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[[File:GER_564_20170922.jpg|thumb|300px|right|2017 Autumn Steam Gala guest GER 564 at Arley]]For many enthusiasts, the '''Autumn Steam Gala''' is the highlight of the SVR year, involving overnight running and having the presence of visiting 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 runs over 4 four days from Friday Thursday to Sunday inclusive, typically with overnight running on the Friday and Saturday nights. Other common features include demonstration freight trains and shorter local, part-line services. One popular operation in previous years has been was the running of a "Breakfast train" using the [[Severn Valley Venturer]] stock.
From time to time visiting locomotives are utilised for regular passenger services in the days after the gala. They were are also often sometimes used for private photographic charters until the practice was ended in 2021.
==Notable events==
*'''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'.
*'''2020''' The Autumn Steam Gala was cancelled due to the [[2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic]]
*'''2021''' First announced as a fixed itinerary 'excursion' service under COVID-19 restrictions, it reverted to a more traditional operation with passengers able to choose their itineraries. The Railway, however, continued to offer a small number of private bookable compartments, where passengers were guaranteed exclusive use of a compartment on a single train throughout the day. To assist with social distancing, the number of tickets available each day was limited.*'''2022''' There was evening, but not overnight, running. The reason given was to conserve coal supplies.*'''2023''' Thursday Preview Day plus Friday to Sunday, with the return of overnight running on the Friday and Saturday night.
==Passenger numbers==
!Year !! Number of passengers!! Reference !! Notes
|-
| 2008 || style="text-align:right;" | 7,596 || <ref>SVR(H) published accounts</ref> ||
|-
| 2009 || style="text-align:right;" | 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 || style="text-align:right;" | 5.775|| <ref name="ASG1"/> ||
|-
| 2011 || style="text-align:right;" | 6,500|| <ref name="ASG1"/> ||
|-
| 2012 || style="text-align:right;" | 6,318|| <ref name="ASG1"/> ||
|-
| 2013 || style="text-align:right;" | 6,030|| <ref name="ASG1"/> ||
|-
| 2014 || style="text-align:right;" | 5,901|| <ref name="ASG1"/> ||
|-
| 2015 || style="text-align:right;" | 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 || style="text-align:right;" | n/a|| || Replaced by 'Pacific Power' event.
|-
| 2017 || style="text-align:right;" | 5,300|| <ref>SVR News 200</ref> ||
|-
| 2018 || style="text-align:right;" | 6,335|| <ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/epnovember18 Express Points November 2018]</ref> || Over the Preview day and three days of Gala
|-
| 2019 || style="text-align:right;" | 5,850 || <ref>NBI</ref> ||
|-
| 2020 || style="text-align:right;" | n/a || || Event cancelled
|-
| 2021 || || ||
|-
| 2022 || style="text-align:right;" | >5,500 || <ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/bloct22 Branch Lines October 2022)]</ref> || |-| 2023 || style="text-align:right;" | 5,156 || ||
|-
|}
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[[Category:Featured articles]] [[Category: Special events]]
