32 evocative photos of the Severn Valley Railway as its own-build station turns 40
Over the last 40 years, hundreds of thousands of people of all ages have enjoyed a step back in time and ridden behind a steam locomotive on the Severn Valley Railway.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The vast majority of those journeys will have started and ended at Kidderminster Town station, which looks like an authentic station set on the Great Western Railway in the 1900s.
But what visitors may not know is that this isn't an original station at all.
Kidderminster Town was built by volunteers on the site of sidings that once made up the town's goods yard. Between 1970 and 1984, trains only ran between Bridgnorth and Bewdley, but once the British Sugar Corporation stopped using its siding in Kidderminster in early 1982, the SVR managed to buy the last 1.5 miles of track to reach the Worcestershire town.
Work started on the new station in early 1984, with the platform and track ready to accept the opening train on July 30 that year.
On opening day there wasn't much more, with passengers buying tickets from a temporary booking office in an old carriage.
The rest of the station was completed in phases over the next 22 years, with the buildings that now contain the shop, booking office, bar and restaurant, opening in 1986 and the glazed roof over the concourse not being completed until 2006.
Over the weekend of July 27/28, the SVR will celebrate 40 years of Kidderminster Town with flagship locomotive 4930 Hagley Hall recreating the 'Kidderminster Venturer' opening train it pulled back in 1984. The train will depart at 12.30pm on both days.
"Opening up the line from Kidderminster made a huge difference to us in 1984," explained managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster.
"Quite simply, it meant we were within easy reach of hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the Midlands, and beyond. The fact that Kidderminster also had a main line station really was the golden egg, as the SVR was infinitely more accessible to more people than ever before."
The celebrations will also include a display of classic vehicles that would have been on the road in 1984, give visitors the chance to peek behind the scenes at Kidderminster’s signal box and carriage works, as well as short footplate rides.
Kidderminster Railway Museum will host a new exhibition, telling the story of Kidderminster Town station, through memories and archive photographs, while the Gauge I Model Railway Association will operate a live-steam model railway on the station concourse all day, and the Coalyard Miniature Railway will operate during the afternoons.
Two local breweries, Bewdley Brewery and Hobsons, are collaborating to produce a commemorative ale in honour of the occasion, which will be on sale during the weekend.
Next year, the SVR will celebrate 60 years in preservation.
