SVR Spring Steam Gala 16-19 April 2026

D8568 covering at the moment I understand.

 

8568 just gone over Falling Sands Viaduct heading to Bewdley


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DMU in use tomorrow to cover.

 

All about 25min late at the moment.

 

Due to a failure of Locomotive 1450 the following amendments will apply for the remainder of the gala.

Saturday 18th April

• The 1715 Bewdley to Highley service will be CANCELLED.

• The 1830 Highley to Kidderminster service will be CANCELLED.

• The 1915 service from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth will be hauled by 7714 ONLY.

• Class 17 D8568 will haul the 1435 Kidderminster to Highley, and 1608 Highley to Bewdley service.


Sunday 19th April

• Locomotive 1450 WILL NOT RUN

• The Class 108 DMU will cover all of 1450's workings from 0800 to 1535.

• The 1630 Kidderminster to Bewdley service will be worked by 7714 ONLY

• The 1705 Bewdley to Bridgnorth service will be worked by 813 and 7714.

• All other working will run as booked.

 

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Today on the Valley

 

Managed over 40 miles behind the Duke today, beautifully handled by the SVR crews - plenty of noise and enthusiasm! Its been a very long time since I last saw it in steam and I can't remember riding behind it before.
The trains were VERY well loaded, so having found a comfy seat behind 71000 I decided to stay put and maximise mileage. It makes a very unusual and surprisingly loud sound - very good on the ears!! Beautiful acceleration and obviously way more power than necessary for the Valley - but great fun anyway.
Earlier in the morning I got a lovely run behind 4930 (1st runs this year? ) and 7714 / 813, plus a short run behind 7802. Also had a turn behind the super sub Clayton diesel (also rare mileage, so no complaints from me - but a shame about 1450).
I did grab a run behind the Pug, possibly my slowest ever run between Kidderminster and Bewdley and I am glad I hadn't eaten beforehand (!) - I won't be in a rush for a repeat!
Overall a very enjoyable day only marred by delays caused by the failure and heavy rain this afternoon - nothing the SVR could do about either!
Hope its been a successful weekend, another top drawer event - thanks to everyone involved.

 

Again overheard, but seemingly from someone in the know..(!)* She's shed a spring hanger bolt and requires a visit to the wheel drop to rectify properly. Hence sadly withdrawn from the event.

*if this is complete rubbish feel free to correct...there were a number of very 'knowledgeable' people about today!!

 

Yes, indeed a very good day at the Severn Valley today. I managed the equivalent of a round trip behind The Duke and very good it was too. It's a superb bit of kit and I really must do a mainline trip with it before long. Also got some mileage behind 7802 and my personal favourite 4930. I didn't see much of the "Pug & Judy" show as they're not really my thing but I'm sure many will have enjoyed the rare opportunity to travel behind them.
The timetable seemed to be behind by about 20 minutes from about 1200 presumably because of the failure of 1450. Happy to say that while time wasn't being made up, the timetable didn't slip any more. Sometimes at galas you get some slippage and then it gets worse and worse, but not this time.

Well done to everyone at the Severn Valley for putting on an excellent show with a great amount of variety. I didn't manage to photograph all the locos but here are the ones that I did:

 

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Said spring hanger visibly AWOL from where she was (is?) sat in the bay at Kidderminster during the afternoon.

Was a bit puzzled when the Hall (which was supposed to be our next loco ex Kidderminster) crossed with us at Bewdley, but no complaints about having the Clayton instead!

 

Well we went from 69 late at one point today to bang on time with the last arrival of the day! A huge thankyou to everyone who’s attended the SVR gala so far, and thankyou for putting up with some issues today. We really tried to make things go as smoothly as possible and a lot of effort went in to pulling things back.

I know we got some stick for making the Manor’s train this evening late to ensure others made time back, but on a railway like the SVR if we sacrifice one working to delays, others usually recover.

Last day tomorrow and we hope for a very good day.

 

Morning All,

Just a reminder for today’s Spring Steam Gala.

Due to the failure of 1450 the following applies -

- The Class 108 DMU will work all of 1450’s diagram between 0800-1535.

- The 1630 ex Kidderminster will be formed of 7714 only, and the 1705 ex Bewdley will be formed of 813 and 7714.

As per earlier in the week, due to coupling issues between the Pug and larger locomotives the 0850 ex Bewdley will be doubleheaded by Judy and Duke of Gloucester (with the Pug on the tail end).

 

Cracking day at the gala yesterday. Something and everything to see at times. A good mixture of local trains, through trains & everything in between. A personal highlight was the Judy & Pug shuttle.

 

The 0850 left Bewdley 54 minutes late.

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The Hall took 1450's turns and the Clayton covered the Hall. Guess it enabled time to prepare the Clayton for use.

 

I was unimpressed by the Clayton. Externally it was tatty and the engine was in serious need of a thorough overhaul. Sitting an immaculate Churchward carriage but with the vibration of the diesel and it's truly horrendous smell, the smell that only a badly maintained diesel (or a neglected one) can produce, was a difficult experience to say the least