2025 marks the 30th Anniversary of the first web pages about the Bluebell Railway
As we enter the Bluebell Railway’s 65th Anniversary year, 30 years ago the Bluebell’s first tentative steps were made towards use of the Internet.
Prepared by Richard Salmon, and hosted by Mark Dewell (who was to become the Heritage Railway Association’s first Internet Officer) on his UK Heritage Railways web site, the Bluebell led the way in providing more than just the forthcoming year’s timetable. Those first pages have been re-created here from what survived in an archive. In addition to the timetable and dates of operation, the pages provided details of how to get to the Bluebell, BRPS membership, a section about the Rolling Stock, Special events, and the ever-popular Santa Specials and Golden Arrow Pullman Dining services.
Later that year a rudimentary email-based “News from the Bluebell” service was started as well. The following year more web pages were provided, and in 1997 we opened our own web site, again edited by Richard Salmon, and hosted by Lewis Nodes.
This very “What’s New” page is the successor of what’s now one of the three longest running, continuously updated web logs (the origin of the Blog) on the entire Internet, and that entire log from 1997 to date is still available.
