Difference between revisions of "Tales from the Severn Valley"

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==Severn Valley Railway News saves the day==
 
==Severn Valley Railway News saves the day==
 
Severn Valley Railway News (the Railway’s quarterly magazine) is not just a good read, it once rescued a railtour!  While on an SVR Railtours excursion in April 1984, Class 40 no 40024 failed at Hereford.  The fault was diagnosed as a loose contactor causing poor electrical connection.  The offending contactor was wedged in place with a copy of SVR News, and the tour continued to Leeds after a 10 minute delay.
 
Severn Valley Railway News (the Railway’s quarterly magazine) is not just a good read, it once rescued a railtour!  While on an SVR Railtours excursion in April 1984, Class 40 no 40024 failed at Hereford.  The fault was diagnosed as a loose contactor causing poor electrical connection.  The offending contactor was wedged in place with a copy of SVR News, and the tour continued to Leeds after a 10 minute delay.
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==April Fool!==
 +
The ‘April Fool’ involving the [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1980-1989#1985 | repainting of City of Truro]] in BR livery is well known.  Two other ‘April Fools’ appeared in the spring 1996 edition of SVR News Locomotive Notes.  One reported that 2857, then under overhaul, was to be fitted with a Giesel ejector to reduce coal consumption.  The other reported that to meet Health and Safety requirements on monitoring crew working hours, locomotives were to be fitted with tachographs.
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==A real Thomas enthusiast==
 +
In February 1996, the SVR received a fax from a Mr Chee in Malaysia, saying he has found the SVR on the Internet (which was primitive in those days!) and asking if the SVR did Thomas the Tank Engine weekends.  A reply in the affirmative was faxed, and Mr Chee duly arrived from Selangor in June with his wife and young son.
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==Children and animals==
 +
The late John Leach was for many years the SVR’s Marketing Manager.  Two examples of his maxim that ‘children and animals make a good story’.  In 1995 the SVR membership hit 16,000, including a Dalmatian dog which had been enrolled by his owner.  When contacted, the owner agreed that this would make a good local news item. The story escalated, eventually reaching several of the national tabloids (the Daily Star in typical fashion referring to the Dalmatian as ‘A new breed of train-spotter’).  The same year a 10 year old girl sent a donation of £20.63 to the Railway which she had saved over the previous 6 months.  The Bewdley office staff rounded this up to £25 which bought her a £25 share in the Railway. A ‘news photocall’ of the presentation was organised, which BBC ‘Midlands Today’ attended, and later broadcast a 4 minute news item on prime-time evening television. As John Leach pointed out, a 4 minute advertisement on Central TV would have cost the Railway around £215,000.  Such is the value of a good story.
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==See also==
 
==See also==
 
[[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation]]
 
[[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation]]

Revision as of 16:57, 10 February 2015

A page for sundry stories from the history of the SVRSevern Valley Railway. Mostly taken from SVRSevern Valley Railway News, but feel free to add your own reminiscences.


Minor Derailments

In summer 1977 the SVRSevern Valley Railway experienced two minor derailments in quick succession. The first was unusual for the reason it happened; 45110’s rear coupled driving wheels were derailed by a piece of coal in Bridgnorth yard! The second was notable for the manner in which it was resolved; 47383 got ‘in the dirt’ at Highley while on standby duty. Once the crew had packed the wheels with some handy fishplates that were lying about, a Driver/Director passing on 80079 left his own locomotive, boarded the casualty, drove it back onto the rails, re-joined his own train and left without any delay to the passenger service.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch aka Highley

During 1982, passengers between Arley and Hampton Loade were surprised to find themselves passing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Highley had been renamed for the filming of a TV commercial.

Nesting Thrush floors 3205

In 1983, 3205 failed a Fitness To Run examination for an unlikely reason; a thrush had nested in the cab! The locomotive returned to service once the fledglings had flown the nest.

Lady A' steps-in for Clun Castle

Also in 1983, Hunslet 686 The Lady Armaghdale spent 7 weeks at the Birmingham Railway Museum (now Tyseley Locomotive Works) and took place in Tyseley’s celebrations of 75 years as a steam depot. Sunday 5 June was scheduled to be Industrial Steam Day, but Tyseley’s own Peckett was out of action. In an unusual role reversal, ‘Lady A’ hauled passenger services all day while 7029 Clun Castle acted as Depot shunter.

Severn Valley Railway News saves the day

Severn Valley Railway News (the Railway’s quarterly magazine) is not just a good read, it once rescued a railtour! While on an SVRSevern Valley Railway Railtours excursion in April 1984, Class 40 no 40024 failed at Hereford. The fault was diagnosed as a loose contactor causing poor electrical connection. The offending contactor was wedged in place with a copy of SVRSevern Valley Railway News, and the tour continued to Leeds after a 10 minute delay.

April Fool!

The ‘April Fool’ involving the repainting of City of Truro in BRBritish Rail or British Railways livery is well known. Two other ‘April Fools’ appeared in the spring 1996 edition of SVRSevern Valley Railway News Locomotive Notes. One reported that 2857, then under overhaul, was to be fitted with a Giesel ejector to reduce coal consumption. The other reported that to meet Health and Safety requirements on monitoring crew working hours, locomotives were to be fitted with tachographs.

A real Thomas enthusiast

In February 1996, the SVRSevern Valley Railway received a fax from a Mr Chee in Malaysia, saying he has found the SVRSevern Valley Railway on the Internet (which was primitive in those days!) and asking if the SVRSevern Valley Railway did Thomas the Tank Engine weekends. A reply in the affirmative was faxed, and Mr Chee duly arrived from Selangor in June with his wife and young son.

Children and animals

The late John Leach was for many years the SVRSevern Valley Railway’s Marketing Manager. Two examples of his maxim that ‘children and animals make a good story’. In 1995 the SVRSevern Valley Railway membership hit 16,000, including a Dalmatian dog which had been enrolled by his owner. When contacted, the owner agreed that this would make a good local news item. The story escalated, eventually reaching several of the national tabloids (the Daily Star in typical fashion referring to the Dalmatian as ‘A new breed of train-spotter’). The same year a 10 year old girl sent a donation of £20.63 to the Railway which she had saved over the previous 6 months. The Bewdley office staff rounded this up to £25 which bought her a £25 share in the Railway. A ‘news photocall’ of the presentation was organised, which BBC ‘Midlands Today’ attended, and later broadcast a 4 minute news item on prime-time evening television. As John Leach pointed out, a 4 minute advertisement on Central TV would have cost the Railway around £215,000. Such is the value of a good story.


See also

The Severn Valley Railway in preservation