SVR Autumn Gala 17-20th September

My thoughts from the visit on Saturday :

1). The positioning of the locos in relation to train running - perhaps of little value to passengers - discouraged many photographers from staying too long and spending money. Many for example left the SVR after 46100 had worked its southbound trip on Saturday afternoon.

2.) The lack of either a shuttle service / goods train between the hourly services north of Bewdley. Because most activity was between Bewdley and Kidderminster it was not surprising that most of the public went there. A shuttle service from Bewdley to Arley / Highley or a shuttle service from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade / Highley might have encouraged a re-distribution to those centres and eased the crowding at Bewdley and Kidderminster.

3). Given the photographic opportunities from the footbridge between the station and the locomotive yard at Kidderminster, could the SVR look to provide a direct easy access from its car park ?

Otrherwise a reasonably good day with further book purchases made at Bewdley in support of the organisations there with good weather providing a reasonable day out.

 

As usual, a great show put on by the SVR. Helped by the weather Gods, barring one brief downpour on Friday afternoon the weather was just about perfect both Friday and Saturday.

One thing which may not have occurred but would be an improvement, put a "home" engine on the first train of the day. A lot of people want to travel behind the guest engines, and a lot of people just want to use the train to get somewhere, so might as well keep them apart first up. The GWR set behind Britannia off Kidderminster on Friday morning was crammed.

Some photos and my video of the events of the weekend now follow;






More photos at https://railwaygalleries.smugmug.com/Severn-Valley-Railway/Autumn-Steam-Gala-2015/

 

Small thought on this - I often nip up to that footbridge for some shots of the diesels in the yard when at the SVR and I've always surprised myself with how quick a walk the path is around the back, it's an easy quick nip up and back in a few minutes. It's also a relatively narrow bridge that residents use to go about their normal lives, and can get crowded enough on gala days as it is (that was my experience at the autumn diesel gala last year anyway, conversely when I went there for a few shots in abysmal weather at the 2013 spring steam gala there were only two of us braving it and we were no obstacle at all for Kidderminster folk), so the current arrangement where getting to it is a very slight additional hassle probably works quite well enough as it is.

 

Surely the problems of galas and severe overcrowding is nothing new but does raise significant potential safety issues and may harm a railway's relationships with its neighbors through trespass and parking issues. The over crowding may also have a negative impact on future attendance. The timetable planner will also have a thankless task factoring in longer station stops to cope with the crowds. Any transport planner will point to the costs of coping with peaks and the way services inevitably slow at the busiest times.

Most businesses faced with such exceptional demand would raise prices, add a premium for specific services or restrict multi-ride tickets to try and balance capacity to demand. We are all used to such approaches by other travel and leisure providers but they make it hard for ticket inspectors and gating and oyster cards don't suit a heritage line!

An alternative might be simply to abandon the big galas and have a "visitor of the month" approach giving people greater opportunity to travel or photograph without the conflicts which arise when particular "targets" make very few trips. It would be interesting to know the relative costs and benefits of different approaches and perhaps somebody with knowledge of the commercial aspects could comment.

 

hello
had great day yesterday thanks to everyone involved who put it together
some photos at www.stevebottrill.zenfolio.com
kind regards

 

Whilst I agree with the main points in your post, a gala should not be planned around photographers. The primary source of income comes from those who buy tickets - there is obviously some crossover in that demographic, but the main focus should be on providing a suitable day out for the anticipated number of passengers as opposed to ensuring the orange brigade are satisfied.

Once again, the volunteers at the SVR have stumped together to put on a great show. However, the timetable compared to more recent years was poor in comparison. I haven't read the remainder of this thread, but noticed the lack of set N yesterday (LNER set) - if this set was unavailable, this most likely contributed to the reduced service, which felt like an eternity between Hampton Loade and Arley. Consequently, unless you visited the engine house at Highley, there wasn't a great deal to keep you entertained. Why a good service couldn't have been run in a path normally occupied by a local is not very clear, but at least it would have given a feel that you were on a GWR backwater branch line.

The last time 46100 was facing forward on a train was 14:43, and when put on shed at Bridgnorth (circa 18:00) was positioned out of the way so it was difficult to see in full view. Whether there was a photo charter coming up/recently may have had some factor in this, but it was disappointing that a star guest was planned to run in this way. The same was true of last years gala, where pretty much everything was either running tender first or had been put away after 2pm. The back-end of a Stanier tender might appeal to some, but i'd prefer to see it running smokebox first. There was a similar story for both Bulleid pacifics - only 46521 was running smokebox first later on in the day, looking great with 4566.

You could argue that in recent years we've had it a bit too good - coaching stock has been readily available, and there has been a nice mix of branchline and mainline as and where volunteer manpower allows. Unfortunately, this year the SVR felt more like a diversionary route from a mainline as opposed to its actual purpose as a branchline, and it is a shame that this happened to be the 50th. It is a shame that the atmosphere created at the 40th could not be replicated here - that gala, the planners got it spot on. No passenger loco was larger than a Hall, and a wealth of smaller locos led to a slick, well organised timetable with a bit of everything thrown in. Hopefully next year, we see something similar that distributes the gala atmosphere across the whole of the SVR.

 

To which I fully agree BUT the photographers are part of the publicity IMHO and if they are discouraged then their negativity can influence potential future visitors. I accept that it's a fine balance especially when diesels (most with cabs at each end) and their gala timetables are used for comparison. Nonetheless I feel that timetables need to minimise bunker / tender first operation during the daytime as far as possible. Remember also that not all photographers are members of the "orange brigade" but many come to various public lineside locations and are equally part of the publicity potential.

 

Full coverage of 2015 Autumn Steam Gala, available below !

 

46521 and 4566 put in the best performances for me but 46100 is a stunner.

 

I understand why people want smokebox first locos but given they run up and down the line unless you turn them at the end of every trip you are inevitably going to end up with half the runs being tender first

 

All fair points, so I'll answer them as best I can:

1) Oh, I certainly expect crowding on a gala Saturday, especially when it's sunny; like you, I'd be a bit concerned if there were empty seats everywhere! I'm perfectly prepared to stand sometimes, and the experience can be quite fun since it's a good way of striking up conversations, but there's a point at which "nicely crowded" tips over into overcrowded and I think this Saturday reached that point several times. Of course I can only report on my own experience, but it sometimes felt more packed even than when Tornado visited for ASG 2011.

2) Yes indeed -- but I don't think the timetable necessarily helped there, either. 70000's turn on the goods on Friday meant restricted chances to ride behind it, and on Saturday it and 46100 both had their first runs skewed so early that people travelling in for the day probably wouldn't have made it in time. The ideal would have been allowing each visiting loco one more run each way, but naturally I accept that owners' wishes must be respected. But perhaps having a different loco haul the train between the two big visitors ex Kidderminster in the morning (maybe one of the Bulleids to keep the "big engine" feel) might have helped stagger things a little?

3) I agree that simplifying things a bit was a good idea -- and in any case, running lots of locals probably fits a Spring Gala better -- but perhaps this went a little far in the other direction, since those just going a stop or two had to use the same trains as those who wanted to travel the full length of the line. As 46118 says, would it perhaps have been possible to have run the autotrain with two coaches for a bit more of the day? That might have relieved pressure at the south end a little bit.

I will stress again that I enjoyed the gala, and I certainly recognise that those who devise gala timetables are never going to please everyone. I have great respect for anyone who accepts what can be a bit of a poisoned chalice. Also, the friend I mentioned had a good time and was very taken with the views he was able to get from Highley, both from the Engine House balcony and at ground level. Despite the crowding, then, the SVR seems to have made a good impression on at least one first-time visitor, and that can't be bad!

 

Just home,had a good time,the highlights being 'Royal Scot' , both appearance and performance, and a couple of trips on the auto train -first time on one of them since the Gobowen -Oswestry in the 1960s.

Timetable not to my liking. I preferred the locals running to Arley and stabling at Highley as this offers more shunting and watering photing opportunities,plus a goods train earlier in the day. Can't complain though as most other railways don't offer as much to fill a day unless you just ride up and down.

 

I would agree that the stretch from Arley to Hampton Loade felt much less part of the action this year. This was my first trip to a gala on a Sunday and found it much more relaxing - getting a seat wasn't a problem on any train and had good runs with 70000 and 46100, as well as a nice trip with the auto train. Trains ran generally to time and the only issue I encountered was Taw Valley struggling to get away from Arley (we had to go backwards before easing off).

 

I want to add my thanks to the organisers - I got to Kiddy around 8.20 on Friday and the place was already busy! Like someone said above some people go chasing locos, well I'm one too and I was after Taw Valley and Royal Scot. I copped Taw Valley on my first ride out of Kiddy and caught up with Royal Scot a bit later at Hampton Loade, before the return to Kiddy behind Royal Scot. All very satisfactory but for me the highlight was riding from Bewdley to Hampton Loade behind 2857 - small wheels make for lots of chimney chatter and she certainly sounded good.

Like another poster above I wish I'd had chance to see a freight but I had to leave at 4pm to get home - oh well.

Another very fine Gala from the SVR, thank you.

 

I would like to add my thanks to everyone at the SVR from the drivers to the MPD and the refreshment staff who have ensured most of us were nicely lubricated throughout the weekend

 

My coverage from the Friday and Saturday.

 

A couple of shots from yesterday. Regards, Steve.

 

This gala will be judged on attendance, not it's lack of local trains ! When the magazines do there reports next month, I'm sure they will reporting it as major success !

 

I do agree the major means of judging success is how many people attend and the majority are looking for larger on rare visitors such as 828.
I do think the event got it right in the most part as there are a lot of people who don't want to spend all day changing trains and the crowding is not as bad as years before as I guess there was more capacity maybe in fewer trains.
I am assuming next year will be the same with the visitor announced and the smaller loco as always has beeb the tradition at the march gala.