SVR Autumn Steam Gala 16th-19th September

While I enjoyed the excursion method for the SVR Spring gala, it was nice just to get out and have a Steam fix,I will be looking to attend gala's where you can change trains. The two that I have attended so far, Midhants SpringGala and Bluebell 60+1 worked well with reduced numbers, and I was always able to get a seat.

 

See message below.

 

Exactly. It's very reasonably priced too for a major gala at just £25 for a reserved table for one (& roughly pro-rata for more) for up to 3 return trips.
With the opportunity to break the journey at Highley, book a breakfast, a lunch, or meal boxes to eat where you like.
I look forward to my first standard gauge preserved train trip since February last year.

 

I guess this is where the different "wants" of passengers come into play. For people such as yourself who are (seemingly) there for the haulage / mileage, then the excursion setup works really well. However for people such as myself (and others up thread) who are more about photo / video and wanting to vary that up then it's a bit of a non-starter and makes galas unappealing.

 

I've just posted up the link on the SVR general discussion thread to August's Branch Lines from the Severn Valley Railway https://www.svrlive.com/blaug21

It has notes from the GM about local trains, an item on the gala and the MPD notes touch on difficulties Covid has been causing. Comments in there resonate with discussions in here, people are moving at different speeds, the SVR's looked in detail about mixing 'hop on hop off' and excursion services and found it's not feasible, and different railways have different complexities and are finding different solutions.

{Personal note} I don't think there's a right answer and I can understand why the SVR has taken the decisions it has, but opinion's divided and it won't please many. I'm just grateful they have to make these decisions and I can enjoy my hobby in peace.

Patrick

 

Nobody can still confidently predict the future and anybody that thinks they know what conditions will be like at the end of September is lying. At least the SVR are promising an event they know they have a pretty good chance of delivering.
I enjoyed the Spring event and will look forward to this one.

 

It depends what you want - my wife and I recently visited 4 steam railways in Wales all of which were offering only the "excursion" format and that worked fine for us since all we wanted was a round trip on each line and we got our own compartments so it was all very nice. When I go to galas in "enthusiast" mode my behaviour is different. I want the freedom to hop on and hop off and actually spend more time standing around taking photes than I do travelling. At a typical SVR I generally only do about the equivalent of one round trip during the day. I'll have a think about the SVR gala but I'll probably give it a miss. I don't really want 2 or 3 round trips and be restricted to getting out at Highley only. For those who want a lot of miles behind different locos it's a good deal though.

 

I do think the SVR is missing a trick by not selling individual tickets, certainly regarding the gala. I attend most years, don't usually travel but buy a ticket in any case as I consider it a fair price for the spectacle. I then spend in the gift shops, the cafe, Kidderminster Museum and anything interesting from stalls. None of this seems possible this year which is disappointing for me and a loss to the SVR and any of the other opportunities I would have had to spend money on the railway.

I'd like to say I understand the SVR's cautious approach but I dont actually - as other have said they reopened before the majority of other railways and now seem intent on imbedding pre booking as their new normal for travel.

 

U-turn ahoy...

 

I couldnt have timed my email more poorly if I tried! Brilliant news from the SVR and a further welcome step back towards normality. Looking forward to seeing the Duchess again

 

The relevant bits:

and

https://www.svr.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?a=973

 

Excellent news from my point of view, gives more option for travel, and for us video/photo lot, options for locations by use of the trains!

Interesting to note that a limited number of private compartments are still being offered for those who want them. I do wonder what the ratio will be like for these compared to free for all, and how it will affect train loadings. Will also be interesting to see the passenger levels now that this is the strategy.

 

I had booked a reserved table, but went ballistic when I got this email. The event is now virtually a free for all - with Covid cases soaring again!

I rang the office and cancelled, with a full refund ( I did keep a request to have the souvenir sent to me).

A relaxation to alight anywhere and rejoin the same train would have been great, but I was very disappointed with this decision but pleased that they are refunding tickets on request.

 

I was not planning to attend but like you would have been looking at a cancellation.
My maths on probability are not good enough to work it out, but on a table for all day you are close to at most 5 people, the three on your table and the two across the aisle if you are in an isle seat. I have no idea on the free for all system how many people you may sit in a close vicinity to in say 10 hours, plus I will imagine there more gangway traffic as people move around more.
Still the railway is in a sort of no win situation, and the diesel guys seem very happy on wnxx for the diesel gala.

 

Yes, and the SVR being one of the few keeping pre-book only was causing issues.
News of the general change had been raised a few weeks ago but the change to the gala was more recent suggestion and only really crystallised into reality since last week's rather flat response to the gala announcement.

 

The important question is whether they are limiting the number of tickets for sale or if it is sell as many as they can. That for me is the difference between a safe event and an unsafe one. Standing room only behind the Duchess is not for me.

Not a good look for the SVR, should have decided before going on sale.

 

I think the question has been asked, if not I'll ask about tomorrow.

Probably, but it's done now. Management were very pro pre-book only.

 

I am from the camp you should make a decision and stick with it. I don't think there is right or wrong answer at the moment, but they now risk upsetting those who have booked by changing the conditions of the booking.
The SVR to their credit have handled things very well up until now, hopefully this is just a hiccup.
Also, how can you be worried bookings are flat when you haven't announced the full line up? Seems a bit strange!

 

Timetable is up, - 2nd guest to be announced on Thursday, seems to be double heading with 1501 all gala.

 

I totally agree - I have been to many galas at different railways over the years and nothing gets as crowded as the Severn Valley galas. The overcrowding on certain trains (usually hauled by guest locos) has been seriously unpleasant at some times in the past and in the current rather delicate situation is definitely a risk for spreading viruses about.

There is nothing wrong in my view with having a "pre-booking" requirement - I always do for the SVR anyway to avoid queues on the day, but it was the lack of flexibility that was the show stopper for me. May reconsider now!