The Severn Valley Railway held its Autumn Steam Gala 2021 between the 16th and 19th September and saw thousands of enthusiasts visit the heritage railway.
Despite two locomotive withdrawals, including 4953 Pitchford Hall and GWR 813, re-organisation of the diagrams helped and meant the services on the railway, which runs between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, could run with minimal disruption.
The overnight services also returned, as well as an intensive timetable with freight trains.
Did you attend the gala? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and share your photos on LocoStop.
“It really is very satisfying that the SVR has pulled off this Gala so well,” said Brian Malyon, chairman of the Steam Gala Committee. “Considering how recently Covid-19 restrictions have been eased, and the fact that we only re-introduced ‘hop on, hop off' services a couple of weeks ago, I think we've done this very successfully.
“We saw a full timetable of services, which included a number of goods trains between Kidderminster and Bewdley, as well as overnight running on both the Friday and Saturday. Once again, the SVR has risen to the occasion, and it's testament to our volunteers, who over the course of the four-day event, have put in around 600 shifts between them, carrying out roles from footplate crew to station staff and everything in between.”
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What about the non-show of 46233 Duchess of Sutherland which was supposed to have been the star of the gala?
We hung around at Bridgnorth station for the better part of an hour on Friday afternoon waiting for something interesting to arrive but, when BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75069 (home fleet) finally did, it was retired for the day, so that was that. (They did the exact same thing with LMS No. 46100 Royal Scot at the last gala we attended, which was even more frustrating).
Bulleid Pacific 34027 Taw Valley (again home fleet) was running but unfortunately it was departing just as we arrived and we didn’t see it again. Ivatt Class 4 2-6-0 No. 43106 (home fleet) was (I believe) running but we didn’t see that one at all.
At Kidderminster, all we saw was a trio of 0-6-0 tank engines ~ nice enough for what they are, but hardly gala fare.
We were glad not to have pre-purchased tickets for what, as galas go, was pretty much a non-event, albeit not the fault of the SVR itself.
Went to the gala this year it was great as usual, the only thing l did not agree with was the ticketing on the overnight services, you r day rover finished at 20.30 after that you had to pay more, this was just too much so we travelled to Bridgnorth in the evening by car where we have a meal and have been for over 20 years so we could get back to our overnight Accommodation in kiddy we used to get the 22.00 departure but couldn’t this year. Better luck next year !
Absolutely Awesome steam gala. If the day was anything to go by the night event was something to desire and it didn’t disapoint. Being my first late night haulage experience the smile on my face stretched from ear to ear as the sound of the streamer chugging away and the flames pertruding the front chimney (Smokestack) in the dark was an image imprinted on my mind forever and the fact you could still get warm or cold drinks and food in the museum at Kidderminster station at such a late time of night was something I had never experienced before but was a Fantastic idea and we’ll recieved ” well done SVR you pulled out all the stops in my book and dare I say it “Yes” made it one of the best gala day and Night experiences I’ve ever been to. 👍😁