Severn Valley delights with Autumn Steam Gala
THE Severn Valley Railway says its September 16-19 Autumn Steam Gala, which featured two visiting locos, attracted ‘thousands of enthusiasts’.
Despite some loco failures, including GWR ‘Hall’ No. 4953 Pitchford Hall on the final day of the event, quick thinking and a rapid re-organisation of diagrams saved the day, and services were able to go ahead with minimal disruption.
“It really is very satisfying that the SVR has pulled off this gala so well,” said Brian Malyon, chairman of the Steam Gala Committee.
“Considering how recently Covid-19 restrictions have been eased, and the fact that we only reintroduced ‘hop on, hop off’ services on September 7,
I think we’ve done this very successfully.
“We saw a full timetable of services, which included a number of goods trains between Kidderminster and Bewdley, as well as overnight running on both the Friday and Saturday. Once again, the SVR has risen to the occasion, and it is testament to our volunteers, who over the course of the four-day event, have put in around 600 shifts between them, carrying out roles from footplate crew to station staff and everything in between.”
Line-up
The gala home fleet included Nos. 813, 1501, 7714, 2857, 75069 and 34027 Taw Valley. The two visiting locos comprised WR 0-6-0PT No. 9466, which is owned by JJP Holdings and is based at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway – and Epping Ongar Railway-based GWR 4-6-0 No. 4953 Pitchford Hall. The ‘Hall’ was a late change to the line-up following the unexpected withdrawal of LMS Pacific No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland. The ‘Princess Coronation’ 4-6-2 had been undergoing extensive repairs and maintenance at its West Shed home. However, quite late in the work schedule, a problem was identified with the driving-wheel axle boxes. Some of the metal bearing surface had cracked and become loose, necessitating replacement. Unfortunately, it was not possible to complete this in time for the SVR gala.