New faces on the SVR
Severn Valley Visitors
27 September 2009
The forecast for the weekend had been good. I'd spent the
previous day on the narrow gauges (see Justine and Lydia),
and still had a day in hand while the good lady was otherwise
occupied - so I'd planned to spend part, at least, of Sunday on
the Severn Valley - it would be the last day of their Autumn
Steam Gala. As usual, there would be visiting locomotives -
including 41241, the Ivatt tank from the Worth Valley, and
GNR N2 1744 from the Great Central. I'd first met the Ivatt
more than 40 years ago on the Worth Valley - and the N2
likewise in 1970. The N2 has recently been restored
to Great Northern livery - should be worth seeing...
In the event, Sunday was quite dull and gloomy - the
light was flat. So it was a short trip - but timed to
perfection, as the first train past my chosen spot, near
Eardington, was double-headed by 41241 and recently-
repaired 43106. (Black engines on a dull grey day - oh
dear)...
...and the next northbound train, heading up the bank
and working hard, was the N2 and a rake of no fewer
than 7 teak coaches - magnificent! The SVR is really
good at these things - a local dashed up the bank, in the
form of a very-authentic looking 4566 and a 2-coach
GWR set. When 42968 followed some time later, it was
hauling a rake of 8 LMS coaches - tremendous stuff.
There’s an interesting link between the N2 and the later
LMS locos, of course. Gresley’s design was derived from
the N1 of H A Ivatt - father of H G Ivatt, who designed the later
LMS locos seen double-heading below...
Links:
•
Severn Valley Railway
•
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
•
Two A1s in Edinburgh
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Video
The N2 heads up the bank, followed by the local.
A little later, the N2 drifts back southwards
