Severn Valley Spring Gala 23-25 March 2012

Personally I'd like to suggest that the above move added some interest! As has been said, it was clearly shown in the working timetable, and even the passenger timetable showed the later arrival time at Kidderminster, it's not like a booked connection being missed! If you really wanted to go straight back on the A4, you could have bailed at Bewdley and waited for it to return. If it's a case of 'riding the train' and expecting the same loco to stay on the set 'just because', without reading the timetable, then I'd suggest a gala isn't the day to visit!

Maybe it's a culture thing - as someone who also does diesels, and a haulage enthusiast (the term 'basher' seems to have negative connotations on here?) I'd consider it quite natural to read the timetable carefully, plan some moves, then read it again and change said moves when things don't go to plan (although in this case they did). You can scarcely imagine following a loco working in main line service and expecting it to stay on the same rake all day, then getting angry when it doesn't? Having locos swap rakes and station pilots do a short bit of passenger work etc adds a lot more interest than getting to 3 o'clock and repeating the procession of trains you saw from 10 o'clock, and gives much more of a feel of 'the real thing' from a passenger's point of view.

 

Had a cracking two days at the SVR on Friday & Saturday. Thanks to all involved in the preperation and planning for the event.






More pictures avaliable at Severn Valley Gala Spring 2012 - Davidballard's Photos

 

Im going to stick up for Little Nobby and everyone else who planned the event in this case, It's not exactly their fault if Visitors didn't read the freely availible timetable.

 

I had a good day on Saturday and enjoyed the event. The foggy start allowed me to try some arty shots followed by more traditional stuff once the sun had broken through. Well done to all involved for an excellent gala. My photos can be found here Severn Valley Railway - Saturday 24th March 2012 - Paul Gildersleve's Photos | SmugMug

Cheers,

Paul

 

Dave,

Pity you missed 828 at Hay Bridge at 16.30 yesterday after 43106 which I photographed at the same location.
http://www.penguin-web-solutions.co.uk/images/828_Hay-Bridge_24-3-12_7841.jpg

Brian

 

The Working TT was freely available on the website

 

I too was on said service, and although I was aware of the movement that was made and have no problems with it if it is required, I was left disappointed at the amount of time it took for it to happen (nearly half an hour I believe in the end). In fairness you can't allow for any problems with Bittern, but I do feel that it would have been quicker to have the train run into platform 2, which I believe was free, and then run Bittern onto the other set. Allowing more time if the movement is repeated in future may be something to bear in mind.

Aside from that it was a pleasant day overall, even with the heat! Trains running near enough to time, apart from the odd few. Bittern on the teaks was certainly a sight to behold! I look forward to the Autumn Gala and some Southern action! Any chance of fitting in a Midland gala during the year to complete the Big Four?

 

Fabulous day on the SVR yesterday, lovely to catch the Caley again and I can only repeat what everyone has said about the A4 on the teaks, simply stunning. Was also nice to see a jinty back on the valley after many years, surely it's time to have a look at 47383 again? Well done to all concerned for an enjoyable and varied gala.

 

Hi thanks for the reply, apologies if my earlier post came across as a rant, it was certainly not supposed to, but having read it back again it does appear a little 'rant' like.

I am under the impression that the working timetable available on the web site is the one I have attached, or did I miss it. View attachment Public TT Loco.pdf
This one only details loco allocations and does not show coaching sets or loco movements(detach/attach)

I usually pre purchase the working timetable booklet which details all loco movements and coaching stock on each train, which I was under the impression was not available to purchase for this Gala.
As one of the replies has stated 'you could have bailed at Bewdley and waited for it to return'.
That is very true, and I most certainly would have if I had known of the loco swap prior to Kidderminster or I would have already been at Kidderminster station to view the loco movement.

In any case I had a terrific day as I always do at SVR steam Gala's, I am very much looking forward to the Autumn Gala which is shaping up very nicely indeed with some stunning loco's. Here's hoping 34027 is also ready!

Again please accept my apologies if my initial post was like a rant, I did not mean to offend anyone.

 

The WTT was, for the first time, available free to download at Traffic Notices and WTTs. Whether this will continue for future galas I don't know. Certainly there were some late changes this year and it was helpful to pick up updates until late in the day.

From the railway's point of view selling the WTT brings in revenue, some from those who would watch/photograph but not spend. 5 visitors don't come cheap!

Regards

Patrick

 

A few more from today March 2012

 

Back from a weekend on the SVR first visit in a number of years. Overall had an enjoyable weekend, spent Saturday travelling and Sunday photographing. Found the timetable frustrating on Saturday with many of the local trains not stopping at stations and far too much time spent waiting at stations to cross trains many of which were running empty. Found the timetable and variety of trains better for photography, therefore enjoyed today more, even though trains were running late right from the start of the day.
My pictures are here
Flickr: Bantam61668's Photostream

The pick of the bunch is this one of the big, blue, pointy thing on a bridge
60019 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Oh that is gorgeous.

Excellent weekend for me, little bit 'exciting' sometimes in Hampton Loade 'Box on Sunday but everybody seemed to be very relaxed about the delays, and wasn't it a lovely day!

 

What an absolutely amazing weekend! We spent the Saturday and Sunday at the SVR, and I can safely say i've never had such an enjoyable or successful 2 days at a railway. Despite 3 punctures over 2 days on our bikes, the unanticipated heat and sunshine made for an excellent combination, for me, making it one of the best galas in recent years. The timetable was a work of perfection, so my thanks goes to Tom, and my rest goes to all the crews and everybody else working on the railway this weekend to make it such a spectacular event...well done!

Here are some of my photos from the Gala, the rest will be up later:


43106 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


47406 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


828 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


69023 Joem by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


69023 Joem & 1744 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


7812 Erlestoke Manor & 4566 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


1744 by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


4464 Bittern by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr

Flickr: Teenage Steam Photography's Photostream

Thanks,
Lewis

 

Excellent gala, many thanks to all involved.
Here's a short clip of A4 Bittern departing Bewdley on Sunday morning
SVR Spring Gala March 2012 - YouTube

 

Spent Friday & Saturday at the SVR. With foggy starts on both days I was there, it got better as the day(s) wore on.

A fantastic gala as always at the SVR, huge thanks to Tom for the timetable and all the other volunteers for making an enjoyable 2 days.

I now await for the Autumn Gala in September, in which is already looking to be better than last year!

 

Excellent gala as usual at the Severn Valley. I was there all day Saturday. Just a couple of questions:

1) Did 2857 run at all over the weekend? I thought it was supposed to run on Saturday but the Mogul was running the "28/29" diagram.

2) What did the Jinty do on Sunday? Was it doing the TBC_1 diagram or something else?

Thanks,

John

 

lewis.maddox: Your first image, 43106 on the freight in the mist, has to be echoes of the M & GN in East Anglia in the 1950's. Ok, if you look closely you can see the GWR markings on the van, but otherwise what a superb image, so full of period atmosphere, in more ways than one! Well done.

Also huge respect for the timetable writer, he must be getting very near to the maximum variety he can extract form the line capacity on the SVR. Just gets better.

 

Good afternoon folks, Tom here, just about concious after the weekend, I can tell you that going back to the day job today was a walk in the park compared with the activities this weekend, although I have many a reason to believe it was worth it. I thought I'd write a bit of a summary as to what happened and why...
Friday:
Went pretty well throughout the whole day, I was on the ground at Highley shunting locos around with a colleague of mine, 828's planned non-appearance being scuppered by "Douglas's" appearance double headed with the Jinty for a round trip, although causing a little delay due to the support crew (Who, had worked miracles that morning to get her ready to come out and play) having to check her over at every available opportunity, then the complex shunt planned for one engine at kidderminster took twice as long due to the 2 locos needing use of the water column. In the evening everything was running about 15-20 minutes late due to this, but caught back by bedtime! Highlights for me were the appearance of 828, and the double prairie double header in the afternoon!
Saturday:
As plan B dictated, 47406 was to take 4566's turn and 828 would run her own, everything going swimmingly well, after briefing the shunters at Highley in the morning (and after a little cock-up resulting in the de-training and running ECS of one of Joem's locals from Arley-Highley-not really anything to lose sleep over) the day seemed to run smoothly and I ventured out to chill and take photos (and eat cake in the sun at Arley) followed by roaming the line to ensure everyone was alright, a stirring performance from Arley from 828 and 43106 on the doubleheader being the highlight.
The A4 Shunt in the evening (Yes, definitely worth it to see 69023 and 1744 looking stunning on the teaks) took much longer than expected, this was due to awaiting a crew member, there was no other way of doing this move, 4464 (or any other large engine) is banned from platform 2 Engine line at Kidderminster, 30 down for the evening (ish) caught up nearly, then lost due to a little human error where two trains were meant to cross another, ended up being one crossing another, thus holding up the last up train at Hampton load for a substantial amount of time.
Sunday:
The day started with thick fog, myself and my driver on 7812 being unable to see a loco's length in front of us on the first local to Highley, this resulted in fog-working, where time was lost when signalmen have to venture out to lay detonators, eventually resulting in a 20 minute delay mid-morning, also hindered by the injector problems on 'Joem' which were resolved, and the loco dropped onto the front of the late running goods at Highley adding to the delay, my miss-judgement (hands up from me) in the length of 5 Mk1 coaches led to some of the local trains at Highley having to be run-round via the platform, this had repercussions further up the line (much to the detriment of Guard_Jamie of the forum attempting to pass a 9 coach train when it couldn't move forward due to the shunt being undertaken) thus dropping everything back to about 45 minutes of delay, which sort of stuck throughout the day.
The Talyllyn special proved popular, and my turn on 7812 turned out to be one of the most fun (if not the most intense) I've done! Being sat at Arley in the sun with 4566 attached to the front, both locos simmering away as 828 and 69023 arrive doubleheaded being as good as idyllic (including the interesting array of colours, blue and green locos on red coaching stock!)
Overall:
Not forgetting to mention the 'Big Blue Snowplough'/'The Door-wedge', the A4 on the teaks looked marvellous, the addition of the 'Flying Scotsman' headboard on the Saturday proving popular, trains seemed comfortably filled, with stations becoming busier in the afternoons as people took time to enjoy the weather.
And just to add, as mentioned before, the reason for non-stoppers on the locals was the fact that we required more time at either end to run-round or shunt trains out of the way, anyone standing to observe the action at Highley on Friday or Saturday would've found 3 trains there at once many times throughout the day, with a maximum of 20 minutes at one point where the station was completely empty! And to answer the question of 2857, it was decided, that due to the amount of locos out, it wasn't required, thus remained in light steam all weekend, plus, with it being one of the last galas prior to 42968's overhaul, it would be a shame not to make the most of it, she looked lovely on the blood and custard set!

Lastly, I am indebted to the volunteers over the weekend, we couldn't have done it without you, from those guards trying to get their trains away on time, to those signalmen, on the ball and getting things moving with little fuss, the loco crews who used the power of their engines to get to line speed as soon as possible in order to make up those valuable seconds of time, the shunters at each end (and in the middle) of the line, the loco cleaners, lighting up men, TTI's, buffet staff, station dispatch staff, Loco works staff (those lads at Bridgnorth have worked miracles over the last week!! Thanks to Ian and his team for the 100% turn out!) the carriage works staff and carriage cleaners (I think I only spotted one coach that wasn't immaculate over the whole weekend) and everyone else who showed their faces, top banana's the lot of you!

Hope this answers any questions, hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

All the best
(a very Knackered)
Tom Clarke

 

Top work Tom and the rest of the team, it was a very memorable gala with unbelievably good weather and photo possibilities. I put in some serious walking, I reckon nigh on 14 miles over the three days but it was totally worth it. I love the friendliness of our railway and the vast majority of people who come to visit it, it was great to have some excellent banter at the lineside.

I tried not to follow the crowds and get into the country but some trains at certain locations had to be done, I think about 80 odd in the field at Hays bridge for Mallard (for some reason I kept calling 4464 that all weekend .
I can't make any of the charters this week with work so following Bittern around became a bit of an obsession, it was worth it though:


Langtree Photography-7171 by Langtree Photography


Langtree Photography-6772 by Langtree Photography


Langtree Photography-7277 by Langtree Photography


Langtree Photography-6993 by Langtree Photography


Langtree Photography-6851 by Langtree Photography

Can anyone credit this is shot taken in March, not mid Summer?


Langtree Photography-7307 by Langtree Photography

The evening Rover was excellent as always, on Saturday evening I rode on six trains including two locals, an East Coast express (it certainly felt like one, doesn't everything seem faster at night? ) and watched an unfitted freight plodding along into Highley, surely the best value £9.50 can buy you anywhere!

Feel free to have a look at the rest of my collection:

Severn Valley Railway Spring gala 2012 - a set on Flickr

Thanks again SVR, still the premier line by a country mile in my book.

Cheers

Duncan