A special visitor to the SVR

The Pannier Tank Engine 9466 has originally been booked for the Autumn Steam Gala in September, but some extra days were still left in the contract and the SVR chiefs decided to make use of them.

Ex-BR (Western Region) Pannier tank 9466, which is based at the Ecclesbourne Vallley Railway, was built in 1951, to one of the last Hawksworth designs produced for the GWR. Its main line working life lasted little more than a decade before it was withdrawn to join many other steam locos in the scrapyard at Barry.

SVR's Lesley Carr said: "We were very pleased to welcome 9466 to the SVR. It can be seen regularly out on the main line, hauling rail tours, and was a great addition to the fleet for our recent Autumn Steam Gala.

"We put it together with the SVR-based pannier tank GWR 1501 to double-head, and that proved a superb sight for visitors to the event. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to keep the loco here for a few extra days of steaming, and it’s performed extremely well.

Despite some loco withdrawals during the recent Steam Gala, which included guest loco 4953 ‘Pitchford Hall’ on the final day of the event, quick thinking and a rapid re-organisation of diagrams saved the day, and services were able to go ahead with minimal disruption.

Brian Malyon of the Gala committee added: “It really is very satisfying that the SVR has pulled off this Gala so well. Considering how recently Covid-19 restrictions have been eased, and the fact that we only re-introduced ‘hop on, hop off’ services a couple of weeks ago, I think we’ve done this very successfully.

“We saw a full timetable of services, which included a number of goods trains between Kidderminster and Bewdley, as well as overnight running on both the Friday and Saturday. Once again, the SVR has risen to the occasion, and it is a testament to our volunteers, who over the course of the four-day event, put in around 600 shifts between them, carrying out roles from footplate crew to station staff and everything in between.”