Severn Valley Railway Spring Diesel Festival

The highlight of my calendar for the last few years has been the Diesel Gala on the Severn Valley Railway, this year they have moved it to May (its usually been in early October) and called it a Spring Festival. The reason they moved the date, they say, is because it is more difficult to get guest locos in October compared to the (late) Spring...

They certainly pulled out all the stops this year, there was a huge line-up of guest locos. I spent most of my time at Kidderminster yesterday and at times i didn't know where to look! On one side you had a Class 31 idling, going past at a Class 46 Peak and the other side a Network Rail Class 73. I haven't seen this variety of diesel locomotive all operating in the same place since the 1980s. The SVR must be congratulated for the amazing event they have pulled off (and continues until Saturday), moving it to May certainly has worked. You can see my photographs from Day 1 of the festival here.

Back to Worcester

Last year i worked in Worcester for 6 months and have come to really love this beautiful and historic city so it was nice to visit again yesterday, for rail and canal photography natch.

One thing i never did do when i worked there was take a train to Worcester Shrub Hill which is a lovely grand old station though somewhat out of the way compared to Foregate Street which was the station i used when i worked in Worcester. I also walked along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal up to Diglis Basin. Many photos of course, of Shrub Hill here and of the canal and basin here.

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is not one i have walked along (yet) but it is one i regularly travel over when i visit the Severn Valley Railway as the line crosses the canal via the Falling Sands viaduct in Kidderminster. The canal is 46 miles long and was opened in the early 1770s. The canal links up with the river Severn at Stourport and the Trent & Mersey Canal at Great Haywood.

The canal's strength was that it linked up the Severn to the Trent and was a major North-South link through the West Midlands, much of the trade being coal. Traffic from Birmingham and the Black Country used the canal as part of the route up to the Mersey. Later canal openings such as the Worcester & Birmingham Canal did take away much of its trade however it remained profitable until the end of the 19th century which is more than could have been said for a lot of canals. It remained independent until canal nationalisation in 1948 with commercial coal traffic continuing up until then.

The Southern terminus of the canal is at Stourport which was built as an inland port to serve the new transport link to the Severn. Stourport was the only town in Britain built because of the canals.

Behind the scenes

Back to the Severn Valley Railway yesterday this time for the "Behind the scenes" open day, this is when the SVR grant the public access to areas of the preserved railway that are usually restricted to members and staff such as the workshops at Bridgnorth and the carriage sheds at Kidderminster. I had a great time exploring these areas of the SVR as well as the cab of a class 20 diesel locomotive, amazingly it was the first cab i have ever been in! You can see my photos here.

Maybe the best part of the day was being able to get "up close and personal" with locomotives. Usually you interact with locos at platform level but when you are track side you get a much different and much more impressive perspective of these machines.

The Railway Inn, Droitwich

The Friday pub photo.

The visit of the Silver King

Now i travel down from Birmingham to London quite often and have taken Chiltern Mainline's loco hauled train quite a few times too (its always my preference). However when i heard that one of these trains was to travel the Severn Valley Railway... well i just had to go and see.

So my third visit to the SVR in a short space of time, but the first time i've been all the way up to Bridgnorth. I travelled up on a steam train but travelled back down on the Chiltern (it was chartered for a rail tour but there were 2 trips along the line open to everyone). It was a very novel experience and most enjoyable. I think i do prefer a bit of Mark 1 coach thrash though but travelling the SVR with wifi just had to be done! You can see the photos i took here.

George Hotel

The Friday pub photo, the George Hotel in Bewdley.

Return to SVR and Bewdley

When i took a trip on the Severn Valley Railway back in late June it was the first time i had been on the line for thirty odd years but now i've been on it again within a couple of months. This time just a short trip up to Bewdley, somewhere else i have not been for a long time. In fact it was when i went on a camping trip with the Cub Scouts to Bewdley, and thats when i was probably on the SVR last before this year too. Today our haulage was Southern Region in the shape of a Battle of Britain Pacific.

Unfortunately it rained all the time we were in Bewdley so that put a literal damper on things but i took some nice photos, you can see the SVR ones here. I must return soon, preferably on a dry day.

Old code

An old sign at Wilmcote railway station, the town is given not the code to dial.

Missing Worcester

Although i don't miss the commute i do miss Worcester. How could you not miss sights like this?

Severn Valley Railway

The Severn Valley Railway is one of those gems in Midlands' tourist attractions that i have kept meaning to visit but always forget to... until now. I had a few days left on my last train season ticket to Worcester so took the opportunity to visit the SVR at Kidderminster. I have actually been to the SVR once before but that was when i was a cub scout in the late 70s or early 80s. I remember a camp somewhere near Bewdley, and a trip on the train to Bridgnorth but little else apart from earwigs and a sprained ankle.

I didn't go to Bridgnorth this time but instead took the steam train to the new visitor centre and museum at Highley. The journey there was in an old skool compartment coach, such a lovely way to travel. You can see my photos here. Well its taken me over 30 years to return to the SVR but i think my next trip will be soon. Less than 30 years time anyway!

Contrasting front ends

Contrasting DMU front ends at Worcester Shrub Hill, a class 170 and a 156.

Worcester boats

Waiting for customers.

A farewell to Worcester

I've been taking a lot of photographs in Worcester this year as thats where i have been working! However on Friday that will end, i will bid farewell to Worcester after 6 months and will instead be working in Solihull. I am sad to go in many ways, the people i work with are great and Worcester itself is wonderful though its a long way to go every day and there are other issues (which its best not to go into!)

But anyway its been great Worcester, and i'll be back to visit for sure. How about a photo of some lovely wild flowers taken near the river?

Pulling into Shrub Hill

A DMU passes the fine semaphore signals as it enters Worcester Shrub Hill.

Worcester racecourse

No horses were about luckily.

The Talbot

The Talbot pub in Droitwich Spa.

Hitting the buffers

The buffers at the end of a siding at Worcester Shrub Hill.

Shrub Hill signals

Platform signals at Worcester Shrub Hill.

Floodlights

A set of floodlights at a small sports ground in Worcester.