RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 5, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2016 Many thanks for putting that informative post on Blandford As a supporter since 1970 - I was on the first public train from Bridgnorth - I share your positive points but also some of the disappointment others are expressing around the replacement of the annual gala with what appears to be a non enthusiast event. Its a shame the FS visit couldn't have been planned for a different weekend so the railway could benefit from two significant income streams. Mind you, the Manor 50 event later last year was popular so I do hope the doubters are confounded and both this plus the rearranged and later gala are successful Kind regards Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Blandford1969 Posted April 5, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2016 I'm afraid that was when the engine was made available to us. At that point we had not had the experience of the Scot / Tornado weekend, or autumn Gala last year, which of course as history shows was busy with the combination of engines and then led to the decision to just have the two engines and then have the November event. At a personal level I enjoy driving in the dark as it requires more skill, although if offered Tornado again I would happily drive her. The volunteers and paid staff involved since then have been deep in thought and they have tried to think through the options and are continuing to work on plans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 5, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2016 Never been on the footplate in the dark but having travelled up the Valley in the past behind 5164 in the Gresleys on a moonlight night on an all night running gala the atmosphere was amazing. Can only imagine what that's like on the footplate. Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted April 5, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2016 Slightly off topic but the SVR is on the news tonight with chaos caused by the Flying Scotsman tickets causing their website to have a meltdown. I think they were caught out by its popularity. Unhappy customers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 A shame that there were many disappointed people. But the interest in Scotsman has been almost unprecedented. I think making tickets available for pre-booking was a sensible decision by the railway. How many preserved railways have websites that could handle that sort of volume? Many large arenas have had similar issues when selling tickets for big acts. Fact of life I am afraid. People are always going to miss out when demand is so big. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Blandford1969 Posted April 6, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2016 Slightly off topic but the SVR is on the news tonight with chaos caused by the Flying Scotsman tickets causing their website to have a meltdown. I think they were caught out by its popularity. Unhappy customers. The last thing the SVR wanted was unhappy customers, if we could have run the engine for twice as long I suspect we would have had the same of tickets selling out. The demand was unprecedented and as Andy Ram said it arenas sometimes have similar problems. The railway is sorry for the website problems and that there were people who were unhappy at not being able to purchase tickets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted April 6, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2016 On the positive side Flying Scotsman does seem to be responsible for a wave of resurgence in interest in steam trains at the moment . That can only be good for the preservation movement and model railways Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 So, no SVR Autumn Gala? How do I get my fix of steam this September? If they do have it in November it'll be too b. cold to sleep in the 'van. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Blandford1969 Posted April 7, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2016 So, no SVR Autumn Gala? How do I get my fix of steam this September? If they do have it in November it'll be too b. cold to sleep in the 'van. Ed No, not this year, however it will be back in next year. November can be very mild, it was this year, but you never can tell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted April 11, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2016 Shame about the autumn steam gala, highlight of the events calendar for me, but the Western Weekend sounds very tempting, especially as I've had to miss out on the diesel gala this year (again). Cheers, Keith 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobM Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 (edited) Anyone visiting the SVR during this weekend's 'Open House Weekend' don't forget the layouts on display at both Kidderminster Railway Museum and Engine House at Highley.....should be good guys....Regards Bob http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=67 http://www.svr.co.uk/pdf/Gate%20Leaflets/SVROpenHouseWeekendLeaflet.pdf Edited April 11, 2016 by BobM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garethp8873 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Well I can't believe my last post SVR related was back in September 2015. Well anyway moving on... today at the SVR was an important day for me, mainly because I've not been to the SVR since October 2015. This was due to personal reasons and until recently anxiety issues in relation to having Aspergers Syndrome. To try and tackle this, I decided to visit Bewdley today as this is my favourite place on the railway. All in all today has been very useful in trying to get over the rut I've been in since October. Photography wise it has been well worth it as I was able to witness SVR's latest overhauled engine, GWR 813 (ex-Port Talbot 26) heading down to Kidderminster to pick the GWR Toplight set for her first test loaded run since returning to steam last week. Looking forward to seeing more of GWR 813 over the next few years...!! Today's photos are at this link. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted August 16, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2016 Smashing to see her back - going back to the dark days of severe motive power shortage pre water softening days truly a heroic engine.... Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Well I can't believe my last post SVR related was back in September 2015. Well anyway moving on... today at the SVR was an important day for me, mainly because I've not been to the SVR since October 2015. This was due to personal reasons and until recently anxiety issues in relation to having Aspergers Syndrome. To try and tackle this, I decided to visit Bewdley today as this is my favourite place on the railway. All in all today has been very useful in trying to get over the rut I've been in since October. Photography wise it has been well worth it as I was able to witness SVR's latest overhauled engine, GWR 813 (ex-Port Talbot 26) heading down to Kidderminster to pick the GWR Toplight set for her first test loaded run since returning to steam last week. Looking forward to seeing more of GWR 813 over the next few years...!! Today's photos are at this link. Great pictures. I am looking forward to my visit next week. Sorry to hear of your anxiety issues. Well done for pushing yourself to go. I remember doing the same a few years ago - making myself drive over for a ride when I was struggling with something similar. Think Bradley Manor was my engine on that day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Great pictures, pleased you were able to visit the railway, and great to see 813 back. I last saw 813 on the Swanage Railway and immediately became very fond of it! I visited the Severn Valley Railway for the first time a few weeks ago and had a fantastic day out. I will add some photos to here once I've sorted them out for my website. There was the added excitement of a 'drunk' gentleman attempting to climb on the roof of the train before running off down the valley once the train reached Bridgenorth. I'd be interested to know what happened next but I would assume that its not in the railway's interest to provide such information, if they do know it. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garethp8873 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Great pictures, pleased you were able to visit the railway, and great to see 813 back. I last saw 813 on the Swanage Railway and immediately became very fond of it! I visited the Severn Valley Railway for the first time a few weeks ago and had a fantastic day out. I will add some photos to here once I've sorted them out for my website. There was the added excitement of a 'drunk' gentleman attempting to climb on the roof of the train before running off down the valley once the train reached Bridgenorth. I'd be interested to know what happened next but I would assume that its not in the railway's interest to provide such information, if they do know it. Thank you Chris. I've always found that 813 has a particular charm about her. 813 is the main reason I enjoy the SVR and I am hoping that she will be travelling to Didcot at somepoint soon as well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garethp8873 Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) A few more shots today of 813 being put through her paces today. Edited August 18, 2016 by Garethp8873 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) A few more shots today of 813 being put through her paces today. Great pictures. I was there today, travelling behind Sir Keith Park. Never seen a loco fail to climb out of Highley before. It took SKP three attempts to make it past Country Park Halt enroute to Bridgnorth with a seven coach train, only succeeding after reversing through Highley Station to level with the Engine House. Perhaps 813 should have been deployed on banking duties. Edited August 18, 2016 by andyram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avonside1563 Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Great pictures. I was there today, travelling behind Sir Keith Park. Never seen a loco fail to climb out of Highley before. It took SKP three attempts to make it past Country Park Halt enroute to Bridgnorth with a seven coach train, only succeeding after reversing through Highley Station to level with the Engine House. Perhaps 813 should have been deployed on banking duties. According to a friend of mine who fires there it's quite common for the two Bullieds on the Valley to struggle with some of the gradients. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 According to a friend of mine who fires there it's quite common for the two Bullieds on the Valley to struggle with some of the gradients. Thanks for the information. First time I have experienced it with SKP and I have ridden behind it a few times. I guess I have been quite lucky. It did seem to have a very bad day yesterday, but made up for it with decent climb of Eardington Bank on the second return trip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobM Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Hello Guys.....Summer may be drawing to a close now, but the gardens along the SVR here at Arley and all the other stations along the line are at their peak now...... These hydrangeas take a bit of watering but it is all worth it in the end...... Regards guys... Bob 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Blandford1969 Posted August 21, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 21, 2016 According to a friend of mine who fires there it's quite common for the two Bullieds on the Valley to struggle with some of the gradients Our gradients are only 1 in 100 at most. The challenge is really Highley where now we have to stop with 2 off at the north end you are biting on the sharp curve and already on the gradient. SKP can sometimes not want to start in reverse gear, and so far 1 out of 3 valves has been reset. My personal way round is making sure I drain the steam chest every time I stop in reverse gear to maximise the chance. I also start in full gear. Certainly they can be light on their feet and just need driving, rather than opening the regulator and leaving it to it. Again my preference is to have about 140 psi in the steam chest and then drive totally on the reverser. If it slips quickly wind it to mid and then wind it out till you get traction. The only places I find her light, is leaving Bridgnorth first thing in the morning when there is dew on the rails and Highley bank. Some have struggled on Eardington, but again maybe it depends when you make sure you get going. I open up as soon as I am by the 15mph end board to get some acceleration before getting onto the 1 in 100 (our ruling gradient) On the news front Bridgnorth has finally been given planning permission for the new Buffet and other buildings. The Holdings Board has kept 900K for the project but is going to launch a share issue for 2.5 Million. The G Board to keep at the 22% share holding in H would need to find around 700K. There is a difference in preference between Bewdley and Bridgnorth men, with it being suggested Bridgnorth men are happier with a WC than Bewdley, certainly it always seems that way!. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 When I was there ten days or so ago, Taw Valley was certainly slipping on the start from Bridgnorth although it was quite late in the day; a bit of slip heading north out of Bewdley as well, which rather surprised me, but I presumed the rail was greasy. Both quickly brought under control, I'm glad to say! And the line is, as always, a total delight! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avonside1563 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 There is a difference in preference between Bewdley and Bridgnorth men, with it being suggested Bridgnorth men are happier with a WC than Bewdley, certainly it always seems that way!. Ah the Bewdley/Bridgnorth rivalry! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonman Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 A few more shots today of 813 being put through her paces today. Nice weathered finish, too... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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