Barnards Belle 1
Started life as concept in March 1993. Original drawings by John Osbourne (Jonoz) 4th March 1993 a member of the Chessington Locomotive and Lawnmower Works, part of the Winchester and Alton Railway Carriage and Wagon Works. The finished unit made a first appearance in hobby venue in 1993 in London in the original colour of Southern Green and rumour was it was known as The Green Monster”.
During a visit in Autumn 1995 of a group of members of Chingford and District Model Engineering Club it was spotted out of use at Malden District Society of Model Engineers at Thames Ditton Miniature Railway.
Having been spotted the group of members of the Chingford and District Model Engineering Club decided to try to purchase the unit with the intentions of a rebuild and use at Ridgeway Park Chingford.
The rebuild started in February 1996 and was completed October 1996 the final colour scheme chosen was as it is currently of the Brighton Belle and was copied from an original driving car which was stored at Sheringham on the North Norfolk Railway. The two Pullman Cars were given names of Emily and Maude two of the Chingford members mothers who assisted with the upholstery. The unit ran with a headcode of either “L” representing Larkswood station at Chingford or “O” to acknowledge it’s visit to Olympia in London in December – January 1997.
In early 2016 the Chingford Owning group were approached with a view to purchase the unit to be used at Barnards Farm Miniature Railway. They decided that although the unit was very popular at Ridgeway Park the unit was more suited to a railway with longer straights and greater radius corners and they would let the sale go through so the Chingford Belle became the Barnards Belle.
Following some additional repairs and replacement of some running parts and of course new batteries the now named Barnards Belle with carriage identity adjusted to Lydia and Vera (both original Pullman identities). The Barnards Belle 1 now invites you to ride and view Barnards Farm Gardens from a different perspective.
Barnards Belle 2
The second Barnards Belle is a near-identical replica of the original 1993 version (above), with a few differences. Due to the popularity of the existing Barnards Belle on running days, and large queues forming to ride it, it was decided to build a new one for them to run together.
The bodywork for the new unit was built completely in-house by our estates team, whilst the bogies (wheelsets), electrics, and mechanics were done by CMD engineering, to bring the unit to life. The unit is fully electric powered by batteries under the seats.
After testing and commissioning, the unit was introduced into service properly in 2023, where it was used primarily for Burtonshaw – Lake End services, reversing at the junction at Belvedere to head down the branch-line to Lake End.
The unit has since been removed from public service as it requires some general maintenance on its bogies, and fitting of a more realistic looking cab.
The unit itself is painted with a grey roof (instead of white on the original), has different names on the sides named after our estate owners grandchildren, and is a couple inches higher to give some additional space for our customers. The unit is painted in the traditional Pullman Umber & Cream, which was widely used in the 1900’s on luxury dining services all over the UK.
