Shooting Fish in a Barrel: 7812 Erlestoke Manor Photo-Charter 7 April 2008

Falling in love again what am I to do, can't help it. The chance to spend a whole day with a GWR Manor was too good to miss, and I booked a place on Matt Fielding's superbly organised photo-charter several weeks ago.

These events are well suited to bores such as myself who are always relating stories of the shot that got away. You know the one, the sun diving behind the clouds as the train arrives and coming out as it leaves. On a charter it is all different; the gallery wait for the sun to come out before calling in the train. Luxury. This puts a lot of pressure on the organiser, whose job it is to make the call, but Matt made enough good calls to put your average Test umpire to shame. I have to admit that with Brian and myself in the Gallery the periods of waiting for the sun to come out of hiding were substantial, but fortunately nobody realised who was to blame. My only complaint was that Matt forgot to begin proceedings in the traditional SVR manner with some good old-fashioned tender- first running; still can't have everything, maybe the weather wasn't good enough first thing as this type of running is usually done in full sunshine.

Many thanks to Matt, the footplate crew (the irrepressible Kev and Dave), the fireman and the guard whose efforts made for such a splendid day. Thanks also to the cleaners who made 7812 look utterly beautiful and Flossie the sheep who made the day so memorable!

NB Unfortunately you will need to use a high volume setting on these clips as they seem to have turned out rather quiet. Strange they sounded very loud in the earphones when I made the recordings.....What's that Helen my dear, you've called me to dinner four times already....never heard you, you want to speak up a bit!

7812 departing Bewdley with the sun making an occasional brief appearance. (4.7mB)

A brief spell of beautiful weather before lunch enabled us to take some shots of 7812 approaching Bewdley Tunnel. OK the first shot is north of Bewdley but does that give you a problem? (5.1mB)

After a dull period over lunchtime, mid-afternoon saw another spell of sunny weather. 7812 crosses Victoria Bridge and runs towards Arley station scattering the sheep as she does so. There follows two shots at Severn Lodge where, as you can hear, the sheep were very perturbed to find 30+ orange clad aliens sharing their field. They needn't have worried, with a regular train service the photographers were far too busy to consider more traditional rural styles of entertainment. Maybe the sheep were disappointed or maybe more was going on behind me than met the eye. We will never know, nobody was going to admit to anything. The Charter ended in glorious sunshine at Hay Bridge. (6.7mB)

The shots at Arley and Severn Lodge were taken with the kind permission of the land-owners.

SVR Re-opening Celebrations: 22 March 2008

It was an uplifting experience to witness the re-opening of the SVR after the near-destruction of the railway by floods last summer. It is an amazing achievement that the line should be restored to full working operation in such a short time.

In extremely cold, windy and generally uncomfortable conditions, but dodging much of the really bad weather, Clive Hanley and I hurtled around the line to record all 10 locomotives at work.

Newly restored Erlestoke Manor (7812) climbs Northwood Bank with the 14:50 from Bridgnorth during a sunny spell. (2.1mB)

45110 has been well-spruced up for the special occasion. Here she climbs through the reverse curves just north of Bewdley. (2.5mB)

Despite the fears of my generation for the demise of preserved railways as the founders disappear, a large number of enthusiastic young volunteers are joining the movement, which augurs well for the future. We are much indebted to the essential and often unheralded work they are carrying out behind the scenes. Here an 'army' of SVR volunteers vigorously clean visiting loco 7F no.88 at Bewdley. Unfortunately Mr Sun decided to take a break from duty just before her arrival on Eardington Bank but you can still discern the gleaming appearance. (4.4mB)

5164 leaves Bridgnorth with the 11:50, the second train of the day making a fine show as she moves through Oldbury cutting. The first train, which departed at 11:05 was overcrowded an this train was half empty, so there must be a good case for spreading the load with an earlier departure on busy days such as this. NB note the appearance of the sun just after she disappears. (3.7mB)

Prairie tank no.4566 departs Arley with the 14:48. Entering our view in bright sunshine, the promising conditions are quickly redressed, although a brief sunbeam lights up the front of the train as it passes Clive! (2.7mB)

Steam Charter: 45110 11 January 2008

Matt Fielding's steam charter was arranged to say goodbye to SVR stalwart black five 45110 and to raise some funds for the SVR Flood Appeal .

Unfortunately the weather, which started very dull and grey, progressively worsened effectively curtailing the event at 11:30 am; but not before we had seen some spectacular passes.

You would be advised to turn up the volume to a high level to compensate for the soft beat of the loco's exhaust.

45110 is taking no prisoners as she blasts over the summit of Northwood Bank. (2.1mB)

45110 runs past Bewdley south box and impressive array of gantries. (2.3mB)

45110 runs over the viaduct south of Bewdley station. (1.8mB)

Turn up the volume for this one! 45110 passing the site of Stourport Junction and blasting through the cutting as the rain began to come down in earnest. (1.9mB)

Santa Specials 8 December 2007

I usually take it for granted that I am going to get some of my best footage of the year at the annual 'Santa Fest' at the SVR. Not so this year, I'm afraid, as with opportunities running out Clive Hanley and I visited the line on one of the wettest and dullest days of the year. It was not just the weather which was dull, however, for 3 of the 4 locos were pointing towards Bewdley and would be heading downhill on the more scenic part of the line around the Safari Park. No option then, but to visit Kidderminster and attempt to make a series of muted departure shots varied and interesting!

I trust that the SVR have adopted the procedures now required by the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' licence holders, HIT Entertainments (I feel sure there should be another letter at the beginning of their name). These include instituting vetting procedures for their volunteers at £40 per person, sending Santa and his helpers on a two day training course and generally making life uncomfortable for perverts and everybody else. Without such measures how can we be sure our precious children are safe from predatory paedophiles (even though they may be accompanied by their parents for the whole time).

For the record, Clive and I have not obtained  any such clearance, so maybe we should volunteer ourselves to be banned from photographing such events, even if we are more interested in the mothers (oops shouldn't say things like that -especially if my wife reads this!).

Progress on the line restoration: a volunteer at Bewdley assured me this was going very well and was expected to be competed by Easter. If this date is achieved the efforts of the railway would represent a major achievement to match anything that has been achieved on preserved railways to date.

An enthusiastic departure ex Kidderminster from 'Mickey Mouse' 46443 with the 13:15 after a coaling session. (4.9mB)

Operating under the 10mph speed restriction, Stanier Mogul 42968 passes under the gantry outside Kidderminster station with the 14:30. (5.0mB)

Editors Note: apologies for the sloppy camerawork at the beginning of the main departure scene which was caused by several abortive attempts by the cameraman to depress the exposure lock button with the hand in which he held his umbrella. His excuse...the train's arrival caught me by surprise... is merely evidence of poor planning!

An atmospheric departure by Black 5 45110 from Kidderminster with the last train of the day and a beautiful measured performance by the crew. Apologies to Clive for dubbing over the Max Bygraves music which was being emitted (loudly) from the loudspeakers and which so obviously enthralled him! (5.0mB)

Important Editors Note: the cameraman wishes to make it clear that has been very careful to exclude any close up views of young children in winter clothing from this shot. He would not wish to be responsible for making footage available which might be used to provide pleasure or titillation for any paedophile ring who may be desperate for such material now they are starved of traditional footage from school Christmas plays from which camcorders are generally banned these days.

Editors Note 2: Hi-viz vests are remarkable, they outshine anything but the brightest floodlighting and automatically provide a focal point for any picture in which they happen to be present. Lucky me!!

Autumn Steam Gala 22 September 2007

This was my first visit to the Severn Valley since it was 'washed away' in June and July. Running is currently restricted to the Kidderminster - Bewdley section so the scope for photography is some what limited. Guest loco was 4771 "Green Arrow" ably accompanied by the Tyseley Halls, 4936 (Kinlet) and 4953 (Pitchford), generously made available to the railway at no charge. They conveyed passengers between the railway and Snow Hill on two shuttle services. The day was beset by delays caused by signalling problems and loco failures, notably 4965 "Rood Ashton Hall" which was failed at Tyseley first thing and the class 20 diesel which made an appearance in the Steam Gala in true GCR style.

I bumped into well-know photographer Paul Martin and  young steam impressario Matt Fielding, with his shiny new camcorder. Later I met Mark Fry (Mr SteamAge) in his eyrie above the Safari curve and watched enviously as he packed up his amazing array of equipment.

4771 "Green Arrow" leads her first train of the day out of Bewdley and later we see her approaching Bewdley Tunnel in a rare sunny interlude. During the past few weeks the old lady has developed a bit of a clank; must be the wet weather getting into those old bones. (3.8mB)

Shades of Grey: the crew of 46443 inject a remarkable performance into the "Mickey" through the cutting east of Stourport Junction. (2.2mB)

Tyseley thoroughbred 4936 "Kinlet Hall" spent much of the morning at Bewdley being prepared for her return trip to Snow Hill. Here we see her approaching Bewdley Tunnel with the distinctive Tyseley GWR rake. (3.6mB)

Regrettably, my only opportunity of filming 4953 Pitchford Hall smokebox first. Alas, the crew were too busy waving to the cameras to raise the regulator a notch or two for the serried ranks of photographers who produced a passable impersonation of the noble defenders of "Rorke's Drift" (Zulu). On the next run she was turned, but with a scheduled departure of 18:45 from Bewdley, to stay would have landed me in hot water with my wife. With (hopefully) the NYMR and WSR Galas to follow in short order, this did not seem a good idea! (1.5mB)

Announcing her arrival with an extended overture, 0-6-0 Pannier Tank 5764 pulls the carmine and cream set past the picturesque location above Safari curve. (4.7mB)

A cock-up on the catering front, when I rushed back to the car for a belated lunch at 16:45, saw me return too late to set up for the second unencumbered run of 4566 - I could only watch in frustration as she passed serenely by (grrrrrgh). I'm therefore stuck with my only other shot which was at (you guessed it) Bewdley Tunnel; at least this is quite an energetic performance. For the record, the encumbered run saw her piloting Green Arrow and I'm not showing that!  (1.6mB)

31 March 2007

A rushed journey was well rewarded with bunker-first locomotives on the first two trains. Every photographer who visits the SVR will relate to this!

The day began and ended with a little sunshine but it was generally hazy throughout and the filming conditions became progressively more difficult as the the strength of the wind increased during the day. The locomotives below were supplemented by runs from 5764 and 45110 on driver training.

Newly restored small prairie 4566 gets to grips with the early stages of Eardington Bank near Hay Bridge. (2.3mB).

After a long bout of wheel-slip 46443 has finally gained control of her train as she leaves Bridgnorth with the 4:05. (2.5mB)

GWR Prairie Tank no 5164 climbs Eardington Bank in the evening sunlight. (2.4mB)

Warning:  The files are of substantial size and will take a considerable time to  download for non-broadband users.

All photographs and videos copyright ©  Mike Snow