Locomotives named after the Severn Valley Railway

Locomotives named in honour of the Severn Valley Railway

31413 Severn Valley Railway

Built as a Class 30 A1A-A1A by Brush Traction of Loughborough, Works Number 313. Entered service in August 1961 as number D5812. Modified and reclassified as a Class 31 in June 1967. Renumbered to 31413 on 1 January 1973.[1]

31413 hauled a special service from Birmingham New Street to Kidderminster and Bewdley on Friday 22 April 1988. It was named “Severn Valley Railway” by Mr Sidney Newey, Director of Provincial Services for BR, at a ceremony at Bewdley.[2] The nameplates were removed on 30 April 1993,[3] and were transferred to classmate 31233.

The locomotive was withdrawn on 1 May 1997 and scrapped at Doncaster on 29 July that year.[4]

31233 Severn Valley Railway

Built as a Class 30 A1A-A1A by Brush Traction of Loughborough, Works Number 260. Entered service in October 1960 as number D5660. Modified and reclassified as a Class 31 in February 1967. Renumbered to 31233 on 1 January 1973.[5]

31233 Severn Valley Railway was named on 6 May 1993[6] appeared at the Diesel Gala in May 1993.[7] The naming was removed in 1999.

By 2015 it had become a Network Rail Departmental locomotive, carrying a yellow livery with grey/black roof and NR logos.[8] In 2018 it was offered for sale by NR and preserved at Mangapps Railway Museum.

47828 Severn Valley Railway

Brush Class 47 Co-Co built in 1965. Variously numbered D1966, 47266, 47629 and 47828.[9][10]

While operated by Virgin Trains, 47828 was named at a ceremony at Kidderminster on 28 April 2001 during the 2001 Diesel Gala.[11] The full name was displayed as Severn Valley Railway Kidderminster Bewdley Bridgnorth, the longest name carried by any Class 47.[12]

The name was removed on 31 January 2005 [13], with one of the nameplates being put on display inside the SVR offices at Comberton Place. Shortly afterwards, while being operated by Cotswold Rail, 47828 was renamed ‘Joe Strummer’. It migrated to the Direct Rail Services Class 47 fleet before preservation by D05 Preservation Ltd.

66763 Severn Valley Railway

66763 during a visit in July 2017

E.M.D. Class 66 Co-Co Number 66763 attended the Diesel Gala in May 2016, courtesy of GB Railfreight. The locomotive was given the name Severn Valley Railway at a ceremony during the gala.

66763 made a return visit in July 2017 for PR purposes, accompanied by five GBRf biomass hoppers. A third visit was made for the 2018 Goods Gala, appearing in a demonstration freight train with three GBRf IIA hoppers, this configuration being repeated in a visit for a private charter event in June 2019.


220025 Severn Voyager

Bombardier Class 220 Voyager 220025 attended the 2002 Diesel Gala, courtesy of Virgin Trains. The unit was named Severn Voyager at the event, replacing its previous name ‘Virgin Voyager’[14]. As with all other units of the class, the name was removed on transfer to Cross Country trains in 2007 [15].

Locomotives names with local connections

Whilst not named after the SVR itself, the following locomotives have names relating to the area around the SVR.

GWR

A number of GWR classes of locomotive had themed names reflecting locations near (or not so near!) the company's lines.

  • GWR 1026 County of Salop and 1029 County of Worcester: GWR Hawksworth 1000 County 4-6-0
  • GWR 3290 Severn: GWR Dean 3252 Duke 4-4-0
  • GWR 3819 County of Salop and 3820 County of Worcester: GWR Churchward 3800 County 4-4-0
  • GWR 4930 Hagley Hall: GWR Collett 4900 Hall 4-6-0, named after an 18th century house at Hagley, located near Kidderminster.
  • GWR 4936 Kinlet Hall: GWR Collett 4900 Hall 4-6-0, named after a country house in the village of Kinlet, 3 miles from Highley and Arley, with the railway serving Kinlet Colliery.
  • GWR 6995 Benthall Hall: GWR Collett 4900 Hall 4-6-0, named after a country house located 1 mile southwest of Ironbridge and Broseley station.
  • GWR 5009 Shrewsbury Castle: GWR Collett 4073 Castle 4-6-0, named after the imposing castle overlooking Shrewsbury station.
  • GWR 7033 Hartlebury Castle: GWR Collett 4073 Castle 4-6-0, named after a fortified manor house situated between Hartlebury and Stourport.
  • GWR 4903 Astley Hall: GWR Collett 4903 Hall 4-6-0, named after the home of Prime Minister and GWR director, Stanley Baldwin, near Stourport.[16]
  • GWR 4981 Abberley Hall: GWR Collett 4981 Hall 4-6-0, named after the country house five miles from Stourport.[17]

BR and post-privatisation

  • 31147 Floreat Salopia: Brush Class 31 A1A-A1A, named 30/05/1993 to 31/05/1997.[18]
  • 47822 Pride of Shrewsbury: Brush Class 47 Co-Co, named 25/05/1998 to 31/05/2002.[19]
  • 58005 Ironbridge Power Station: BREL Class 58 Co-Co, named 12/05/1996 to withdrawal.[20]
  • 58042 Ironbridge Power Station: BREL Class 58 Co-Co, named 29/09/1986 to 05/02/1996.[21]
  • 67012 A Shropshire Lad: Alstom Class 67 Bo-Bo, named after a collection of poems by A. E. Housman from 03/07/2008 to 31/07/2015.[22]
  • 67014 Thomas Telford: Alstom Class 67 Bo-Bo, named after architect and engineer Thomas Telford from 15/08/2008 to 31/07/2015,[23] Telford being responsible for bridges at Buildwas, Bridgnorth and Bewdley, and the imposing church of St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth.

Other

  • LNWR 275 Shropshire and 1471 Worcestershire: LNWR Whale Experiment Class 4-6-0, later numbered LMS 5541 and 5549 respectively. The 'Shropshire' nameplate is on display in Kidderminster Railway Museum.
  • 6880 Betton Grange, a manor house located between Berrington and Shrewsbury. 6880 was planned but never built by the GWR, and is now under construction as a new-build locomotive at the Llangollen Railway.
  • Ironbridge No 1, Peckett 1803/1933. Worked at Ironbridge power station, now preserved at Foxfield Light Railway.
  • Ironbridge No 2, Peckett 1893/1936. Worked at Ironbridge power station, now preserved at Coleford GWR Museum.
  • Ironbridge No 3, Peckett 1990/1940. Worked at Ironbridge power station, now preserved at Telford Steam Railway.
  • Kinlet, Andrew Barclay 782/1896. Worked at Kinlet Colliery, now preserved at Blists Hill, Ironbridge Gorge Museum.
  • WD 193 Shropshire, Hunslet 3793/1953. Worked on the WD-operated Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway, named 'Shropshire' while a SVR resident. Now preserved at Ribble Steam Railway.
  • GWR Bulldog class 3701 was named 'Stanley Baldwin' in 1909 in honour of Bewdley's most famous resident, a GWR director who went on to become three times Prime Minister. Upon Baldwin being ennobled as Earl Baldwin of Bewdley in 1937, the name was removed from 3701, and GWR Castle class 5063 was named 'Earl Baldwin'.
  • GWR Saint class 2941 was named Easton Court, the manor house that also gave its name to the station at Little Hereford on the Wyre Forest Line.[24]

It should be noted that GWR 6901 Arley Hall was named after Arley Hall in Cheshire, not Arley in Worcestershire.

Gallery

See also

References

Links