The Severn Valley Railway has plenty of reasons to be cheerful, after the smooth running and strong attendance at its Autumn Diesel Bash, which took place between 3 and 6 October.
In what was billed as ‘an almighty celebration of heritage diesels’, highlights included the first passenger working in more than 22 years for visiting locomotive 58023 and two Class 25s coming together, one making an extremely rare excursion from its home base at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Additionally visitors saw the Great Western Railway Castle High Speed Train, and more than a dozen members of the SVR’s home fleet.
A total of 4,104 visitors attended the event, which was a 12% increase compared to last year and 29% ahead of the event budget.
‘This was a well-planned and well-executed event,’ said SVR managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster. ‘Once again, we showed the Severn Valley Railway doing what it does best. The station teams at Arley and Hampton Loade in particular really got into the spirit of the event with their use of period signage and uniforms!
‘Other than some minor delays on Friday, the timetable ran like clockwork and we managed very well the few locomotive issues that occurred.
‘Feedback from visitors during the event and subsequently online has been overwhelmingly positive. I would like to thank everyone across the SVR for their efforts in making this such a success. Well done, it is really appreciated.’
Praise for the event on social media was widespread, and typical of the comments was one from a father who had brought his young son to the event. He posted:
‘Seeing the hard work and passion all the volunteers bring at the SVR is a real thing of beauty and a very special community.
‘Seeing your son so engrossed and loving life, it doesn’t get any better!’
The Severn Valley Railway is looking forward to further enthusiast events to round off the running season, with a Winter Diesel Day on 30 December, and a Winter Steam Gala on 4 and 5 January.