Pendennis Castle steals the show at gala
PENDENNIS CASTLE was the undisputed star of the Severn Valley Railway’s Spring Steam Gala on April 14-16.
The Didcot Railway Centre-based ‘Castle’ made its first ever appearance at a preserved railway during its visit to the SVR, having previously run exclusively on the main line before it departed for Australia in 1977, and on Didcot’s demonstration line since its return to steam in February 2022. The 1924-built Collett 4-6-0 also recreated several famous named trains – including the ‘Birkenhead Flyer’ and the ‘Zulu’ – with a series of non-stop runs over the Kidderminster-Bridgnorth line on April 13, and regular service trains on April 22/23.
Although the weather was mixed during the gala, over 5,000 people attended across the three days, with the railway exceeding its budget for paying passengers by 18%. Although passenger figures were down from the record 7,500 or so who attended the 2022 event (SR532), figures for this year’s gala still exceeded those for the line’s 2017 and 2018 SSGs.
The other guest locomotives for this year’s gala were BR ‘2MT’ 2-6-0 No. 78018 from the Great Central Railway, and Churchward ‘Small Prairie’ No. 4555 from the East Somerset Railway, courtesy of its owners the Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company. No. 4555 was withdrawn during the afternoon of the final day of the gala with a defective piston gland and warm little end, but only one local service was cancelled as a result.
The appearances of both Nos. 4079 and 4555 enhanced the gala’s Great Western theme, supported by SVR-based ‘Hall’ No. 4930 Hagley Hall, ‘Manor’ No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor, and ‘57XX’ No. 7714 all being in action. The line-up was completed by SVR resident ‘West Country’ No. 21C127 Taw Valley making its gala debut following its repaint into Southern Railway wartime black, and Ivatt ‘Flying Pig’ No. 43106.
SVR managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster said: “The SVR is famous for the quality of its enthusiast events, and our first gala this year showed exactly why. It has been a triumph of planning, passion, and sheer hard work. The intensive timetable ran late into the evenings on both the Friday and Saturday, and we had a truly enviable selection of operational locomotives, both as special guests and from our home fleet. Our volunteers and paid staff can be extremely proud of what we’ve achieved.”
However, interim chairman Chris Walton sounded a note of caution: “As we celebrate the success of the Spring Steam Gala, it’s important we continue to acknowledge the significant challenges that the railway faces in the coming year. We need to see sustained success on both regular running days, and non-enthusiast special events.”