Stars of steam head for Severn Valley
THE Severn Valley Railway has announced the first guest locomotive for this year’s Autumn Steam Gala will be LMS Stanier Class 5, 45231 Sherwood Forester.
The Black Five will be making its debut at the SVR at the Gala which runs September 15-18. It has never hauled passenger services on the railway before, although it has visited hauling a chartered service.
Alongside Sherwood Forester, the SVR’S flagship locomotive, 4930 Hagley Hall will make its return to the loco roster, as it re-enters traffic for the first time in 36 years following a £1.3 million overhaul.
Other home fleet locos will include GWR 7714, LMS 43106 and BR Riddles 75069. Two Svr-based locos will be making their final Gala appearances before their boiler tickets expire – GWR 2857 and BR(W) 1501 – and the SVR’S now-famous purple locomotive SR 70 Elizabeth II will also join the line-up.
Two more guest locomotives will be announced in due course.
Michael Dunn, head of commercial and visitor experience, said: “Following a bumper Spring Steam Gala with more than 5,000 visitors, we wanted to ensure our Autumn event will be just as popular with enthusiasts.
“This first guest is a statement of intent from our team that SVR Galas really are unmissable. And, we’ve got a few more surprises up our sleeve, which we’ll reveal as soon as we can!”
Tickets for the SVR’S Autumn Steam Gala are on sale now at www.svr.co.uk