Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

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general rocket
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Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by general rocket »

This weekend the Severn Valley Railway held their annual diesel gala. I decided to drive to Kidderminster at the other end of the line to try the lighting there.
Either by accident or design there was an English Electric theme, types 1 to 5 as well as other types. Here is a selection of some of the 1oo plus photographs that I took.
Class 20, English Electric type 1. D8059. Unusually for a British locomotive, she is single ended, though they where generally run in pairs with the cabs to the ends. Designed as a freight engine, the class was introduced from 1957-67, they are Bo-Bo's with a weight of 73 tons, an output of 1000bhp giving a top speed of 75mph. 228 where built.
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Class 40, English Electric type 2. 40106 "Atlantic Conveyor". Designed as a mixed traffic locomotive, the class was introduced from 1958-62, they are 1Co-Co1's with a weight of 132 tons, an output of 1550bhp giving a top speed of 90mph. Of the 200 built, 7 are left.
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Class 37, English Electric type 3. 37109. Designed as a mixed traffic locomotive they excelled in the heavy freight role, the class was introduced from 1957-61, they are Co-Co's with a weight of 105 tons, an output of 1750bhp giving a top speed of 80mph. There where 309 built.
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Class 50, English Electric type 4. 50015 "Valiant" 50026"Indomitable" and 50049 "Defiance". Derived from the Dp2 project ( a sort of mark 2 Deltic) they where designed as a fast passenger locomotive eventually finding a home in Western region replacing the class 52's running from London to south Wales and the west country. The class was introduced from 1967-68, they are Co-Co's with a weight of 117 tons, an output of 2070bhp giving a top speed of 100mph. 50 where built, and later they where all named after famous warships and approximately half are left.
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Class 55, English Electric type 5. The famous Deltic's. D9009 "Alycidon" in green, and 55019 "Royal Highland Fusillier" in blue. Designed as a long distance express traffic locomotive, they used exclusively on the London Kings Cross to Edinburgh route, they replaced the Gresley A4 streamliners, and where themselves replaced in the early 1980's by the Intercity 125. The class was introduced from 1961-62, they are Co-Co's with a weight of 105 tons, though they look heavier in blue, and an output of 3300bhp giving a top speed of 100mph. Always excellent performers, due to their relatively complex nature, maintenance cost where high, which with the small number built, sealed their fate. Of the 22 built, 6 are left.
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Class 52. Western Hydraulic. D1015 "Western Champion". Designed as an express locomotive for the Western region, at a time when the Western Region was still trying to keep it's identity as the Great Western Railway, so they alone employed hydraulic transmission while everyone else was using diesel- electric's. Arguably the most handsome diesel locomotive ever built, the class was introduced from 1961-64, they are C-C's with a weight of 110 tons, an output of 2070bhp giving a top speed of 90mph. Of the 74 built, 7 are left.
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The Severn Valley Railways own Diesel Multiple unit.
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Castle Class, Great Western Railway 4-6-0, "Earl of Mount Edgecombe". This engine was not part of the Gala, but is seen hauling a rail tour along the Worcester to Birmingham line, which is visible from Kidderminster station. Designed as a 4 cylinder express passenger and developed from the earlier Star class 4-6-0 locomotive, the class was introduced in 1923 the last one being built in the early 1950's by British Rail, they have a weight of 80 tons plus a 40 ton tender. 166 built, plus 6 Star engine where converted Castle class specification 8 are left.
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by JamesPerrin »

Nice to see disels being celebrated, I've always been fond of the the classic shape with the airliner cockpit style windows.
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by TobyC »

Apart from excellent photography the subjects are indeed a bit special. Although deep down I'm a steam man there's something very engaging with the earlier diesels shown here.
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by Dazzled »

Smashing pictures of what looked like a great day out. I have quite a soft spot for class 52s although I do very little with 1:1 scale railways these days.
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general rocket
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by general rocket »

Glad you like them lads.
I love them all Steam, Diesel, Electric, Narrow and Standard gauge.
Diesel Gala's are some of the big money spinners for preserved railways, as lets face it, any one under 50 has never seen a steam locomotive in the wild, these are the classic loco's of their (my) youth, and some of these machines are of national importance.
A couple of memories if I may.
Back in the late 70's when I was a teenage trainspotter, I saw class 50 loco's on 10 occasion's, of which 50045 was seen 6 times. Appropriately she is/was named "Achilles".
In those days you could get from Telford to York on a day excursion for 1.50, so we did, as often as we could afford it (not that often unfortunately). As the Deltics where only to be found on the East Coast Mainline, it was here that I first saw "Royal Highland Fusilier", I never saw "Alycidon" in the wild. On 1 occasion, our train (hauled by a class 47) was 20 minutes late leaving York, on the way, we thought "This is moving a bit". It must have been, because despite a 20 minute delay at Dudley Port, we arrived back in Telford 40 minutes early.
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by iggie »

Nice to see some old familiar shapes there; I used to live next to Sonning Cutting on the Western Region mainline, and watched many class 50s and 52s thunder past.
loved Deltics too, you could always tell if one was in the station at King's Cross by the low throbbing that pervaded the entire place :lol:
Watching class 37s start, with a heavy train coupled was always exciting; clouds of clag belching out of the exhausts :-D
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Many thanks for the pics and all your information about the locos. I enjoyed looking at them. Looks like you had a great day.

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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by ShaunW »

Excellent General. One of the main lines between York and Sheffield used to run past the bottom of my parent's garden and so me and my mates didn't have far to go to indulge in a bit of spotting with our little Ian Allan books. At 52 I barely remember steamers going past (save for more recent runs of the Flying Scotsman on tourist/nostalgia trips) but certainly remember the distinctive engine note of a Deltic.
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general rocket
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Re: Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala 2014.

Post by general rocket »

It's a certain fact that a 37 starting up is a spectacular sight enough smoke to give a Green Peace member heart failure. The Deltic can be just as "picturesque", and I just missed "Alycidon" starting up. I saw the crew climb aboard, so I planned my shot, and waited. My patience would have paid off had some one not asked me what was due in next just as she started up with the usual clouds of smoke, so I missed it, DAMN IT!
Iggie is right about the noise of the Deltic's, the throb of the 18 cylinders is glorious, and unmistakable, and has to be heard. almost as soul stirring as a Merlin.
Okay Shaun, I admit it! I did check some of the details in my 1978 Combined Volume. I also just about remember my sister taking to watch the trains on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line, five minutes walk from where we lived. Memories I don't trust, considering them to be polluted, as there is to much detail in the images.
Two more good things about Kidderminster Station, a quite palatable Chilli from the Museum, and a pint of Stowford Press cider from the bar(Bridgnorth Station sells Thatchers cider, also acceptable).
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