This weekend, 27 and 28 April, the Severn Valley Railway is planning the final appearances of No 21C127 ‘Taw Valley’ in its current guise, before the locomotive heads into the workshops for an intermediate overhaul and repaint.

Still wearing its ‘what might have been’ wartime black livery, the locomotive will make two round trips of the line on both days this weekend, starting from Kidderminster at 10am.

The railway expects ‘Taw Valley’ to then enter the workshops for strip-down and intermediate overhaul, followed by a repaint into lined BR green livery. When it emerges at some point in 2025, it will once again carry the number 34027.

“We’ve seen a bit more of this loco in its current guise than we originally expected,” said the SVR’s managing director, Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, “Especially as we decided to draft it back into service for our four-day Spring Steam Gala last weekend. And if you fancy a final trip behind it as 21C127, painted black, you won’t want to miss your chance this weekend.

“You might remember that this is the same locomotive that caused a worldwide stir in 2022 when it appeared in a striking purple livery, numbered as No 70, and renamed as ‘Elizabeth II’ in commemoration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Some people thought it was controversial for us to do this, others loved it, and it certainly paid great dividends in terms of publicity and attracting passengers, as well as making a wonderful tribute to the now-late Queen.”

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