SEVERN VALLEY - TEN YEARS ON
Keeping the SVR’s place as one of Britain’s premier preserved railways
How do we develop without selling our soul to the devil; that being new additions to the railway that might compromise the historical integrity of this beautiful line?” That’s the question posed by the Severn Valley Railway’s General Manager, Nick Ralls. Right now, the railway stands on the brink of the most important development in its history, ten years after the line was almost wiped out by devastating storms. After the Severn Valley Railway Society was formed in 1965, the base of operations for the nascent SVR was Bridgnorth. From there, it gradually extended south until, in 1984, it reconnected with Kidderminster, creating a 16½ mile railway that’s been integral to Britain’s preservation scene for 50 years. It’s ironic, though, that while the southern end of the line has been extensively developed - in particular Kidderminster with the new-build terminus building, museum, carriage & wagon works and diesel depot - the northern end of the line has been neglected. Now the railway is returning to its roots, with an ambitious and long-awaited £5 million project that will transform the SVR’s northern terminus from a station into a destination in its own right, and the ideal platform from which the SVR can grow.
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS AHEAD
It’s easy to take the Severn Valley Railway for granted. Having achieved so much and reached maturity so early on, it feels like a permanent fixture in the fabric of preservation. But ten years ago, there was no Severn Valley Railway. On the night of June 19 2007, and again on July 20, some of the worst storms in living memory devastated the SVR, bringing the railway to its knees and perilously close to closure. It took nine months and £3.7 million to get the railway fully back up and running again. It’s true that you don’t know what you’ve got until it has gone, but the dark and rain-laden cloud that almost destroyed the railway bore a silver lining. In the decade since the storms, the SVR has been consolidating its business, trackbed and rolling stock. It has taken a long hard look at what it is, what it does and what it wants to be, and how to achieve that. It’s now in a position where it’s thinking about how to secure its future and develop in a way that doesn’t detract from the railway’s marvellous history The key to that future is Bridgnorth. Not only is it the place where new-build BR Standard ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No. 82045 is rapidly coming together (see page 82), it’s also the subject of a development programme in which the station will expand in both size and scope while maintaining its own and the surrounding area’s history and natural beauty. David Postle is the curator of the Kidderminster Railway Museum. He’s also the Bridgnorth Project team leader and chairman of the SVR’s Conservation & Heritage Committee. He says: “The infrastructure over the years took a back seat to locomotives and coaches. We realised about four years ago that a more organised approach was necessary to care for our heritage, which is why the Conservation & Heritage Committee was formed. What we want [to create] is a time warp, with everything you see here from the steam era. Kidderminster is late 20s/early 30s while Bridgnorth is 40s/50s so we emulate both the GWR and BR eras.” Back in September 2016, when Shropshire County Council granted the SVR planning permission for the estimated £5 million Bridgnorth development project, Nick Ralls described it as “the most significant development in the railway’s 51-year history.” When Bridgnorth and the Severn Valley line originally opened in 1862, both station and railway were built to convey coal, quarry and agricultural traffic - not the circa 250,000 passengers that travel annually on the preserved SVR. Situated between two Scheduled Ancient Monuments - Bridgnorth Castle and Pan Pudding Hill - the SVR northern terminus has always proved problematic in the development stakes. Ironically, it is for this very reason that the final product will be a far cry from the much-maligned plans mooted in 2012 to develop the station (which included a transparent footbridge of all things!), as the current development not only had to satisfy the railway and the local authority’s planning officer, but also Historic England. Rest assured, therefore, that far from detracting from the area’s heritage, the final development will actually enhance it, reverting the station to its Edwardian state with unobstructed views of the station, and the former Roundhead outpost of Pan Pudding Hill, from Bridgnorth Castle. The three-phase scheme will not only involve
revamped and restored station facilities, but also the installation of a turntable (allowing locomotives to be turned at Bridgnorth for the first time in the railway’s history), as well as the provision of improved car parking and a volunteer accommodation block. Phases One and Two of the project will be funded by a £2.5 million share offer launched on November 1 last year and, thanks to the £1.5 million raised so far, as well as the £800,000 from the 2012 share issue, Phase One is well under way. This involves the construction of a single-storey GWR-style refreshment room and toilet block on the platform adjacent to the existing Grade IIlisted neo-Jacobean station building, which will be restored to its former glory. The original booking hall and waiting room will be reinstated, and the Railwayman’s Arms pub will be extended. The railway is going to extensive lengths to ensure the building work looks and feels authentic, and that it shouldn’t attract the same ire that was directed towards the Engine House at Highley, the appearance of which was decreed by some enthusiasts to be wildly at odds with that station’s idyllic surroundings. David says: “If it had been done today, the design of the Engine House would have been different because the Conservation & Heritage Committee would have been involved.” The third phase of the project - the erection of the volunteer and administration block - will follow in the same vein as Phase One, as the building will be based on the GWR staff accommodation block at Didcot, which opened in 1944. It will also mean that the siding, currently occupied by the coaches used for volunteer accommodation, can be reinstated fully for operational purposes.
DOING THE JOB PROPERLY
All this represents the railway’s mantra of “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly”. The SVR may be at the top of the preservation tree, but knows it cannot afford to stand still, so is ploughing considerable investment into its infrastructure. Nick sums up: “It’s about trying to conserve and be the best model you can. So, you need to define what you are and what’s special about our railway. It’s showing the same reverence to our buildings and infrastructure as our locomotives and rolling stock.” The railway has recently spent £1 million repairing a slip near the Worcestershire/Shropshire county boundary, using the contractors that stabilised an embankment near Broadway on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s northern extension.
THE CLOUD THAT ALMOST DESTROYED THE SVR HAD A SILVER LINING.
The SVR is bidding for a further £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for much-needed repairs to Falling Sands Viaduct. Water from the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal has seeped into the seven-arch structure, causing the brickwork to crack and the mortar to crumble. A 20mph speed limit is already in place over the viaduct, and there are fears that any exacerbation of the bridge’s problems could result in its closure, which would be a significant blow for the railway. A spokesman for the SVR Charitable Trust - the body bidding for the HLF funding - said: “Forced closure of the viaduct would cut off Kidderminster from the rest of the line. To lose this essential operational hub, housing our historic fleet of carriages, the diesel depot, main line connection and the point of departure for 80% of our visitors, would compromise the entire future of the SVR. It would be simply unthinkable.” The railway is putting serious thought towards its future, while paying due reverence to its past. Nick says: “Those early days of preservation were all about rescuing steam and in the years since it’s been easy to lose sight of that and what preservation is all about. There’s a danger of making a compromise too far; it’s not written in stone anywhere.” One thing that will be written in stone, symbolically at least, will be a firm overhaul programme for every locomotive on the railway. All but three of the railway’s locomotives - ‘Hall’ No. 4930 Hagley Hall, ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 and WD 2-10-0 No. 600 Gordon - are owned privately, so an overhaul plan will be a godsend to the multitude of owners, not to mention the enthusiasts looking forward to welcoming their favourite locomotives back on the line. At the moment, the overhaul team at Bridgnorth is focused on finishing BR Standard ‘4MT’ No. 75069 which, all being well, should be back in steam by the end of the year. After the Riddles 4-6-0 is back in traffic, attention will turn to the unique surviving Stanier ‘Mogul’ No. 42968. The overhaul queue will also include every locomotive currently stored in the Engine House. Some enthusiasts have unkindly described the Engine House as a locomotive graveyard, where out-of-ticket engines are dumped unlikely to ever run again. David refutes that sentiment: “It is not a dumping ground, it’s simply a place to rest those engines, under cover so that their condition does not deteriorate by leaving them outside in all weathers, resulting in more work and expense when they are eventually restored. In addition, our visitors can appreciate seeing them safely and at close quarters while they await their turn in the overhaul programme.” To date, only one locomotive has left the Engine House for overhaul - No. 4930 Hagley Hall. Thanks to the support of the Friends of Locomotive 4930 Hagley Hall, it’s hoped the Collett 4-6-0 could return to steam in three years’ time for the 2020 season. But what could follow the ‘Hall’ out of the Engine House? A possible contender is ‘43XX’ 2-6-0 No. 7325 which, says David, “is ideally suited for most traffic requirements on our line.” Another candidate is ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ veteran ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 as, thanks to the extent of the 4-6-0’s last overhaul, the locomotive’s next ‘heavy general’ should be relatively cheap. The ‘Black Five’s’ Stanier cousin, ‘8F’ No. 48773, is a longerterm prospect, as it is understood to need major mechanical and
boiler work, and is believed to have the highest mileage of any locomotive in the SVR fleet. BR Standard ‘4MT’ No. 80079 would be another expensive overhaul but, like all the locomotives in the Engine House, is on the SVR’s radar for eventual return to traffic. One locomotive guaranteed to interest enthusiasts when it returns to steam is ex-Longmoor Military Railway WD No. 600 Gordon. Once the unofficial flagship of the SVR, the blue and red 2-10-0 will return to the Kidderminster-Bridgnorth route for the first time since 1999, although quite when that will be won’t be decided until the overhaul plan is formally signed off. It’s all about managing the available resources and, as David says: “The is the first time we have initiated a programme of overhaul, prepared by the SVR and owners working in partnership to define a sustainable programme which will ensure that the traffic requirements of the railway can be met from the existing fleet. Owners will know exactly when their locomotives are scheduled to be done. The last thing you want is to have too many engines with not enough work to do, but you also don’t want too few locomotives to cover all our requirements which extend beyond just the scheduled timetabled services.” Even the tiny Hunslet 0-6-0T The Lady Armaghdale will return. David says: “It’s not a sufficiently powerful engine for most SVR requirements, but it would be very attractive on the hire circuit. Some of the smaller railways would love her.” There’s even the intention to eventually be in a position to hire out more locomotives, most likely the Class 2 and 3 engines that are too small for the SVR’s peak summer services, to add to the income stream.
FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE
The overhaul programme is just part of the railway’s plans for securing its future. Nick says: “The SVR’s become more professional. We’re doing more planning and are more focused on what we are and what we need to do.” On that to-do list is a ‘red, amber and green’ strategic plan of rail replacement, and a new roof for the carriage and wagon works at Kidderminster. All this, plus any unexpected costs such as the embankment repair work at the county boundary, doesn’t come cheap. To alleviate any future funding worries, the SVR Charitable Trust has launched an endowment Future Fund. There’s already £1 million in the bank since the fund was started in July 2014, but the ultimate aim is to raise £10 million. The trust’s media officer, Lesley Carr, says: “We have extremely impressive visitor numbers, but what might not be appreciated by everyone is that the income from ticket sales and our retail outlets only covers the day-to-day costs of running the services. “Restoring rolling stock and infrastructure is very costly, and has to be repeated - every ten years for a locomotive, perhaps every 25 years for a coach. By having an income-producing fund in place, the railway will be able to plan even more effectively.” The cost of restoration works are problem every railway is facing, and there’s a danger of pricing yourself out of the market without such fundraising schemes in place. Nick says: “The fare box alone will not pay for everything you want to do, but if you raised ticket prices then suddenly the cost of a family ticket isn’t £50, it’s £150.”
WEIGHING UP OPTIONS
While the next few years will focus on building the Bridgnorth development and consolidating its resources, the Severn Valley Railway is weighing up all its options for the future, including extensions. Bewdley might once again become a junction station, if the railway reinstates the Stourport branch which once joined the Severn Valley line with the route to Worcester. Nick says: “We might potentially be laying track down on the Stourport branch at some point up to the tunnel. We could use it
WE WANT TO CREATE A TIME WARP, WITH EVERYTHING YOU SEE HERE FROM THE STEAM ERA.
for locomotive driver experience courses, or for filming contracts, without having to close the line to our regular traffic.” As interesting as the prospect of restoring the Stourport branch, or part thereof is, the potential extension most enthusiasts are interested in is the possibility of returning to Ironbridge. “For the SVR today, 16½ miles is enough,” says Nick with a wry smile. “You’ve always got to keep an open mind but it’s not in our current strategic plan. “Putting the track down is the easy bit, but it’s the ongoing maintenance that’s the real trouble. As with all of these projects, it’s the dreamer in you that wants to re-lay sections of track, but you have to ask what’s the honeypot?” Ironbridge, eight and a half miles north of Bridgnorth, with its famous crossing over the River Severn and being the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, is already a great tourist attraction in its own right, and surely being able to go there by steam is just a further benefit? Nick thinks not. Practically speaking, at the current line speed it’d take 1½ hours to get from Kidderminster to Ironbridge, so with a round trip that’s three hours of the day taken up travelling just on the railway, notwithstanding the time taken to travel to the railway, or the time spent at Ironbridge itself. It’s a nice idea, and not beyond the realms of possibility, but for now at least it seems any prospect of connecting with the Telford Steam Railway is just a pipe dream.
CREATING THE RIGHT BALANCE
For any big railway hoping to maintain its prestige status, there has to be a fine balance between hard-headed commercialism and warm-hearted preservation. Back in 2016, enthusiasts bemoaned the fact the SVR replaced the traditional Autumn Steam Gala with a ‘Pacific Power’ event, hosting the first meeting of legendary ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman and new-build ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado. Commercially it was a big success story for the railway - 15,000 people bought tickets to ride behind the LNER ‘Pacific’ pair, while a further 30,000 people took to the lineside to witness this awesome spectacle. The downside was the physical toll that the gala took on the railway’s volunteers, and with that experience in mind it’s unlikely such a blockbuster event will be replicated on the SVR any time soon. In fact, to counter any arguments that the SVR had turned its back on the enthusiast, the much-awaited and eagerly anticipated autumn gala is back. Nick says: “After some consternation last year that it had gone for good, it’s now back in its rightful place. More and more enthusiasts are coming to our galas and I think that’s because of the variety of locomotives, the theme and the overnight running, which again is back this year.” The eclectic line up - Maunsell ‘Schools’ No. 926 Repton, Worsdell ‘Y14’ 0-6-0 No. 564, SECR ‘P’ 0-6-0T No. 323 ‘Bluebell’ and Ffestiniog Railway ‘Small England’ 0-4-0STT No. 2 Prince - is a world away from headlinegrabbing ‘big engines’. Next year promises to be a good one in the gala stakes too, with no less than four galas being held during the course of the 2018 season (see News). All of this is not to say, however, that the SVR is neglecting its core family market, but neither is it “selling its soul to the devil” for the sake of a few extra bums on seats. After all, while the majority of revenue from fares will come from families, those digging into their pockets for overhauls, embankment repairs and, yes, projects like the Bridgnorth development, are almost exclusively enthusiasts.
It’s this eclectic approach that has made the Severn Valley Railway a preservation stalwart for all these years, and will no doubt ensure its continued success for decades to come.