Rail visitors take a train trip back in time

Visitors to the Severn Valley Railway were asked to wear their best nylon stockings and head scarves as they stepped back in time to help the heritage railway line celebrate the 1940s.

The highlight of the two-day event on Saturday and yesterday was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which saw historic planes taking to the skies for a flypast of the full 16 miles of the railway between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.

Visitors were encouraged to dress up in authentic 1940s-style clothes for the occasion.

For ladies, head scarves and fox furs were in vogue whereas the men opted for cloth caps and braces, soldiers' uniforms and a few people were pretending to sell black market goods such as cigarettes and nylons.

Organisers said about 1,000 dressed up and the weekend saw about 4,500 visitors altogether.

An extensive steam train service operated both days.

Steve Fulcher, event organiser, said: "The trains were nearly all full and there was a great atmosphere."

The whole of the SVR, a former Great Western Railway "secondary" route, was used extensively during World War Two for diverting strategically important troop and supply trains around the Midlands.

A big band show and vintage military vehicles, mock air raids and some archive films were all also part of the attractions.

The 1940s fun will be repeated again next weekend.

By Catherine Roche