"Smile now"
Hi all, Once again me an Jenny took another trip to the Severn Valley Railway, this time with the company of Jenny's best friend Alice, who has been mentioned in a previous blog post from the Llangollen trip. - see post here. Having caught the train from Burton to Stone to meet the girls we then caught a train to Stafford to change for a train to Smethwick Galton Bridge. where we would then change for a train to Kidderminster. Having arrived at Kidderminster, we collected our pre booked tickets from the booking office and went to the café for refreshments and in Jenny and Alice's case BREAKFAST!!
"Give it a push"
Refreshments finished we wandered onto the platform to board our train bound for Highley. At this point it I'll make mention that it was Alice's first time to Severn Valley Railway and I think she was a bit overwhelmed by it all. Once we boarded the train, we managed to find a compartment with a lady and gentleman and their grandson, - Thanks for allowing us to join you as far as Highley. At 11:10 we departed Kidderminster behind 7802 'Bradley Manor' on our way to Highley for the Engine house and model railway displays. Before long we it was time to leave the train at Highley in order to visit the engine house.
"Taking photos"
Having got off the train at Highley, I decided I wanted to stand and watch 7802 depart with her train for Bridgnorth. I knew that with a 8 coach train and a 1 in 100 climb and wet rails, 7802 was likely to loose her feet on the climb. Sure enough I was right. The driver whistled and 7802 started her train away, to begin with we thought she was going to get away cleanly without a problem, but sure enough, just as the last coach started to pass us, we heard 7802 loose her feet, but impressively the driver managed to control the slip to avoid the train being brought to a stand still. Having watched the train leave we headed for Highley Engine house after showing our tickets to the ladies in the main entrance, we started to walk round to have a look at the various layouts on display.
As we wandered round the museum looking at the various layouts that were being exhibited, It become clear that Alice was quite overwhelmed by the size of the engines in the Engine House, having made sure Alice was ok we carried on walking round the exhibits, And even managed to get Jenny to pose as if she was trying to push Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 46443 aka 'The Mickey mouse' as the class is often referred to as. It wasn't long before the girls spotted the TPO coach, so we had to have a look inside the coach,... It would be hard not to.
"Smile now!"
After having a look at the exhibits downstairs we decided it was time for a light lunch. So wandered up stairs to the café. Having eaten lunch and figured out a plan for the afternoon we dashed back to Highley Station from the engine house in order to catch the double header behind 1501 and 1450 to Bridgnorth. Soon we were on our way to Bridgnorth...well after a brief stop at Hampton Loade in order '7802 Bradley Manor' to pass us on her way back down to Kidderminster that is.. Soon it was onwards to Bridgnorth. Our arrival at Bridgnorth saw us arrive on Platform 1 alongside 34027 'Taw Valley', which that and its train could be seen on Platform 2 awaiting the route to depart. It wasn't long before 34027 was due to leave so, having found a space on Platform 1 I prepared to film 34027 depart, well attempt to depart. She lost her feet a few times as the engine struggled to depart Bridgnorth on her way back down the line.
"New Build loco 82045"
Having watched 34027 depart for Kidderminster, we wandered over to the sheds for a walk round the sheds which was open to the public as part of the 'Open House Weekend', At this point, I'll point out that the sheds aren't normally open to the general public so access is limited to special events ONLY. After walking round the sheds and looking at the progress on 4930 'Hagley Hall' and 75069 it was back to the station for a quick look inside Bridgnorth Signal Box. As we walked back to the station, I managed to get a quick photo of 82045's frame, Boiler and cab. For those who don't know, 82045 is a New Build engine just like 60163 Tornado, the latter being build and completed in 2008 - 2010. Where has 82045 is due to be finished sometime in 2018 - 2019.
"The leaver frame inside Bridgnorth Signal Box". (Pic - J Davies)
Before long it was time for me to surrender the Canon Photo camera to Jenny for her to get a few photos for me. We stood at the bottom of The signal box and was quickly offered up inside by the signal man. Needless to the say the signal box was lovely and warm and Jenny and Alice's ears soon pricked up at the mention of the station catch that apparently is known for sleeping in the signal box. Before long it was time to re board the train back to Kidderminster for our journey home. I'll try and write a separate post soon explaining more about the insides of a signal box as seen in the photos above and below.
"Track diagram". (Pic - J Davies)
Soon we were retracing our steps back to Kidderminster behind 1450 and 1501 which were both double heading. As we headed back down the valley, i was able to get a photo from the carriage window as we arrived at Arley, Which is a lovely station in itself and has plenty of character, for those that don't know. Arley was used in 'Goodnight Mister Tom' and in 'Oh Doctor Beeching' the latter being about a branch line in the 1960s at risk of closure. Despite only being a 2 series sitcom by David Croft, Its a very interesting program and myself, Jenny and our families have spent many happy days watching the series through, so much so, I think we can recite the words off by heart.
The return home was pretty much standard, having seen the girls as far as Stafford, we said good byes and parted company as they returned to Stone. I headed back to Burton via Tamworth. Once again another great trip out with Jenny and Alice. Thanks again both for your company. And once again thanks for reading all, And goodnight, Jake...
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