Severn Valley Railway commemorates 60 years since closure
On 8th September 1963, the last ever British Railways trains ran on the Severn Valley line, before its closure. Sixty years on, the heritage line will commemorate the event, with a special train, recreating part of that final trip.
The SVR plans to run its pannier tank, No 7714, on both Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September, carrying a special headboard to mark the occasion. On Friday it will depart Kidderminster at 10am, and on Saturday, it will be on display at Kidderminster station, before it works the 12.45pm departure.
By the time the line closed in 1963, it was served by diesel railcars, but the final departure from Bridgnorth to Birmingham Snow Hill was steam-hauled. It left Bridgnorth at 6.58pm, hauled by ex-GWR pannier tanks 9624 and 4665, carrying a ‘Special Last Train’ headboard. It was followed by the last passenger service north of Bewdley, the 8.30pm Hampton Loade to Snow Hill, formed of a three-car diesel set. It looked as though more than 100 years of Severn Valley railway history had come to a close.
However, less than two years later, in July 1965, a group of people attended a public meeting in the Cooper’s Arms pub, Kidderminster, where the Severn Valley Railway Society was formed. The pioneering preservationists had started the long haul to re-open the line, which is now one of the UK’s leading heritage railways, welcoming up to 250,000 visitors a year.
Book tickets to visit the Severn Valley Railway at svr.co.uk
Header Photo: John Dew
