Autumn Steam Gala
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.
Contents
Notable events
- 1975 First Enthusiasts Day, with 11 locomotives in steam.[1]
- 1976 First Enthusiasts Weekend.
- 1984 First guest locomotive at an Autumn Gala (5051 "Drysllwyn Castle")
- 1989 The "Autumn Steam Spectacular" was the last Autumn Gala featuring home locomotives only.[2]
- 1993 First overnight running took place.
- 1998 First three day gala.
- 2000 The Autumn Steam Gala was cancelled due to the boiler crisis.
- 2007 The Autumn Steam Gala took place despite the 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 'Pacific Power' event featuring visiting locomotives LNER Gresley A3 Pacific No. 60103 'Flying Scotsman' and LNER Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 'Tornado'.
2019 Autumn Steam Gala
Full details of the 2019 Autumn Steam Gala can be found on the SVR Web site. The Gala, which runs from 19-22 September, features three first-time visiting locomotives:
- 30541: SR Maunsell Q class 0-6-0. With thanks to The Maunsell Locomotive Society & Bluebell Railway.
- 34092 City of Wells: SR Bulleid West Country class Pacific. With thanks to East Lancashire Light Railway Co Ltd.
- 76017: BR Riddles Standard 4MT class Mogul. With thanks to Mid Hants Railway Ltd
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.)[3] The following is an incomplete record:
Year | Number of passengers | Reference | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | 7,596 | [4] | |
2009 | 5,511 | [5] | |
2010 | 5.775 | [5] | |
2011 | 6,500 | [5] | |
2012 | 6,318 | [5] | |
2013 | 6,030 | [5] | |
2014 | 5,901 | [5] | |
2015 | 7,300 | [6] | Over the Preview day and three days of Gala |
2016 | n/a | Replaced by 'Pacific Power' event. | |
2017 | 5,300 | [7] | |
2018 | 6,335 | [8] | Over the Preview day and three days of Gala |
See also
References
- ↑ SVR News 37
- ↑ SVR News 94
- ↑ SVR Forum shareholders' Passes thread
- ↑ SVR(H) published accounts
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 'Autumn Steam Gala 2014', SVR Online thread
- ↑ 'Autumn Steam Gala 2015', SVR Online forum thread
- ↑ SVR News 200
- ↑ Express Points November 2018