[1] The society ran its first train on 7 August 1960, less than three years after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes had been closed by British Railways.

A year later another act enabled the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company (LB&SCR), chaired by Samuel Laing, to acquire and operate the line.

A branch ran from a junction at Horsted Keynes to Ardingly and Haywards Heath on the LB&SCR main line.

Designed under instructions from LB&SCR Chief Engineer Frederick Banister,[5] the line was constructed to take double track.

[4] Goods traffic on the line consisted of local produce; milk: farm products and coal, and timber to and from Albert Turner & Son, a sawmill.

On 31 July 1943, newlyweds Ronald Knapp and Winifred Standing were killed when they were pulled under a train from Lewes to East Grinstead.

[8] This was challenged by local residents, but closure was agreed in February 1955 for 15 June 1955, although the line closed on 29 May due to a rail strike.

[8] Shortly after closure, Margery Bessemer of Chailey discovered in the 1877 and 1878 acts the clause relating to the "Statutory Line", and demanded British Railways reinstate services.

[1] The society's initial aim was to reopen the whole line from East Grinstead to Culver Junction as a commercial service, using a two-car DMU.

[1] The committee then recommended that the stretch of track between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes could be run as a tourist attraction, with vintage locomotives and stock operated by unpaid volunteer staff.

[8] In 1960, the interim line was opened, running from Sheffield Park to Bluebell Halt, 100 yards (91 m) south of Horsted Keynes.

[9] These efforts culminated in a public inquiry, with the Secretaries of State for the Environment and Transport giving planning permission and a Light Railway Order for an extension to East Grinstead in 1985.

[11] Some of the society's founder members gathered at Horsted Keynes to mark the arrival of a commemorative LB&SCR A1X class No.55 Stepney-hauled steam train.

BR donated Imberhorne Viaduct to the railway in 1992, but the purchase of the final pieces of the by then privately owned track bed north to East Grinstead was only completed in 2003,[1] allowing physical civil engineering activity to be undertaken from that year.

In January 2008 agreement was given to start clearing foliage on the section of the tip between Imberhorne Lane and Hill Place bridges.

In a public launch event, BBC newsreader Nicholas Owen—a local resident and society volunteer—started removal of the actual waste on 25 November 2008.

[14] With the receiving site changed to Appleford, Oxfordshire[15] and thanks to the "tenner for the tip" appeal, the cash target was met and the rubbish was removed by rail in time.

[17] On 7 March 2013, the last section of track was formally joined using a white fishplate, with the honour of tightening the four bolts being given to Barbara Watkins, a long-standing Bluebell Railway volunteer.

[9] While the 218-yard (199 m) Lywood Tunnel remains in good condition, there are two major areas of work that would be required to re-open the line, these being the replacement of a short girder-bridge span bridge and the 117-yard (107 m) Sheriff Mill Viaduct, which was demolished in 1969.

The removed clay-cap from Imberhorne cutting has been deposited on the banks of the former Sherriff Mill viaduct to allow later bridging of the gap.

[1] However, a substantial number of large civil engineering obstacles and intrusions onto the former trackbed make this a difficult project to envisage the completion of.

[1] For execution, the project would require:[9] The remaining undeveloped line from Lewes to Sheffield Park has been safeguarded as a bridleway and footpath.