SVR General Discussion

Do you have to have a ticket to use the Kidderminster refreshment rooom?

 

The event FAQ states:

So on the basis that access to Kidderminster and Bridgnorth stations will be for ticket holders only, it's probably safe to assume that access to the refreshment facilities located at those stations will only be for ticket holders as well. Elsewhere it says that refreshment facilities will be providing 'take away' service only, and the public houses at Bridgnorth and Kidderminster will be providing an outdoor service only as well.

 

Absolutely loving the Railcam - have it on in the corner of my second screen whilst working from home!

 

Well that was easily the best day out I've had in months! Ok so it wasn't in the traditional gala style but it felt extremely well organised with a great selection of locos and pretty much on time all day. Unfortunately a passenger in the compartment next door sustained an injury before the first departure on train 3 which required an ambulance to be called and quite a big cleanup operation required before we departed about 25 minutes late. I must say the staff who dealt with the incident were thoroughly professional, made no fuss and just got on with it, very impressed! I hope the gentleman concerned was ok, he was in the capable hands of the paramedics when we left. The delay was made up easily by the time we left Bridgnorth on the return run too.

Had some excellent runs behind the various locos, the Saint sounded lovely and the two tanks were also very rateable. Taw Valley was echoing nicely round the Valley itself on the last run back too. However the trip of the day was definitely the second run up Eardington bank behind Raveningham Hall, it sounded absolutely fantastic! We even got buzzed by a Chinook between Arley and Highley which appeared to be flying at the same level as the train.

An excellent day out after having been unable to do anything like this for what seems like forever, I felt like I was grinning from ear to ear all day!! Many thanks to all the SVR staff for your efforts to put on a great show. For those of you going over the next few days enjoy it and I hope all runs smoothly!

 

Really enjoyed my visit today. I will admit that as an anxious person I found some of what I saw made me a bit nervous, but with a compartment to myself (plus my wife and son for one round trip) I was perfectly content.

Timetable worked reasonably well - only one notable delay, made up with some smart decision-making. Changing engines meant lots of activity to keep interest at Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.

Contrary to the comment above I thought the lineside was quite quiet, certainly compared to previous galas or special events I have been to there. Trains had more space than I expected in compartments, though open carriages were well filled. Odd to see spaces in the Kiddy carpark.

To complement the comment directly above, on Train 1 Raveningham Hall gave easily the best run of the day.

Sent from my SM-G770F using Tapatalk

 

Visited the railway today, did not travel but spent the day around Arley. What a lovely spring day and line up of steam locos, well done to the railway for putting this event on and giving everyone something to smile about. It was a bold thing to do in the first week of public services recommencing, I hope it pays off.
I visited the station, rather than selling platform tickets they were accepting donations for entry to the south platform and gardens only. The rest was closed to the public, which of course includes the cafe. The tea room in the village and the pub were open for any outdoor beverage needs however.

 

Are you there again over the weekend?

 

It was on BBC Midlands Today yesterday evening https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000v684/midlands-today-evening-news-15042021 and the SVR item starts at 22.41. The link expires tonight 7pm.

Patrick

 

Here's my footage from yesterday. Lady of Legend sounded amazing that day and some impressive loco performances included as well. I hope you enjoy the video.

 

Superb event, 2999 the star turn surely the most significant replica build since No 1, rather surprised that the event is not suspended tomorrow out of respect.

 

There will be a pause in service for the 1 minute silence tomorrow. To cancel the whole thing is IMO very OTT.

 

The SVR have advised that "As a mark of respect for HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, we will be observing the national one minute silence at 3pm on Saturday 17th April. In order to ensure this happens appropriately, we have arranged each service to stop in a safe place whilst the silence is in progress. Wherever possible, trains will be held in a station, however, one service may have to stop in between two stations. Whilst this will cause some delay, we are confident that there is sufficient slack in the timetable to pull this back during the afternoon." Personally I think that is a reasonable approach.

 

Same thing happened with Diana in 1997, silence was observed with trains in stations and 1 stop in section. All loco’s wore wreaths.

 

I can't 'like' this enough

Patrick

 

Some pictures from my visit on Thursday.

6960 working off Victoria Bridge and into Arley on the first train of the day.

2999 passing Severn Lodge.

2857 going north past Severn Lodge.

6960 heads through Arley.

2999 at County Boundary.

813 & 7714 at County Boundary.

43106 working past County Boundary.

Taw Valley at Victoria Bridge.

 

Fantastic day today. 96 miles of steam haulage with 7 different locos, what's not to like? Everything pretty much ran to clockwork, give or take a few mins here or there. Both stops at Bridgnorth began with a mad dash to the refreshment room to get a cuppa before the crowd arrived, I know some people ended up getting back on the train empty handed. That would be my only gripe really. What with no buffet on-board, it would have been nice to have had 30 mins at Bridgnorth and 30mins at Kiddy, rather than 20mins at Bridgnorth and 40mins at Kiddy - just to give you that extra few mins to get the cuppa in!

 

Right, I’m not doing this on purpose BUT, regarding 6960 with its postwar G Crest W livery on its tender, would the lining on the back of the tender over the footsteps be superfluous? Asking for a friend...

 

We are booked to travel tomorrow and just had an email from SVR to say 75069 is replacing 2999 tomorrow.

 

Statement on their website and Facebook page. 2999 has apparently failed. A real shame, she looked to be in fine mettle when I was behind her today.

 

I notice all the subsequent 2999 running days seem to be week days, unfortunately no good for me work wise. If she were to run on a weekend (or bank holiday) before returning to Didcot, I could be tempted for a return visit given tomorrow's disappointment.. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge... !