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[[File:GER_564_20170922.jpg|thumb|300px|right|2017 Autumn Steam Gala guest GER 564 at Arley]]For many enthusiasts, this the '''Autumn Steam Gala''' is the highlight of the SVR year involving operating around the clock for the whole weekend and having the presence of guest enginesvisiting locomotives. The first Autumn Steam Galas were referred to as "Enthusiasts' Days" or "Enthusiasts' Weekends"; these normally featured home locomotives only. In the 1980s, visiting locomotives began to appear and have done so for each year the Gala has run since 1990.  The event has also extended in duration and now typically incorporates a 'Preview day' on the preceding Thursday to the standard timetable but with visiting locomotives, and three days of Gala from Friday to Sunday inclusive with overnight running on the Friday and Saturday nights. One popular operation is the running of a "Breakfast train" using the [[Severn Valley Venturer]] stock.Other common features include demonstration freight trains and shorter local, part-line services.  Visiting locomotives are also often utilised in the days after the gala for private photographic charters.  ==Notable events==*'''1975''' First Enthusiasts Day, with 11 locomotives in steam.<ref>SVR News 37</ref>*'''1976''' First Enthusiasts Weekend.*'''1984''' First [[Steam Locomotives visiting the SVR for galas|guest locomotive]] at an Autumn Steam Gala (5051 "Drysllwyn Castle")*'''1989''' The "Autumn Steam Spectacular" was the last Autumn Steam Gala featuring home locomotives only.<ref>SVR News 94</ref> *'''1993''' First overnight running took place.*'''1998''' First three day gala.*'''2000''' The Autumn Steam Gala was cancelled due to the [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2000|boiler crisis]]. *'''2007''' The [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2007|Autumn Steam Gala]] took place despite the [[2007 Storm Damage| storm damage]] which closed the line north of Bewdley. The Gala included services running on the main line to Birmingham Snow Hill as well as between Kidderminster and Bewdley, the only unaffected section of the SVR. *'''2016''' The Autumn Steam Gala was replaced by the [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2010-2019#2016|'Pacific Power']] event featuring visiting locomotives LNER Gresley A3 Pacific No. 60103 'Flying Scotsman' and LNER Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 'Tornado'. ==Passenger numbers==From time-to-time the SVR publishes the number of Gala passengers, according to the method of counting these which has varied over time (for example, since 2010 documents sent to shareholders became valid as a ticket which did not need to be exchanged for travel.)<ref>[https://forum.svr-online.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1936 SVR Forum shareholders' Passes thread]</ref> The following is an incomplete record: {| class="wikitable sortable"!Year !! Number of passengers!! Reference !! Notes|-| 2008 || 7,596 || <ref>SVR(H) published accounts</ref> |||-| 2009 || 5,511|| <ref name="ASG1 ">[https://forum.svr-online.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3110&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=90 'Autumn Steam Gala 2014', SVR Online thread]</ref> || |-| 2010 || 5.775|| <ref name="ASG1"/> || |-| 2011 || 6,500|| <ref name="ASG1"/> || |-| 2012 || 6,318|| <ref name="ASG1"/> || |-| 2013 || 6,030|| <ref name="ASG1"/> || |-| 2014 || 5,901|| <ref name="ASG1"/> || |-| 2015 || 7,300|| <ref>[https://forum.svr-online.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3343&start=105 'Autumn Steam Gala 2015', SVR Online forum thread]</ref> || Over the Preview day and three days of Gala |-| 2016 || n/a|| || Replaced by 'Pacific Power' event. |-| 2017 || 5,300|| <ref>SVR News 200</ref> || |-| 2018 || 6,335|| <ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/epnovember18 Express Points November 2018]</ref> || Over the Preview day and three days of Gala |-| 2019 || 5,850 || || <ref>NBI</ref>|} ==See also==*[[Steam Locomotives visiting the SVR for galas]]*[[SVR Passenger numbers]] ==References==<references /> [[Category:Featured articles]]