SVR Autumn Steam Gala 25-25th September 2010
The Severn Valley Railway's Autumn Gala has become a firm favorite in many enthusiast's calenders, and this year's event more than lived up to expectations. This time the 'Valley' played host to no less than five visting locomotives, which were ably assisted by seven members of the home shed.As always, with this event, trains were packed full with many services runing with standing room only. In fact the railway was so busy that although we arrived at about 7:15am on Saturday Bewdley car park was virtually full.
One of the highlights of this event is the all night running which is becoming increasingly popular, however for those who are not inclined to get up at 5:45am it does mean that they will miss out on riding behind some locomotives as these are only operating the night trains.
(Right: Visiting Collet Goods No:3205 stands next to No:43106 in Bridgenorth yard, recreating scenes from the 1970s when 3205 was a resident on the line.)
When we attended this event on the 25th September we started our journey at Bewdley, catching the 7:30am service from Bewdley. At least on this train there was room to sit down!
An item which proved invaluable during our visit was the Working Timetable, which was available from the Railway's shops on the day or could be ordered in advance along with your rover tickets. We chose to order ours in advance which gave us plenty of time to plan out what we were going to do. It also gave us some 'insider' knowledge about which locomotives whould we hauling which trains. This was useful because it meant we were able to see all of the engines running. Although £5 may seem like a lot of money just for a paper timetable for us it was absolutely indispensible
As normal with the SVR Autumn Gala there was lots to see and do at all of the stations; at Bewdley there were a varity of stalls and lots of opportunies to photograph the locos. At Arley there were also some second hand bookshops and stalls, but the period GWR style station is worth a look. Highley, of course, has the Engine House but at the gala there was also a small model railway. Hampton Loade, we stopped by to soak up the GWR period atmoshere and at Bridgenorth the workshops were open to the public, as with previous years. However this time there was the opportunity to see the newly installed wheeldrop in action.(LEFT: No:34070 'Manston' catches the setting sun at Sandy Lane, near Foley Park Tunnel.)
The gala saw only the second visit of a Bulleid 'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2 to the railway in the form of No;34070 'Manston', visiting from the Swanage Railway. No:34070 brought some Southern flavor to the Midlands, compared to the more normal LMS and GWR types. But, 2010 being the 40th anniversary of the Severn Valley Railway it was interesting to see SVR stalwart 0-6-0 No:3205 return to Valley metals. No:3205 hauled the re-opening train from Bridgenorth in 1970. Another 'old hand' making a welcome return to the SVR was No:5690 'Leander' which matched very well with the railway's LMS rake of carriages. One final suprise visitor was GWR small praire No:5542 which spent much of Saturday morning on the goods train. Although not being a stalwart like Nos: 3205 or 5690 it was still nice to see 5542.
Thoughout the day there were a huge varity of train movements and on the Saturday Manor locomotives No:7802 and 7812 double headed from Bewdley to Kidderminster and return. One thing which the SVR should be congratulated on is the highly authentic coaching stock which the locomotives were matched to. For example No:5690 'Leander' was paired with the LMS rake throughout the day. The two matched very well. Something which made a nice interlude to the frequent passenger trains was the Great Western goods train which on Saturday was mostly hauled by No:5542 although No:7802 'Bradley Manor' did haul it for one turn. It was interesting to see the shunting of the goods train at Arley which the public would not normally have the chance to see.
Overall then another superb event from the Severn Valley, all train on Saturday ran to timetable. Thanks to everyone involved.
Full List of Locomotives in steam on September 25th 2010:
Home engines:
- Ex BR Ivatt mogul No:43106 aka 'Flying Pig'
Ex BR Ivatt mogul No:46443
GWR small praire No:4566
GWR large praire No:5164
GWR pannier tank No:5764
Ex BR No:7802 'Bradley Manor'
Ex BR No:7812 'Erlestoke Manor'
Visitors:
Ex BR 0-6-0 'Collett Goods' No:3205
Ex BR 4-6-2 Bulleid 'Battle of Britain' class No:34070 'Manston'
LMS 4-6-0 Jubliee class No:5690 'Leander'
GWR small praire No:5542
GWR City Class No:3717 'City of Truro'
Verdict:
As normal from the SVR; a fantastic, action packed event.
Want more from this event? Follow the links below:
Photos - 38 high quality photos. Captions to be added in the morning.
Videos - The gala in 90 seconds or 10 mins of highlights.