Trustworthy, administrator
6,753
edits
Changes
m
Details added
===Wheel drop===
The loco shed includes a wheel drop which was formerly located at the Leicester Midland MPD (shed 15C). This was purchased and installed following an appeal for funds launched in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2009 | summer 2009]]. Installation involved digging a hole 6m deep, relocating a mains water pipe and pouring 200m<sup>3</sup> of concrete.<ref>[http://www.georgelaw.co.uk/casestudies/actual/bridgnorthwheeldrop.aspx Bridgnorth Wheel Drop case study on George Law's web site]</ref> The wheel drop won the [[Awards|National Railway Heritage Awards FirstGroup Skills Award ]] in 2010.<ref>[http://nrha.org.uk/winners-2010/] NRHA Awards 2010</ref>
The newly-installed wheel drop was used 'in anger' for the first time on 29 July 2010, when the trailing driving wheel set was removed from [[42968|Stanier mogul 42968]] to attend to loose axle boxes.<ref>SVR News 170/171</ref> This series of photos shows the wheel drop in use to remove a tender wheelset from [[GWR 7802 Bradley Manor]]
[[File:Bridgnorth_Boiler_Shop_20150614.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Bridgnorth Boiler Shop]]
To the rear of the machine Shop and loco Shed is the boiler shop. Before construction, riveting of boilers was carried out in the open air. Following complaints by neighbours, the Council unexpectedly served a noise abatement order on the railway. The SVR applied for, and in November 1986 was granted, a two-year [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1980-1989#1989|temporary planning permission]] allowing day-time open air working. The SVR launched a [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC#Share_offers|share offer]] in 1988 to raise £500,000 for the new boiler shop. In November 1988 the contract was let for construction, with a target completion date of April 1989. It was opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1990-1999#1990 | October 1990]].
In 2012 [[Severn Valley Railway Engineering Services]] took delivery of a CNC lathe to help with mass production of stays in the workshops, for SVR and contract use.
===2011 Copper theft===
On 20 January 2011 thieves stole copper sheets worth between £50,000 and £70,000 in a ‘pre-planned and highly professional’ raid, one of a series of major losses targetting copper at a number of heritage sites in that period. Theives Thieves had made an unsuccessful attempt 24 hours earlier, as a result of which the SVR immediately brought in specialist security advisors. However the gang broke in the following night using two ladders - one propped on top of another - to smash the security alarm 16 feet up on the outside wall of the building, and broke down the reinforced air-vent grille to gain access. They then hot-wired the 30-ton capacity overhead gantry crane, using it to lift eleven copper sheets weighing an estimated six tons in total into a lorry which they had reversed into the building. The theft, believed to have taken place some time after midnight, was discovered by SVR loco driver and permanent way man Bob Toy at around 7.30am the following morning.
The copper sheets had been cut to size and designated as new/replacement sections for the fireboxes of several locomotives, including [[82045]], [[47383]] and [[48773]]. In addition, they stole a made-up outside steam pipe from [[1501]] and the chains from the gantry crane. Workflow was not interrupted as the locomotives involved were not at that time being worked upon.