Severn Valley Railway sells off unused rolling stock
The Severn Valley Railway has sold one of its out-of-service locomotives to help secure its finances.
The cash-strapped heritage line has sold "Black Five" 45110, an LMS Stanier Class engine, to an unnamed buyer.
Managers at the heritage line say that the railway would not have been in a position to consider the locomotive’s restoration in the foreseeable future, and that the revenue generated by the sale will play an important part in securing the railway’s finances.
In April, the SVR launched a £1.5million Survival Fund appeal, to enable it to re-instate the cash reserve it had traditionally held in the bank before the financial challenges of the Covid pandemic and rapidly escalating running costs.
At the time, managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster warned that without an urgent injection of cash “we won’t be able to lift the railway out of the financial difficulties it’s now facing.” The appeal has so far raised more than £400,000, and this will be boosted by the sale of 45110.
