Difference between revisions of "Tales from the Severn Valley"

Minor Derailments

In summer 1977 the SVRSevern Valley Railway experienced two minor derailments in quick succession. The first was unusual for the reason it happened; 45110’s rear coupled driving wheels were derailed by a piece of coal in Bridgnorth yard! The second was notable for the manner in which it was resolved; 47383 got ‘in the dirt’ at Highley while on standby duty. Once the crew had packed the wheels with some handy fishplates that were lying about, a Driver/Director passing on 80079 left his own locomotive, boarded the casualty, drove it back onto the rails, re-joined his own train and left without any delay to the passenger service.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch aka Highley

During 1982, passengers between Arley and Hampton Loade were surprised to find themselves passing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Highley had been renamed for the filming of a TV commercial.

Nesting Thrush floors 3205

In 1983, 3205 failed a Fitness To Run examination for an unlikely reason; a thrush had nested in the cab! The locomotive returned to service once the fledglings had flown the nest.

Lady A' steps-in for Clun Castle

Also in 1983, Hunslet 686 The Lady Armaghdale spent 7 weeks at the Birmingham Railway Museum (now Tyseley Locomotive Works) and took place in Tyseley’s celebrations of 75 years as a steam depot. Sunday 5 June was scheduled to be Industrial Steam Day, but Tyseley’s own Peckett was out of action. In an unusual role reversal, ‘Lady A’ hauled passenger services all day while 7029 Clun Castle acted as Depot shunter.

Severn Valley Railway News saves the day

Severn Valley Railway News (the Railway’s quarterly magazine) is not just a good read, it once rescued a railtour! While on an SVRSevern Valley Railway Railtours excursion in April 1984, Class 40 no 40024 failed at Hereford. The fault was diagnosed as a loose contactor causing poor electrical connection. The offending contactor was wedged in place with a copy of SVRSevern Valley Railway News, and the tour continued to Leeds after a 10 minute delay.

April Fool!

The ‘April Fool’ involving the repainting of City of Truro in BRBritish Rail or British Railways livery is well known. Two other ‘April Fools’ appeared in the spring 1996 edition of SVRSevern Valley Railway News Locomotive Notes. One reported that 2857, then under overhaul, was to be fitted with a Giesel ejector to reduce coal consumption. The other reported that to meet Health and Safety requirements on monitoring crew working hours, locomotives were to be fitted with tachographs.

A real Thomas enthusiast

In February 1996, the SVRSevern Valley Railway received a fax from a Mr Chee in Malaysia, saying he has found the SVRSevern Valley Railway on the Internet (which was primitive in those days!) and asking if the SVRSevern Valley Railway did Thomas the Tank Engine weekends. A reply in the affirmative was faxed, and Mr Chee duly arrived from Selangor in June with his wife and young son.

Children and animals

The late John Leach was for many years the SVRSevern Valley Railway’s Marketing Manager. Two examples of his maxim that ‘children and animals make a good story’. In 1995 the SVRSevern Valley Railway membership hit 16,000, including a Dalmatian dog which had been enrolled by his owner. When contacted, the owner agreed that this would make a good local news item. The story escalated, eventually reaching several of the national tabloids (the Daily Star in typical fashion referring to the Dalmatian as ‘A new breed of train-spotter’). The same year a 10 year old girl sent a donation of £20.63 to the Railway which she had saved over the previous 6 months. The Bewdley office staff rounded this up to £25 which bought her a £25 share in the Railway. A ‘news photocall’ of the presentation was organised, which BBC ‘Midlands Today’ attended, and later broadcast a 4 minute news item on prime-time evening television. As John Leach pointed out, a 4 minute advertisement on Central TV would have cost the Railway around £215,000. Such is the value of a good story.

5764's Rapid Entry to SVRSevern Valley Railway Service

5764 was acquired direct from London Transport, arriving in LT livery on 19 June 1971 and entering service shortly thereafter. An indication of just how quickly it entered service may be judged by the lighting of a fire in the engine whilst it was being unloaded from the low-loader.

The Steaming Granny

Anthea Hanscomb was no stranger to the footplate, having driven Flying Scotsman at Tyseley Railway Museum when aged 72. On 30th June 2001 she attended an SVRSevern Valley Railway “Steam Supreme” driving course as an 80th Birthday treat. Anthea duly completed the 64 mile driving course aboard 80079 with eight coaches in tow. One or two ‘slips’ on departure were considered acceptable, it being a wet day.

Two that got away

An article by David Williams in Steam Railway Magazine issue 437 listed a number of locomotives which might have joined the SVRSevern Valley Railway fleet, but didn’t.

The first locomotive offered to the SVRSevern Valley Railway was ‘Royal Scot’ 4-6-0 No 46115 Scots Guardsman, which had been bought by a Birmingham businessman shortly after being withdrawn by BRBritish Rail or British Railways in December 1965. The SVRSevern Valley Railway’s Operating Superintendent considered the locomotive too heavy, at 138 tons with a 20.5 ton axle loading, so the offer was declined. The Scot is now owned by West Coast Railways and can be seen working on the main line. 46115 on Wikipedia

Another request for a home on the SVRSevern Valley Railway was made by a group of Southern enthusiasts who were raising money to buy MaunsellRichard Maunsell, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913-1923, and of the Southern Railway 1923-1937. U Class No 31618, which in January 1969 became the second locomotive to leave BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. scrapyard. This time the offer was refused as the locomotive was not considered appropriate for an ex-GWRGreat Western Railway heritage line. The ‘U-boat’ is now at a suitable southern home, the Bluebell Railway. 31618 on Bluebell web site

Both these offers were made and declined before 3205 became the first locomotive to find a home at the SVRSevern Valley Railway.

Coal for Stourport Power Station

From Alfred Powick via Facebook;^[1]
"Stourport coal from Highley was usually loaded in CEGB 20 tonners... A large proportion of Highley coal was good quality household coal, and most of the coal for Stourport came from the Cannock area often brought down to Hartlebury by Midland Region locos or a Stourbridge 56xxA GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T engine. A Kiddy pannier or 56xxA GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T engine shuttled it between Hartlebury and Stourport while the Midland loco turned using the triangle via Bewdley."

"I started my career with the NCBNational Coal Board at Highley, spending some time on the screens, so seeing the loads going out. I also spent time in the survey office and later as an official there so knew the production which came from one seam only (the Brooch). It was good house coal.
I doubt that the total weekly output from Alveley (the coal winding shaft of Highley unit) would keep the power station going for 24 hours, and as only about 30% went to Stourport, the bulk of coal needed there would have to come from somewhere else. The Highley/Alveley unit was only a small mine.
Up until 1954, I lived overlooking Kidderminster station, and regularly saw the coal trains coming down from Stourbridge, often with a super D on the front. Inside the hour, the super D would appear light engine from Bewdley, now facing North, to then trundle off tender first to Hartlebury, appearing some time later with empties. The 56xxA GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T engine at Kiddy, sometimes a 57xxA GWR 5700 Class 0-6-0PT engine, was stationed at Hartlebury to work the coal and empties to and from Stourport, I later worked at other pits in Shropshire, finishing on Cannock Chase, where I knew that coal went to Stourport and Ironbridge from Littleton colliery, a much bigger pit than Highley."

See also

The Severn Valley Railway in preservation

References

1. ↑ Unofficial SVR Facebook page