Preservation of Class 315 / 317

Epping-Ongar Railway might be interested.

I remind you that the ERM  was basically a field in Coventry. While those involved did the best they could, it was quite clear that they were permanently short of cash unable to do much to arrest or reverse the continued long deterioration of the vehicles.

Also if you look at the homes arranged for the vehicles since the ERM closed none have gone to places with undercover storage or with the resources to restore them to fully operational condition (indeed once 'home', a scheme to preserve the remains of the line that served Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station has subsequently collapsed - see www.national-preservation.com/threads/trawsfynydd-and-blaenau-ffestiniog-railway.19760/page-25).

The Bluebell VEP never was at Coventry, has much of the required mainline safety kit already installed from its days with SWT (e.g. TPWS and crucially) has remained on the National Rail Network with large chunks of time spent in 3rd rail equipped carriage sheds / secure sidings. As such it has been spared some of the worst effects of the weather / vandals / thieves and can benefit from a regular supporters base - which includes quite a few people with the SWR franchise who are willing to provide siding space, technical advise and volunteer time to work on it.

The 306 also has benefited from being something of Ilfords depot 'pet' as it were for many years. Again it has benefited from being kept largely undercover on the national network and having people / organisations willing to help keep it in good nick, such that it continued to operate on the mainline after privatisation (compare the 306 to the fate of the 'celebrity' ex SR 2BIL and 4 SUB units both of which saw no use after privatisation and have spent long periods stored outside on isolated bits of track, subject to vandalism etc).

The Brighton Belle lot meanwhile are actually going in a subtly different direction from EMU preservation. Yes they want to restore a Brighton Belle unit, BUT for starters, they also envisage it being hauled by diesels too so they can tap into the fine dining market and go to places the VOSE does. The nature of the 'fine dining experience' also means the small kitchens and cramped 3rd / 2nd class seating geared around a 60minute dash to and from the Seaside are being ripped out / replaced with facilities and seating better suited to 5 course dinging and 2 / 3 / 4 hour long journeys.

Finally there is NOT a proposal for the Bluebell to have the Ardingly branch open and fitted with 3rd rail* by 2030. What exists is an aspiration to rebuild the Ardingly branch (without 3rd rail) at some stage in the future. As such there is a steering group in existence looking at how best this might be achieved, and perhaps more importantly how the currently disused formation / structures can be safeguarded or bought into Bluebell ownership so that the railway doesn't wake up one day to find further bridges demolished, the tunnel filled in / sold to a hostile 3rd party.

*Please read and inwardly digest this from the ORR. Its quite clear from this www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwjzobaJ_4nZAhWKWsAKHbM6APQQFgguMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Forr.gov.uk%2F__data%2Fassets%2Fpdf_file%2F0017%2F17621%2Fdc-electrification-policy-statement.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1SIQZzStGdch9Ug5COwRlB and discussions behind the scenes that they will NOT COUNTENANCE ANY FURTHER CONDUCTOR RAIL ELECTRIFICATION beyond track layout alterations / berthing / depot rearrangements - i.e. you can forget any chance if Ashford - Hastings, the North Downs or the Uckfield branch getting it and there is no way they will tolerate the Heritage movement installing it either.

Erring on the side of caution:

TOC - Train Operating Company, of which examples include:
GA - Greater Anglia
GVT - GoVia Thameslink Railway (more usually known as GTR)
LO - London Overground
SWT - (former) South West Trains
SWR - South Western Railways (replaced SWT in August 2017)
TfL Rail - precursor operation to Crossrail

BIL, BEL, SUB, CIG, VEP, PEP - the Southern Region codes respectively for classes 401, 403 (Brighton Belle), 405, 421, 423 and 445/446
BR - British Railways (as was)
ERM - Electric Railway Museum
NRM - National Railway Museum
ORR - Office of Rail Regulation
RM - type code of the original Routemaster bus designed in the 1950s: not to be confused with the "New Routemaster" pastiche, which has the type code "LT"
ROSCO - Rolling Stock Company (who lease trains to TOCs)
TfL - Transport for London
TPWS - Train Protection & Warning System - a system for preventing/mitigating over-runs of signals.
TS - tube stock
VOSE - presumably the VSOE - Venice-Simplon-Orient Express: upmarket landcruise experience

Which are not a problem because as with the national rail network (or indeed Pylons or domestic electricity supplies to houses) having electric cables up in the air and normally out of reach is in accordance with best practice.

Whether the ORR would be happy with a Heritage Railway having 25KV is another matter - but as indicated they seem happy with the 750V (nominal) at Crich.

Yeeessss! I'm not sure which I find funnier the literal interpretation of your reply, or the metaphorical implication of a EMU group routing through his rubbish for a discarded statement:

"We've got it lads! His bank details! Let go and buy that rectifier before he finds out!"