Severn Valley Railway

[PhilH]

5 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

It stalled one night and they had to get a diesel out to rescue it and then ran the class 20s instead for a few nights: it was referred to in the recent update to all volunteers.

Stalling on the 1 in 60 on a greasy rail is not unknown whatever the engine.. In the nearly 30 years I spent on the footplate there I’ve managed it myself on a few occasions.

Edited January 26, 2023 by PhilH

[rogerzilla]

Do they fill the sandboxes?

[Blandford1969]

10 hours ago, PhilH said:

Not quite sure where you got this from. My friends and ex-colleagues on the MHR said it performed well on the Steam Illuminations and other trains. 

 

It does , but as the valves were still not set (the SVR offered to do it) the furthest back you could get was 55%! - On ovoids it was using a ton per trip

[Blandford1969]

On 12/01/2023 at 21:07, rogerzilla said:

The latest update wasn't very upbeat,talking about redundancies.  I don't know how many paid staff they have compared to other heritage railways.  I know GWSR has barely any, but it's an outlier.

The paid staff were accounting for about 30% of all turnover. There are lots of rumours floating around of which none have been confirmed. What is certain is that 2023 will be a tough year. 

[rogerzilla]

Santa Special tickets are now on sale for 2023.  People on Facebook are being unkind.

[AY Mod]

38 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

People on Facebook are being unkind.

 

There's a surprise.

[rodent279]

1 hour ago, rogerzilla said:

People on Facebook are being unkind.

Situation normal then.

[Blandford1969]

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

There's a surprise.

There are a number of reasons for it the bookings being open for events through the year and the announcement of the timetable which is trains only starting from Kidderminster a maximum of 1 steam and 1 or 2 diesel. So a bit more complicated. Volunteers are not able to comment due to the Social Media Policy and have to be careful of what they write.  

[AY Mod]

6 minutes ago, Blandford1969 said:

There are a number of reasons for it the bookings being open for events through the year and the announcement of the timetable which is trains only starting from Kidderminster a maximum of 1 steam and 1 or 2 diesel. So a bit more complicated. Volunteers are not able to comment due to the Social Media Policy and have to be careful of what they write.  

 

It just annoys me that some of the commentators on there are unlikely to be or ever have been customers or visitors and think they're being clever making childish snipes. As you say, some may need to know over what section of the line the services will operate and when and to make group or family bookings in plenty of time. Just because valued customers are given as much forward information as possible it shouldn't be a reason to pollute the work of staff and volunteers just so they can make cheap jokes. They're only contribution is just to make society a bit more rubbish than it should be. And that's me being polite about the skidmarks of society.

[rodent279]

6 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

It just annoys me that some of the commentators on there are unlikely to be or ever have been customers or visitors and think they're being clever making childish snipes. As you say, some may need to know over what section of the line the services will operate and when and to make group or family bookings in plenty of time. Just because valued customers are given as much forward information as possible it shouldn't be a reason to pollute the work of staff and volunteers just so they can make cheap jokes. They're only contribution is just to make society a bit more rubbish than it should be. And that's me being polite about the skidmarks of society.

Facebook-as with most social media apps-is ones long string of look-at-me posts chasing likes.

I gave up on it during the first lockdown, when I realised that I was scrolling through hundreds of posts, probably less than 1% of which genuinely interested me. And that's before the false news, misinformation, blatant lies, compulsive sharing etc.

The final straw was someone who should have known better, whinging that they couldn't run 5K in less than 20 min after having COVID. Well aren't you a lucky boy, there's plenty of people who can barely climb the stairs after COVID- and they are the ones who are still alive.

Edited January 27, 2023 by rodent279

[AY Mod]

1 minute ago, rodent279 said:

Facebook-as with most social media apps-is ones long string of look-at-me posts chasing likes.

 

Look at me, look at me,LOOK, I demand you LOOK AT ME!

 

Mind you, the SVR social media bod is dishing out some burns. 😎

 

 

 

 

 

Good on 'em!

[rogerzilla]

The lack of an early departure from Bridgnorth will be an issue for some.  We always stay there rather than Kidders (which, being charitable, is not much of a tourist town).  Mind you, we normally only do the galas, and they'll be different.

[AY Mod]

3 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

The lack of an early departure from Bridgnorth will be an issue for some.  We always stay there rather than Kidders (which, being charitable, is not much of a tourist town). 

 

Most people start their journey at Kidderminster and go somewhere nicer. ;)

[PhilH]

Just now, AY Mod said:

 

Most people start their journey at Kidderminster and go somewhere nicer. ;)

You’ll be accused of being an -ist soon, although Kidderminsterist is a bit of a mouthful.

[AY Mod]

1 minute ago, PhilH said:

You’ll be accused of being an -ist soon, although Kidderminsterist is a bit of a mouthful.

 

We always travel from Bridgnorth so we can come back. ;)

[Siberian Snooper]

I think when Eddie and Richie did Bottom in Kidder, they succinctly described it, there's a short clip, on YouTube, if you search Bottom in Kidder.

 

 

[rogerzilla]

The station at Kidderminster is a triumph but, on busy gala days, you can smell the gents' urinals from some way down the platform 😷

[Phil Bullock]

Clarity on loco engineering department  work from the railway…

 

Severn Valley loco overhaul schedule

 

This doesn’t include locos being rebuilt off site…. 7802 at Tyesley is the only current one IIRC

 

 

[rogerzilla]

Someone will be along in a minute to say that Swindon Works would do a full heavy overhaul in a fortnight 😄

[woodenhead]

1 hour ago, rogerzilla said:

Someone will be along in a minute to say that Swindon Works would do a full heavy overhaul in a fortnight 😄

Just swap out the standard parts for those already refurbished or new items from the stock rooms - ironic really that CEM overhauls did it in for BREL Swindon in the 1980s.

Edited February 13, 2023 by woodenhead

[Michael Hodgson]

On 31/01/2023 at 21:44, rogerzilla said:

The station at Kidderminster is a triumph but, on busy gala days, you can smell the gents' urinals from some way down the platform 😷

Ah yes, a re-creation of the true Victorian atmosphere.

[Phil Bullock]

The financial issues are having further repercussions.

 

The Trustees of the Erlestoke Manor fund have now decided to hire the loco out to the West Somerset railway for the summer season. She will be at the SVR for the steam gala in April and will return to the SVR in the Autumn for Santa duties.

 

It’s no surprise that the fund should seek to maintain steaming and therefore income for a newly restored loco…. The SVR timetable as currently published only has a single steam turn on many days … although it has been said that this could be subject to change.

 

Tough times for railways and owners of steam locos….

[rogerzilla]

SVR have announced on Facebook that Taw Valley will be in SR (!) black with sunshine lettering this season.  The comments from purists are quite hilarious.  I think it will look great - if they could get the S15 back to run with it, even better.

[Blandford1969]

On 15/02/2023 at 12:55, Phil Bullock said:

The financial issues are having further repercussions.

 

The Trustees of the Erlestoke Manor fund have now decided to hire the loco out to the West Somerset railway for the summer season. She will be at the SVR for the steam gala in April and will return to the SVR in the Autumn for Santa duties.

 

It’s no surprise that the fund should seek to maintain steaming and therefore income for a newly restored loco…. The SVR timetable as currently published only has a single steam turn on many days … although it has been said that this could be subject to change.

 

Tough times for railways and owners of steam locos….

Its a single steam turn apart from gala at the moment. No mention of 40s weekend. 

To run the 2019 timetable would cost an additional 600K due to rises in coal and diesel. 

[papagolfjuliet]

On 16/02/2023 at 14:37, rogerzilla said:

SVR have announced on Facebook that Taw Valley will be in SR (!) black with sunshine lettering this season.  The comments from purists are quite hilarious.  I think it will look great - if they could get the S15 back to run with it, even better.

 

Sample comment:
"The railwAy must think we are fools!! I am not fooled! This a blatant attempt to reinvent history and present a wrong image to the public.

THIS SO CALLED PRESERVATION RAILWAY KEEPS PROVIDING REASONS FOR ME NOT TO VISIT.

I Will take.My custom elsewhere, where history is correctly represented!"

 

Bless.
 

When the KWVR temporarily repainted its S160 in BR black it was announced that the livery would be retained for one week for every complaint received. It looked so good that quite a few people 'complained' on that basis.

Edited February 18, 2023 by papagolfjuliet