Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2011

2011 timetable

This page details events on the Severn Valley Railway during 2011.

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January 2011

On 20 January 2011, thieves broke into Bridgnorth Boiler Shop and stole a quantity of copper worth approximately £70,000.

Work began on two major infrastructure upgrades. At Arley Station the track was re-laid with improved drainage being installed, while the platforms were also re-faced. At Bewdley South (Sandbourne) viaduct the track bed was removed to reveal the top of the brick arches, which were lined to make them waterproof. Both jobs were completed in time for re-opening in late March. The P.W. staff also carried out major track renewals between Sterns and Hay Bridge and between Victoria Bridge and Arley.

February 2011

7802 Bradley Manor’s firebox was deemed unfit for further service, 8 months before its boiler certificate was due to expire.

March 2011

On 6 March 40 workers from the national stationery and office supplies retailer Ryman, dressed as nuns in traditional black habits, pulled D8059 over a short section of track as part of a bid to raise £10,000 for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. The Nuns on the Pull (Planes, Trains and Automobiles) charity day pulled an aeroplane 100 yards at East Midlands Airport before moving to the SVR to pull the locomotive 100 yards along the track.

On 11 March the new wheeldrop at Bridgnorth Loco Works was officially opened in the presence of invited guests, including representatives from First Group and Heritage Railway Awards.

On 24 March boiler SVR1 was dispatched to the Talyllyn Railway at Tywyn. This was the first new boiler to be completed by the SVR and the first boiler completed in Bridgnorth for nearly two hundred years. It was fitted to Talyllyn Railway No 2 Dolgoch.

April 2011

No Spring Steam Gala had taken place due to the engineering work. Plans for an Easter re-visit by 60163 Tornado were thwarted when the locomotive failed in late 2010 with boiler issues. Easter instead saw a ‘Postman Pat’ event at The Engine House.

May 2011

43106 re-entered service following repairs to the damaged piston incurred in December 2010.

Sharp Stewart 0-4-4T Dunrobin arrived at Bridgnorth for a quotation for overhaul costs on behalf of the Beamish Railway Museum. The locomotive had recently been repatriated from Canada.

The NRM’s MR Midland Compound 1000 left the SVR. The locomotive had been on display in The Engine House since it opened in 2008.

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  Midland Compound No. 1000

Ian Riley’s 'Black 5s' Nos 45407 and 44871 and Class 26 No. 5310 made an appearance at the 1960s event.

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  45407
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  44871

June 2011

The SVR ran a special train on 1 June with proceeds going to help the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, which had suffered two successive embankment collapses. The GWSR was one of the railways which had come to the aid of the SVR following the flood damage in 2007.

Members of the cast of the TV series 'Allo 'Allo were interviewed prior to 2011 Severn Valley Railway 1940s weekend.

Summer 2011

BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No 92212 from the Mid Hants Railway became the third summer hire-in in three years, working services in July and August. The SVR’s new policy of weighing new locomotives on arrival (another legacy of the derailment of 43106's tender at Hampton Loade in September 2009) revealed two broken springs, which slightly delayed the entry into service. (See picture below)

The Bewdley Carriage & Wagon Works won a contract job to finish paint Mike Little's GWR Auto Coach No 238 ‘Chaffinch’. Mike Little's locomotive GWR 1450 and his two Auto Coaches later moved to the SVR in 2014.

2857 re-entered service after a lengthy overhaul.

Nick Paul became SVR(H) Chairman on 19 July.

From 23 July to 4 September advance purchase 'Summer Saver Tickets' gave a saving of 20% off the normal ‘Freedom of the Line’ price.

August 2011

There was confusion over expansion plans. Local press reported the SVR could be extended and new stations built under ambitious multi-million pound plans. Quoting Nick Ralls, SVR general manager, it reported the SVR was considering “very aspirational” proposals that could be 20 years away to provide a link from Bridgnorth to the Ironbridge Gorge. A clarification followed shortly thereafter ruling out an extension, but confirmed that SVR(H) had agreed to look again at the concept.

September 2011

The Autumn Steam Gala took lace on 23-25 September. By public demand a new evening fare was introduced for travel on trains between 6.00pm and midnight. The guest locomotives were:

• 6024 King Edward I : GWR Collett 4-6-0 King class (deputising for 'Blue King' 6023 King Edward II which was unavailable)
• 57566 [CR 828]: Caledonian Railway McIntosh 812 class 3F (first visit in preservation to an English railway)
• 60163 Tornado: LNER Peppercorn A1 Pacific (boiler had been repaired in Germany during the summer)
• 4160: GWR Collett 5101 'Large Prairie' (deputising for 5029 Nunney Castle also unavailable)
• 92212: BR Riddles Standard 9F class 2-10-0 (summer hire-in)

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  6024 King Edward I
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  57566 [CR 828]
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  60163 Tornado
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  4160
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  92212

Phil Brown was appointed to the vacant post of Operations Manager, coming from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway where he was Deputy Operating Manager.

November 2011

BR Standard Tank No 80072 arrived on hire from Llangollen to help with the Christmas services.

• 
  80072 at Highley (2 January 2012)

See also

• The Severn Valley Railway in preservation

Permanent Way

Severn Valley Railway

The Railway Museum, formerly the National Railway Museum

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (Commonly known as the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway)

British Rail or British Railways

The British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.

Great Western Railway

Charles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941

John Farquharson McIntosh, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Caledonian Railway 1895-1914

The British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.

London & North Eastern Railway

Locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel configuration

Locomotive with a 2-6-2 wheel configuration

Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives

In reference to the direction of travel means towards the major terminus (i.e. towards Kidderminster on the present day SVR)