A video of the lineside action from another superb spring steam gala from the Severn Valley Railway with three visiting engines and the homefleet all in attendance. The gala was blessed with settled conditions throughout the main three days and with an adventurous timetable to boot followed by some superb timekeeping, this was one of the railway's finest event's in many years.
In the end the three main guests were on all the smaller scale in terms of size that is, though the spring galas tend to lean towards that anyway. The first visitor was from the Bluebell Railway and it was SR A1X Class 'Terrier' No 672 Fenchurch which would arguably be seen as the star of the show and would be seen on local services from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade. The second guest was courtesy of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and it was no other than No 29 Lambton tank aka Peggy which would grace the metals of the SVR. The final guest which was a late announcement was the South Devon Railway's pannier tank 1369 which would look well at home on the former Great Western branchline.
As stated above the homefleet were all in attendance with 7812 Erlestoke Manor taking the plaudits for the best performer in my opinion. The recently returned LMS 5MT Mogul was also back but now in its full LMS livery and it looked superb, the engine performed well especially on the Thursday with its load 10 special. Unfortunately the loco was withdrawn on the Sunday for minor fault. 4930 Hagley Hall was also in fine form and looked great on the recently returned full GWR coaching stock which is without doubt the pride of the Severn Valley's collection of rolling stock. B.R STD 4 75069 features and also Taw Valley makes an unexpected return to service to cover for the no show of Betton Grange which has once again been delayed by a few weeks. The only homefleet engine which doesn't appear in this video is resident pannier tank 7714.
As I mentioned above, this really was a top notch gala, and I'll say again the timekeeping was exceptional for such an ambitious timetable. The only downside was the lack of performance from some of the locos, this was most likely due to the fact there was a few lineside fires on the sections of line where the locos are usually opened up but obviously this is outside of the railway's control, to a certain point. Anyway I hope you enjoy the sight and sound of steam along the finest stretch of a preserved Great Western branchline.