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Bridgnorth Loco Works

279 bytes added, 12:57, 8 October 2021
Added boiler shop name, from info given by Martin White
==Boiler shop==
[[File:Bridgnorth_Boiler_Shop_20150614.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Bridgnorth Boiler Shop]]
Bridgnorth boiler shop The '''George William Knight Boiler Repair Shop''' is situated to the rear of the machine shop and loco shed.
===Construction===
Before the boiler shop was built, riveting of boilers was done outdoors. Following complaints by neighbours, Bridgnorth District Council unexpectedly served a noise abatement order on the Railway on 25 March 1986 ordering it to stop riveting boilers in the open air.<ref>SVR News 80</ref> The Railway lodged an appeal, and a Crown Court hearing on 11 July overturned the injunction. At the same time 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.<ref>SVR News 81</ref> The SVR launched a [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC#Share_offers|share offer]] in 1988 to raise £500,000 for construction of the new boiler shop, the largest capital project since the first phases of Kidderminster Town station. Reasons for the high cost included soundproofing using brick and breeze block walls and special doors and windows, and pile driven foundations to take the weight of a substantial 30-ton overhead crane.<ref>SVR News 88</ref>
October 1988 saw "''…an orgy of boiler smithing''" as the boilers from 5764, 4566, 42968 and 7802 were all completed and the site then cleared. The contract for construction was let, with work commencing on 21 November 1988 and a target completion date of April 1989. The main contractors were Hickmans of Wolverhampton; the principal sub-contractors were [[David Owen|Rubery Owen Steelwork]] for the frame of the building / crane rails and Davy Morris of Loughborough for the overhead gantry crane.<ref>SVR News 90, 91</ref> Some delays were incurred in construction, but the building was sufficiently complete by the August bank holiday for it to be used as a temporary paint shop for varnishing [[BR 16267 Composite Corridor|BR 16267]]. Boiler work in the shop commenced later in 1989,.<ref>SVR News 94</ref> with the  The official opening ceremony being was performed by HRH The Duke of Gloucester on [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1990-1999#1990 | 29 October 1990]]. It was named after George Knight, former deputy chief boiler inspector of British Railways London Midland Region based in Derby, who regularly gave up his time to train the Railway's earliest paid staff. Sadly, he died before the boiler shop was completed.
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.
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