Spa Valley Railway - Latest News

Following the 2 weekends events, that means all 3 surviving Caledonian Railway locos have visited Sussex at somepoint (even if it's not by much). Quite impressive all 3 have managed to come this far South.

123, along with the T9 hauled the Scottish Blue Belle in 1963, making a brief visit to Horsted Keynes after servicing at Brighton.

419 has visited both the Bluebell and Spa Valley.

828 is on loan for most of the year to the Spa Valley.

 

And the little Barclay is blue too now as well

 

They all come to Sussex in the end, I mean where else would you possibly want to go?

 

Caley No. 828 is running Friday 15th through to Monday 18th if anyone wants a ride behind her, due to the high demand for Easter trains she's working top and tail with Class 31/4 31430 'Sister Dora' throughout.

 

The value of a smaller railway run by dedicated volunteers who are also close friends was shown last Saturday when my other half organised a surprise 30th birthday party for me on a private charter train. The Caley 828 and 31430 did the honours and it was a wondeful evening had by all.

The group of us are here at Eridge before an outstanding run back up hill with 828. Heritage railways have given me and others at Spa Valley friends for life and perhaps something not often spoken about enough is just how valuable our railways are for creating these friendships and bonds with others, it’s how I met my other half.

 

A reminder for anyone who is a fan of the Bulleid Pacific No. 34053 'Sir Keith Park', the locomotive is rostered out this weekend 30th April, 1st and 2nd May for three days and then the final weekend in traffic is 14th & 15th May (we can't run to Eridge on 7th & 8th May due to engineering works) so these are the final few steamings before overhaul. As far as I'm aware things are still on track for a return to Spa Valley of 34053 during 2023.

We are also working on our 25th Anniversary Gala event being held from 26th to 29th August, this will feature all operational locomotives at some stage during the event, including the Caley 828 and by then Class 25 D7535 should be with us for a Summer visit too.

 

Jonnie, just checked the website, and it seems to be indicating 2890 and the class 73 out tomorrow?

 

It is now, SKP needs a bit of work doing to it tomorrow, hopefully back running on Monday.

 

Thanks.

 

2890 'Douglas' is a very useful engine..

 

Just don’t put him on banking duties though!

 

Some great news, the current visitor numbers for the year 2022 stand at 12,259, this for the period of 1st February (when our financial year starts) to 8th May.
The last comparable year was 2019 when we carried 6,476 visitors in the same period.

Well done and thank you to everyone for continuing to support the Spa Valley Railway from all of the Managers, Directors and Trustees. It is an outstanding achievement to have increased our visitor numbers by nearly 90%!

As many Spa Valley volunteers would say, lovely old job!

Don't forget, this weekend is the last time you can see 'Sir Keith Park' in service before the locomotive is withdrawn for an overhaul, 34053 should return to active service in Spring 2023 at Spa Valley if all goes to plan.

 

Well done! Big Chuffers have their uses - as do Scottish chuffers!

 

Why do I I get the feeling there is someone shaking their head in the Hayling Island area?
In all seriousness nice one @Jonnie, keep pushing the boundaries mate, those rewards will come (as they seem to)

 

The chap on Hayling would argue its more down to the Scottish engines, as Keith has been there a while now

 

I perhaps should have added the greatest increase in visitor numbers has been seen on our dining trains and a portion is coming from the standard train rides, the majority is dining though.

We in effect advertised ourselves to 33,000 people last November and December who in most cases were first time visitors, we’re seeing a lot of those return this year to try out our other offerings.

There’s no doubt the SKP effect over the last 18 months has attracted enthusiasts who otherwise wouldn’t visit, plus of course a variety of engines since 2021 with Douglas, 51456, 419 and 828 all contributing to this too.

 

Partway down the page https://www.spavalleyrailway.co.uk/product.php/273/steam-heritage-diesel-train-rides-2022 there is a heading "Locomotive Roster:" but the only information under that is whether High Rocks is open or closed. Clicking on the heading does nothing.

I stand corrected, having failed to see what was there.

 

Locos in use are shown before the High Rocks information.

 

Thank you. Brain glitch on my part.

 

So SKP is about to bow out for overhaul... the SpVR's facebook suggests something else will be on its way in to cover. Another of the SLL fleet presumably?