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A freak thunderstorm hit the Severn Valley Railway on the evening of Tuesday 19 June 2007, causing massive damage to the Railway’s infrastructure. Embankments collapsed, cuttings were filled with debris, and much other destruction took place. ==Repairs==An inspection of the line on Wednesday 20th 20 June confirmed that only the section between Bewdley and Kidderminster was relatively unaffected and could remain open for passenger traffic. By Thursday 21st 21 June the full implications for the Railway were understood and development of a recovery plan was under way. This would involve properly considered engineering solutions, not only to resolve the problems but hopefully to prevent them recurring.

*[[Oldbury Viaduct]]: the track bed was washed out immediately south of the viaduct, and the face of the embankment began to slide towards Daniels [[Daniel's Mill]] (which was also damaged). To resolve the problem a retaining wall was built, consisting of 25 concrete piles up to 30 feet in depth capped with a concrete beam.<ref>[https://pascoe-ltd.co.uk/project/daniels-mill-slope-reconstruction/ P&S Consulting Engineers website] (Retrieved 29 December 2018)</ref>

*[[KnowlesandsSidings|Knowlesands]]: Three sections of the railway were washed out in the area previously affected in November 2000. The repair involved replacing the unstable ground with ‘reinforced earth’, new fill material sandwiched with geotextile mesh.

An appeal for help was launched within days, and many fellow railways as well as members of the public rallied round to help the SVR. The final cost of repairs was approximately £3.7m. Of this total, grants from the European Regional Development Fund, Advantage West Midlands and the [[:Category:Lottery funding|Heritage Lottery Fund ]] amounted to approximately £1.9m, insurance contributed approximately £1.0m with the balance met by funds from the public appeal and SVR reserves.

Water draining from the surrounding land towards the River Severn normally flows under the railway through [[List of infrastructure#Types of bridge and crossing | culverts]]. Many of these became blocked by debris brought down by the storms, contributing to the number of washouts that damaged the line. Prior to the storms, the SVR possessed plans identifying 28 culverts under the railway. Subsequently, a detailed survey carried out to identify any unrecorded culverts increased this number to 108.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books | Sowden (2012), P30]]</ref> All the culverts were examined and upgraded or replaced where necessary. All workers entering enclosed spaces need to hold the relevant confined spaces certification and rescue winches, gas monitors, breathing equipment etc. need to be available. In view of this the SVR put the inspection duties out to specialist contractors.<ref>[https://forum.svr-online.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=59741#59741 [[Alvin Barker|Barker, A.]], 'Floods' thread, SVR Forum 7 February 2008] (Retrieved 23 December 2020)</ref> All are now numbered, their precise location and GPS coordinates recorded, and all are checked on a regular basis.

==Reopening==The section of the line between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade reopened for passenger services on Saturday 9 February 2008 to coincide with the half-term holiday. [[Diesel Locomotives hired by the SVR's success in recovering from |Electro-diesel E6006]] was the first locomotive to work the storm damage was marked by a number of awardsentire line between Bridgnorth and Bewdley on 10 March 2008, including hauling an engineers’ train with permanent way materials and also bringing [[47383|Jinty 47373]] to the Transport Trust's 'Preservationist southern end of the Year', the Ian Allen Publishing 'Heritage Railway line to be turned ahead of its planned move into [[The Engine House]] later in the Year' year. A special reopening train hauled by newly-overhauled [[7812|7812 Erlestoke Manor]] worked a return trip between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth on 20 March, with passenger services restarting on the Heart of England Tourist Board 'Best Tourism Experience of the Year'following day.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Sowden (2012)]] pp.44-45.</ref>

An exhibition entitled "'''2007 Storm Damage – 10 Years on''The SVR'" will be featured s success in recovering from the storm damage was marked by a number of [[The Engine HouseAwards|awards]] throughout 2017.<ref>[http://www.svr.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?a=767 Engine House Exhibitions in 2017], SVR.coincluding the Transport Trust's 'Preservationist of the Year', the Ian Allen Publishing 'Heritage Railway of the Year' and the Heart of England Tourist Board 'Best Tourism Experience of the Year'.uk news item</ref>

All pictures from Geograph via Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository