Severn Valley Railway | Shropshire 2022 | Day 05

#Shropshire #SevernValleyRailway #steamtrains The weather today promised to be a little damp so we decided to visit the Severn Valley Railway. Opened in 1862 after a nine-year building project, the Severn Valley Railway was originally part of the much longer Shrewsbury to Hartlebury line. The original line contained 15 stations and didn’t have the Bewdley to Kidderminster section, until the loop line was constructed and opened in June 1878 by GWR, who ran most of the railways in South and mid-Wales. The line was never the busiest, largely because it had been laid as a single-track line for economy. Although several passing loops were added later, the limited capacity meant that it could never aspire to regular through traffic from stations and industries outside of the Severn Valley, and so only saw local passenger and goods traffic. Fortunately, there were several coalfields in the area that used the Railway to transport their coal to nearby power stations and further afield. In 1948, the government nationalised the railways and the Severn Valley Line passed to the newly formed British Railways (BR). The following decade saw many of the steam-hauled passenger trains replaced by diesel units. Traffic had been in decline since the 1920s and in the early 1960s BR announced the line was ‘suspected of being unremunerative.’ Although plans to close the line began as early as 1961 and all passenger services stopped in 1963, a mere two years later a plan to save the Severn Valley line began in a pub – as most good things do! After the line was handed over the British Railways, a series of tense negotiations between the Severn Valley Railway Society and BR commenced. Eventually the line was saved and on the 1st February 1966, BR agreed to the line being purchase for £25,000. In 1967, the first loco arrived – No. 3205 – and by 1969, the Society had four locos at its disposal, including The Flying Pig 43106 which still runs on the SVR today. Twelve months later, a Light Railway Order was granted and on 23rd May 1970, the first official train of the Severn Valley Railway ran between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade. Against all odds, the Severn Valley line was back! We enjoyed riding on the trains which although quite expensive for a family of four was surprisingly long! The Kidderminster Railway Museum is a hidden gem. We loved learning how to change the points! ***************************************************************** Recent Videos Visiting Edinburgh ~    • Visiting Edinburgh, The Edinburgh Vaults a...   Shropshire Day 01 & 02 ~    • Arriving and Ludlow Castle | Shropshire 20...   Shropshire Day 03 ~    • Blists Hill Victorian Town & Ironbridge | ...   Shropshire Day 04 ~    • Go Ape Wyre Forest | Shropshire 2022 | Day 04   ***************************************************************** Fans of Tiger Tom and Wild Will Our Website ~ http://www.TigerTomandWildWill.com Email our parents ~ [email protected] Subscribe to our Channel:    / tigertomandwildwill