The weekend of the 1st and 2nd of April 2023 saw the Severn Valley Railway hold their Open House Weekend. This was used as to not only allow the general public full behind the scenes access to most areas of the railway but to also officially welcome the return of trains to Bridgnorth after a long period of track renewal.
Visitors to the Open House Weekend were able to experience guided tours of Bridgnorth, Highley and Kidderminster signal boxes, the steam and diesel depots and the carriage works at Kidderminster. A more practical experience was offered by the provision of brake van rides around Bewdley station using an 09 diesel shunter and two vans - a Southern ‘Princess Mary’ and Great Western ‘Toad’.
Last week, I had an email from the head of the Footplate Experience Department asking for additional bodies from the TTI side to help out with cue control and to provide safety on the vans themselves. Thinking this could be an interesting opportunity, I put my name down and on the Sunday, myself and three members of the FE department turned up at Bewdley for a thoroughly enjoyable day. We asked for only a small donation instead of a fixed travel fee and welcomed a healthy number of passengers with some even having second or third helpings!
In the afternoon, with the sun emerging from behind the clouds, I decided to make a film out of the day. The result of which being what you see here today. Locomotives on service trains were: Class 50 No. 50035 ‘Ark Royal’, GWR 5700 Pannier No. 7714, Class 40 No. 40106 ‘Atlantic Conveyor’ and Class 20 No. 20048. The engine that the brake van duties was given to was 09 diesel shunter No. 09107.
GWR 2800 2-8-0 No. 2857 and LMS Mogul No. 43106 could be seen on display in the yard towards the southern end of the station. 2857 is currently out of ticket and will be given a clean up before being mounted at Kidderminster during the Spring Steam Gala in a fortnights time. 43106 was in light steam and is herself nearing the end of her own ticket. She will be on service trains for the gala and is expected to be withdrawn in around June.
And there you have it folks. Not the most exciting video I’ve ever made but I assure you, it was definitely an experience that I would certainly recommend despite the brake vans themselves being, ‘bumpy as hell’.
In other news: This is Your Life will return soon featuring a Midland favourite. I also plan to spend a day at Arley to capture ‘Erlestoke Manor’ on test towards the end of this week. Stay Tuned!
Thanks very much for watching - Alex.
16 сен 2024
