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steve fay
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If you are visting this weekend. 

 

2253 Ohama is not available due to a fault which it has not been possible to sort out since the paid staff returned to work on Tuesday. Through a lot of hard work though 7714 is now available for traffic as of this lunch time. 

 

2968 is standing in on some diagrams and the order locos were originally working trains has now altered. 

 

Also on Saturday is the Kidderminster Railway Museum Photo fair in the building behind the museum on the other side of the roadway to the car park. There are over 20 dealers with all sorts of subjects and areas. 

 

Who knows maybe see you there tomorrow. 

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10 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

If you are visting this weekend. 

 

2253 Ohama is not available due to a fault which it has not been possible to sort out since the paid staff returned to work on Tuesday. Through a lot of hard work though 7714 is now available for traffic as of this lunch time. 

 

2968 is standing in on some diagrams and the order locos were originally working trains has now altered. 

 

Also on Saturday is the Kidderminster Railway Museum Photo fair in the building behind the museum on the other side of the roadway to the car park. There are over 20 dealers with all sorts of subjects and areas. 

 

Who knows maybe see you there tomorrow. 


Will be there ….. supporting the railway as much as possible in 2024 as I did in 2023. Might be nice to say hello … what are you doing today? 
 

It’s also probably worth pointing out bearing in mind the issues reported above with catering that the previous management regime seemed very focused on employing paid staff in public facing roles at the expense of railway operation. Current management seem to be reverting to something more like the previous model but that will inevitably take time to train more volunteers…. That is if they haven’t been disenfranchised under the previous model . 

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As just an ordinary non volunteering member of the SVR I was surprised by the problems mentioned above.  In my experience the good folk at Kidderminster do try to ensure everyone who wants to get on a departing train does so before it departs. I have often seen the staff check with people in the station area and hold the train, just for a short moment, while stragglers jump on. Being a single line, when one train gets held up, everything gets held up - I've often said they should double the line! When travelling on any heritage line you have to be prepared for late running. You are on a pleasure trip and not desperate to get to an important meeting - just enjoy it and don't worry about the time. The catering on the SVR can be held back by a shortage of volunteers. That's the fault of non volunteering members like me rather than the SVR itself. There is always catering available somewhere along the line though.

 

Sounds like the F-UnitMad caught the SVR on a bad day and I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe try again in the summer. I would expect most things to be better but don't expect the trains to keep bang on time.

 

One volunteer who shall remain nameless (as I don't know his name) said of the previous general manger who is now the boss of the St Michaels mount estate - "it will sink with her in charge".  Gus understands the heritage railway business and, so far as I can see, is doing a great job. Well done sir.

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To add my recent experiences of the SVR, a family member recently arranged a do on the SVR, hiring a dining car and arranging catering. Hire of the dining car and kitchen car was done though the railway, but catering was through their catering supplier, an outside team separate from the railway.

 

All went perfectly on the day, even the class 40 came out to play, which made the day for me! Catering was superb, food (curry) was out of this world, catering staff could not do enough to help. One of the party missed the train at Kidder, but drove to Bewdley, where station staff had been informed and were waiting for her. The guard was already on position to unlock the door to the kitchen car and dining car from the rest of the train, and make sure she got through.

The only hitch was on the way back, a track defect had to be attended to, and the gang had to drive through floodwater to get to us. We were held for about 30 min, but no problem, the bar was open so we carried on.

The only problem I understand was that the organisers found that communication between the SVR events team and themselves during the arranging of the event was patchy, sporadic to say the least. First contact was made in late July, for a prospective 7th Oct date, but it wasn't until mid Sept that sensible 2 way conversations started to be had with the events team. The date had to be postponed until Nov partly because of this, as guests needed more time to make arrangements, but that actually worked well in one respect, as one couple were able to complete their cruise in the Caribbean and get back for it.

All in all, 10 marks out of 10 to the railway and the caterers for a superb event, but deduct 2 from the railway for poor communications.

On a personal note, having been to the SVR 4 times now in 2 years, I've always found staff friendly, helpful, trains busy but not heaving, with good food & drink to be had at Kidder and Bridgnorth. As an enthusiast, 10 out of 10 for publishing a loco roster well in advance! I know nothing can be guaranteed, last minute failures do happen (I own a 50+ year old classic car, so I'm well aware of this!), but it is nice to know what is planned to be on the sharp end, even if it's not always possible to stick to the plan.

 

I can't speak for what goes on internally, away from the public gaze, but overall, to an outsider, the SVR seems to be in pretty good shape.

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Went to the steam gala today with @Pierre Le Brun.

 

What a cracking day…. 7714 2968 43106 34027 75069 and 7812 in steam , trains full but not overcrowded and the sun shone. The river is in torrential flood but that might have something to do with displacement by ducks…. Never seen so many!!!

 

We got down to Footplate …. Bought a couple of oak trees …. And to the photo fair. Also in to Wrangaton signal box for the first time, have been waiting for that to be open. Was staffed by knowledgeable volunteers who also showed us the locking room … thank you gentlemen.

 

Great to see several friends too but the star of the show in the sunshine was Erlestoke Manor … looking at her today just confirmed what a brilliant job Accurascale have done.

 

IMG_0199.jpeg.dbf883aa778b653a866d929efaf2a64e.jpeg

 

IMG_0200.jpeg.fb98f10c07181491ae64afaf357bebce.jpeg

 

IMG_0201.jpeg.5e6bb4b6749ffda3e9cda68d5809688f.jpeg

 

IMG_0202.jpeg.06429db7e9f8e09d311682b77e24ab4a.jpeg

 

Thanks to all involved!! I can see why there have been comments about catering …. The Engine House fare was decidedly unimaginative, we fared better at the Highley kiosk with Cup a Soup and an Eccles cake. But I suspect the department is evolving….

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13 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:


Will be there ….. supporting the railway as much as possible in 2024 as I did in 2023. Might be nice to say hello … what are you doing today? 
 

It’s also probably worth pointing out bearing in mind the issues reported above with catering that the previous management regime seemed very focused on employing paid staff in public facing roles at the expense of railway operation. Current management seem to be reverting to something more like the previous model but that will inevitably take time to train more volunteers…. That is if they haven’t been disenfranchised under the previous model . 

Sorry, I've only just caught up on here. I was not fit enough to drive so just did the Photo fair. 

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On 05/01/2024 at 20:13, Blandford1969 said:

To answer your a number of your points. I understand and am sorry you did not have a good time. However some of what you have written is unfair. 

 

..........

 

For the overcrowding I'd always recommend if trains are running from Bridgnorth to start from there. 

............

 

On the 28th we had a high winds ......On the 28th an engine had to be failed due to a boiler fault, which I am sure you would prefer was sorted rather than putting peoples lives at risk.

 

.......

 

No idea why the booking office at Kidder would not have announced the first train, that sounds unusual. I did not know you even had to exchange the e tickets.  I would always say to anyone who is waiting for someone to tell the guard, how is the train crew to know if someone from a party is not on the train. 

 

Your experience is not what any of us as volunteers who have given many years or decades would want and on behalf of us I apologise for the things that have gone wrong, although we  dont have control over the weather nor a loco developing a fault.  I get you are upset but feel posting as you have is perhaps a bit unfair as you have not by the sounds of it even given the railway the opportunity to look at your letters or respond. 

Thanks for your response, and to answer (without turning this into an argument) some of your points in turn...

To start with the SVR have replied quickly and offered an apology and full refund to my friend and her family, so fair enough in that regard.

I understand the 'external influences' on what affects a railway, like weather and failures, and how it subsequently is affected. Late departures for whatever reason are neither here nor there really for a day out on a Heritage line. I was possibly a bit clumsy in my wording about that since to me, that aspect was just part of the 'authentic 60s experience' (sic) rather than an outright complaint. 

8 coaches is pushing capacity I know, and care is taken by Staff to make sure people don't try and get off the train beyond the platforms at the shorter stations. So the answer to overcrowding isn't extra coaches, fair enough, and I appreciate that saying "put on extra trains" is simplistic and possibly totally unrealistic anyway much of the time. But some kind of method of monitoring of tickets sold and people wanting to travel should be investigated, maybe? On the particular point of asking or making the Guard aware one of our party was not yet on the train, this was impossible due to the severe overcrowding - leaving our seats was not possible, never mind finding the Guard!! The 2nd train from Kiddy that my friend had to get was equally overcrowded.

Leaving from Bridgnorth first is a nice idea, except that it didn't suit our plans, parking isn't so easy as at Kiddy (bearing in mind the age of some in our party) and from our location it's further to travel to actually get to the railway in the first place.

 

I'm not 'upset' per se, and the day got better (like the weather!) but the main gist of my post - that the trip was a reminder of what train travel was like without rose-tinted glasses on, remains.

I have had some very enjoyable days on the SVR, within the last year, and all the effort that goes in is appreciated, but as I said before, I'm a railway enthusiast, so will be back again. The angle the SVR needs to look at is - what about a family who had my experience who aren't railway minded, just wanted a day out? Avoiding them having a similar experience, that would put them off from coming back, would be what is termed these days, a "result".

 

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Went today.  Last trip behind the Flying Pig, with "THE END" chalked on the smokebox door.  All running to time and they'd lit the waiting room fires.  The only overcrowding was on the afternoon Pig-hauled service from Bridgnorth, either because it was the Pig or because there was a huge gap between it and the preceding train - we were at Highley for 90 minutes.

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23 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

Went today.  Last trip behind the Flying Pig, with "THE END" chalked on the smokebox door.  All running to time and they'd lit the waiting room fires.  The only overcrowding was on the afternoon Pig-hauled service from Bridgnorth, either because it was the Pig or because there was a huge gap between it and the preceding train - we were at Highley for 90 minutes.

It was the last day of the pgs boiler ticket. Its been incredible and such a great loco. None of us know when she might be restored again as there are complications with some of the shareholders having passed away and stories of the children of one wanting the engine selling to 'get their money' It needs alot spending, for a start is a complete new set of tyres!. I'd love to drive her again in my lifetime but who knows.

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20 minutes ago, Blandford1969 said:

It was the last day of the pgs boiler ticket. Its been incredible and such a great loco. None of us know when she might be restored again as there are complications with some of the shareholders having passed away and stories of the children of one wanting the engine selling to 'get their money' It needs alot spending, for a start is a complete new set of tyres!. I'd love to drive her again in my lifetime but who knows.


Locos coming out of ticket now seem to be facing an uncertain future. One would hope those with private owners have a more secure future on the SVR than company owned assets but it remains to be seen … has a decision been made on 2857 yet? The owning society had a good presence at Kidderminster over the weekend , let’s hope that’s a good omen. 

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21 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:


Locos coming out of ticket now seem to be facing an uncertain future. One would hope those with private owners have a more secure future on the SVR than company owned assets but it remains to be seen … has a decision been made on 2857 yet? The owning society had a good presence at Kidderminster over the weekend , let’s hope that’s a good omen. 

The 2857 group have followed the 4566 group in moving to a trust so that the challenges the pig faces can be avoided. I'm not sure the pigs future is uncertain. It will just be much delayed whilst things are sorted out. I hope certain things now in play might help to resolve those issues. Both those groups were raising money at Kidder towards working towards having more money to put forward for overhalls. 

 

The company now only owns Gordon - there are certain covenants in place which prevents its sale and Hagley Hall. The Babby aka Hinton Manor is owned by the Charitable Trust. All the other locos are owned by individual groups or individuals. 

 

The challenges are the ever increasing costs of restoration of locos. 

 

That being said the railway overall is in a better financial position than it was this time last year. Less paid staff and heads of heads of heads means we are making more headway. Its not out of the woods yet, but moving in the right direction. 

 

On the plus side 4150 should be finished this year with 82045 not far behind along with TV from its intermediate overhaul and 7802 with its new cylinder. 

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1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:

The 2857 group have followed the 4566 group in moving to a trust so that the challenges the pig faces can be avoided. I'm not sure the pigs future is uncertain. It will just be much delayed whilst things are sorted out. I hope certain things now in play might help to resolve those issues. Both those groups were raising money at Kidder towards working towards having more money to put forward for overhalls. 

 

The company now only owns Gordon - there are certain covenants in place which prevents its sale and Hagley Hall. The Babby aka Hinton Manor is owned by the Charitable Trust. All the other locos are owned by individual groups or individuals. 

 

The challenges are the ever increasing costs of restoration of locos. 

 

That being said the railway overall is in a better financial position than it was this time last year. Less paid staff and heads of heads of heads means we are making more headway. Its not out of the woods yet, but moving in the right direction. 

 

On the plus side 4150 should be finished this year with 82045 not far behind along with TV from its intermediate overhaul and 7802 with its new cylinder. 

 

I'd love to see TV in malachite with sunshine lettering, just to rub it in.

 

When's the new build supposed to be finished?

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15 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

I'd love to see TV in malachite with sunshine lettering, just to rub it in.

How about LBSC Improved Engine Green? Not wholly inappropriate, it was built at Brighton after all.

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1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:

The 2857 group have followed the 4566 group in moving to a trust so that the challenges the pig faces can be avoided. I'm not sure the pigs future is uncertain. It will just be much delayed whilst things are sorted out. I hope certain things now in play might help to resolve those issues. Both those groups were raising money at Kidder towards working towards having more money to put forward for overhalls. 

 

The company now only owns Gordon - there are certain covenants in place which prevents its sale and Hagley Hall. The Babby aka Hinton Manor is owned by the Charitable Trust. All the other locos are owned by individual groups or individuals. 

 

The challenges are the ever increasing costs of restoration of locos. 

 

That being said the railway overall is in a better financial position than it was this time last year. Less paid staff and heads of heads of heads means we are making more headway. Its not out of the woods yet, but moving in the right direction. 

 

On the plus side 4150 should be finished this year with 82045 not far behind along with TV from its intermediate overhaul and 7802 with its new cylinder. 

I really hope that the Pig's issues can be resolved, it's a well suited locomotive to the line plus it's my daughter's favourite ever since it took her to see Santa in 2015. We have made a promise to ourselves yesterday to get a ride behind the Pig again in the future as we couldn't get to the line on Sunday as I came down with COVID on Saturday evening.

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9 hours ago, rogerzilla said:

 

 

When's the new build supposed to be finished?

 

You can follow progress here. 
 

82045 news

 

It’s a brave man that makes predictions but the boiler is making progress and she is starting to look like a Standard 3mt tank ….

 

 

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11 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

The 2857 group have followed the 4566 group in moving to a trust so that the challenges the pig faces can be avoided. I'm not sure the pigs future is uncertain. It will just be much delayed whilst things are sorted out. I hope certain things now in play might help to resolve those issues. Both those groups were raising money at Kidder towards working towards having more money to put forward for overhalls. 

 

The company now only owns Gordon - there are certain covenants in place which prevents its sale and Hagley Hall. The Babby aka Hinton Manor is owned by the Charitable Trust. All the other locos are owned by individual groups or individuals. 

 

The challenges are the ever increasing costs of restoration of locos. 

 

That being said the railway overall is in a better financial position than it was this time last year. Less paid staff and heads of heads of heads means we are making more headway. Its not out of the woods yet, but moving in the right direction. 

 

On the plus side 4150 should be finished this year with 82045 not far behind along with TV from its intermediate overhaul and 7802 with its new cylinder. 


Cheers… it sounds like as often happens not everything is in the public domain. Hope they can move to fruition. 
 

Yes 2857 and 4566 groups certainly had a strong presence at the weekend along with the 42968 group. Good to see …. And hopefully they are getting a bit more help and support from the current management regime than the 813 group got from the last one . The railway certainly feels much more like it used to and seems to be innovating to create as much interest as possible eg the 37263 hauled train on Sunday evening. The return of more accessibly price on train dining might be a good move too but based on attendances at recent special weekends hopefully the railway can get back on financial track in 2024. 

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46 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

 

You can follow progress here. 
 

82045 news

 

It’s a brave man that makes predictions but the boiler is making progress and she is starting to look like a Standard 3mt tank ….

 

I for one am looking forward to that day having hatched the project back in 1997 on the footplate at Buckfastleigh talking to Dave Knowling.... and the rest is history

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11 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

 

You can follow progress here. 
 

82045 news

 

It’s a brave man that makes predictions but the boiler is making progress and she is starting to look like a Standard 3mt tank ….

 

 

The pipework around the lubricators ie a work of art!

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11 hours ago, John Besley said:

 

I for one am looking forward to that day having hatched the project back in 1997 on the footplate at Buckfastleigh talking to Dave Knowling.... and the rest is history

Lots of us too. You really have to be thanked for ever in starting the project which has grown.. When it first came some drivers mocked it saying it would never happen. Something they will be reminded about when it takes to the rails. My bits may only be small in measuring bits on 80079 which were common but no drawing existed and preparing some basic drawings, but at least I can say I did a bit. 

 

Hopefully by then we will have services from Bridgnorth and being a class 3 will be perfectly suited to the slightly smaller trains starting from there so it will not have to go to the south end, lol. 

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21 hours ago, rogerzilla said:

 

I'd love to see TV in malachite with sunshine lettering, just to rub it in.

 

When's the new build supposed to be finished?

From memory TV hopefully by the end of the year. 

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

Lots of us too. You really have to be thanked for ever in starting the project which has grown.. When it first came some drivers mocked it saying it would never happen. Something they will be reminded about when it takes to the rails. My bits may only be small in measuring bits on 80079 which were common but no drawing existed and preparing some basic drawings, but at least I can say I did a bit. 

 

Hopefully by then we will have services from Bridgnorth and being a class 3 will be perfectly suited to the slightly smaller trains starting from there so it will not have to go to the south end, lol. 

 

When I took the bull by the horns or should I say 82045 by its buffers and wrote to Steam Railway the flack I got was unbelievable... however Heritage Railways were very supportive right from the start,  which encouraged me to get on with it by seeing first what drawings existed and creating a data base of all the known ones first.

 

Then starting to buy them of the NRM starting with parts I knew could be made without costing a fortune but would be needed, first of was bunker handrails and lamp brackets Southern Region ones as I wanted 82045 to be a 72A engine, why? Well 82019 was a 72A engine for about 10 years also the one with the lonest life of all the 82xxx as well as one of the last in traffic along with 82029.

 

Other parts, fire hole doors, gauge frames, footsteps, set of buffers of an 08, located the chimney off 77014

 

The second person to come on board turned out to only be interested in building a 7.1/4" version and thought that was better than a full-size one ... he soon lost intrest.

 

The group building 72010 took an intrest as a 82' was also on their horizon and wanted to buy in on my plan - in effect taking it over.... but I pulled out of that as I couldn't see my engine getting built in my lifetime at that rate, so soldiered on gathering a few up along the way including Tony and Chris who where very supportive with out them I dont know where it would have got to but... the rest is history as we all know.

 

 

Edited by John Besley
Correction
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