Exploring the Severn Valley Railway GBRf Day

The weekend of 6-7th September saw me driving up to Kidderminster to spend the weekend at the Severn Valley Railway. The event was the Autumn Diesel Gala, this year GBRf would be supplying many freight only locomotives which was sure to bring in the crowds despite a forecast of unsettled weather.

The journey up included a detour to the Dean Forest Railway to visit their "Tanker Day" in which 50021 was running some demonstration freights with their rake of fuel tankers. I only stayed a few hours but it was a great experiance and the railway was to be commended for laying on this great event.

From there i

drove direct to my digs. The Granary Hotel was very comfortable and reasonable at £90 for the night and a pleasant change from my usual choice of a Premier Inn.

Bags dropped off it was straight to the railway. The milky white sky was clearing with some more defined clouds appearing. The sun came out and the sky was blue.

As i entered the station at Kidderminster i was greeted by the colourful duo of 69016 in its BTP blue and white livery buffer to buffer with 69015

in her brand new rail freight grey with red stripe livery. I then repositioned myself to the far end of the car park to photograph 40106 arriving with the 1435 from Bridgnorth. She was magnificent. This was followed by pictures of 1062 Western Courier and ED veterans 73107 and 73136. 57305 and 66710 in Rail 200 livery also received some attention. I spent several hours sat in the sun photographing the comings and goings. My Phoenix Railway Circle creative side was starting to rev up which resulted in a few abstract pictures which in turn caused other enthusiasts to look at me in a confused way.

Tea time arrived so myself and my travel companion adjourned for a well deserved curry at the nearby Punjab restaurant. Bhaji Beer and Balti were all delicious. Refreshed and recharged we returned to the station to photograph 40106 arriving with the 2100 from Bridgnorth. This was to be her last run on the SVR for the foreseeable future after a 7 year stay. After this event she would be returning to her permanent home of the East Lancs Railway.

The Class 40 Preservation Society were out in force and gave her a memorable reception.

Day 2 and the weather was considerably different, grey skies with forecasts of heavy rain.

A quick run up to Bewdley behind 66710 and returning behind 50033 started the day then the heavens opened. I headed for Highley behind Hagley Hall with the intention of positioning myself to get a shot of 69015 but i was not prepared for the thunderstorm and torrential rain. Sheltering in the museum and grabbing an early lunch i dried out a little. I then set myself up for the shot of 69015. I got soaked and i was in real fear that my camera would get too wet to continue to function despite my best efforts to keep it dry. Shot done and i was pleased with the results. I jumped on the same train to Bridgnorth and stayed on board for the return trip to Kidderminster behind 57305 giving me a little time to dry out.

The rain stopped and the sun came out creating many many creative photo opportunities. With my Phoenix cap on i filled my boots until it was time to drive back to Devon.