locomotive the charter is bound to be popular, so please book early to avoid disappointment.