Small is beautiful at the Severn Valley Railway

Hundreds of model railway enthusiasts from across the UK flocked to the Severn Valley Railway last weekend (24^th and 25^th September) for the O Gauge Get Together event, held at The Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley.

The event was organised by the Bewdley MPD O Gauge Society, a group of volunteers based at Bewdley motive power depot. It featured nine O gauge layouts and three displays and attracted many model rail companies to set up trade stands. It’s only the second such event at the railway, and the organisers were delighted with both the turnout of visitors and the comments they received.

“We had more time to plan our 2022 event than we did last year,” said SVR volunteer fireman Harry Bradley, “and that’s meant more layouts and a wider range of eras. We’ve had fantastic support from traders and the feedback from visitors has been hugely positive.

“One of the highlights for us was being able to raise £1,100 in a raffle for the SVR’s Bridgnorth Yard appeal. This will go towards essential repairs at the yard, where the main overhaul and maintenance of our steam locomotives takes place.”

“Another plus was a limited edition wagon, commissioned specially for our event,” added fellow organiser and volunteer loco driver Martin Wood. “We worked with Dapol Ltd to produce 50 ‘E.B. Mason’ sand wagons, and most of these were snapped up during the event.”

Fortunately, the event was able to go ahead despite a fourth ‘steam ban’ at the SVR, which has reverted to heritage diesel-only haulage until at least 3^rd October, after the problem of lineside fires continued. Fortunately, the railway has a strong fleet of diesel locomotives which stepped in to save the day.

This Thursday sees the start of a long-planned diesel takeover of the heritage line, with the SVR’s Autumn Diesel Bash. VIP guests Class 46 No D182 and two GB Railfreight Class 56 locomotives will join the homebased fleet for four days of diesel traction.

Tickets for the Diesel Bash and all other SVR events are available at svr.co.uk

Photo credit: Dan Shorthouse

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