Severn Valley Railway Autumn Gala, 21st September, 2001
Three words in "Steam Railway" tempted me to attend the SVR Autumn Gala; they were "Duchess of Sutherland". I was after photographs of LMS locomotives for my LMS site and this was the best opportunity to get a "Princess Coronation" and a "Crab" for the collection. There was also the possibility of 60009 "Union of South Africa" and 34027 "Taw Valley" as well, however 34027 was still in "Harry Potter" livery which I didn't want, and I decided to ignore 60009 in favour of the LMS engines.
LMS "Princess Coronation" class 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" stands at Kidderminster before departing for Bewdley.
With my "summer holiday" due and a trip on the rescheduled "Severn Coast Express" on the Monday after the gala planned, the timing couldn't have been better and I decided to book at ticket for the Friday, the 21st as I suspected that the weekend would have been packed out. If the attendees on the Friday were anything to go by, the weekend dates must have been bursting to the seams.
This was a day when my philosophy of "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy" applied, but in fairness, my plans were based on the 25% chance that the "Duchess" would be hauling the first train out of Kidderminster. Arriving at Kidderminster (unlike my trip to the SVR in the previous year, Central Trains ran on time and I arrived at Kidderminster on time), I was a little disappointed to find that 42765 was taking the first northbound train from Kidderminster. Still, it was an LMS locomotive and my secondary target for the day, so I wasn't overly disappointed.
"The Duchess Departs". Observed by a large crowd, 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" departs from Kidderminster towards Bewdley.
I travelled behind 42765, intending to go as far as Bridgnorth for my first run and stopping at an intermediate station on the way back. Looking out of the carriage windows heading north, I could see dozens of orange Hi-Vis jackets and I concluded that the SVR must have made a fair amount of money on lineside photography passes. The stations were also packed with photographers and I wondered just how many had paid for Rover tickets like myself.
The day's plans were effectively abandoned at Hampton Loade. With information that we were about to cross over with 6233, I left the train and joined the "Duchess" as she headed south. I decided to abandon the intermediate stop and stayed with 6233 for the remainder of the afternoon. Although I had made a packed lunch at home, I abandoned it in favour of carrying a tripod, and, in hindsight, I wish I'd left the tripod at home; the abandonment of the intermediate stop rendered it more of a burden than a use, but I did use it for a few shots at Kidderrminster in the late afternoon. The bacon roll I bought from the buffet car on 6233's train was excellent; the bacon roll fast becoming my choice of snack when travelling on preserved lines.
I had hoped that one of the shops on the line might have a copy of "LMS 150", but this was not to be the case. Arriving back at Kidderminster around 4pm, I decided to buy a couple of books from the station shop and say goodbye to 6233. This turned out to be my best photographic opportunity as the crowds were thinning out as this point and both pictures of 6233 on this page were taken at this point. I could have travelled a little further at this point and still made it home by train, but I chose to wait for 42765 to return and ended the day with a few final shots of this engine.
LMS 2-6-0 "Crab", number 42765 at Kidderminster
In conclusion, it wasn't a bad day out if you were along just to reminisce. However, conditions for photography were not ideal unless you did it from the lineside and even then it appeared that people were fighting for space. I would only be inclined to do it again if "Royalty" were present, otherwise I'd settle for an ordinary day out on the SVR.