Driving 1401 On 7.25" At The Severn Valley Railway...
Hello one and all. Was anybody cold today? I was! Today, at 7:10am, following another kind invite by my friend Dave, I arrived at his house for our early departure. Our destination?: The Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster. Being a total of 16 miles in length and including no less than 6 beautifully restored stations, it is no surprise that the Severn Valley is one of the UK's premier steam railways. To add to this, the railway has, at it's Kidderminster Town Station, installed a rather enjoyable 7.25" gauge miniature railway and, today, Dave & his Dad had been invited to take one of their fabulous miniature locomotive's along for a run on it. Q: "Would you want to come Sam?", A: "Erm...YES PLEASE!". (There was no way I was going to miss this!). Leaving at around 7:30am with the trailer in tow, we arrived at Kidderminster at around 8:45am. The temperature gauge read -4 degrees(!!) and, yes, everything(!) was frozen! Meanwhile, in the platforms, a rather chilly looking tank engine stood 'steam-heating' one of the line's many rakes of coaches. A few fellow locomotive operator's then arrived and we soon set to work unloading the locomotive, No1401, along with her two LMS scale Bogie Coaches, from the trailer. 1401 is a model of one of the Great Western 0-4-2 14XX 'Autotank' locomotives which were built for mainly branchline and light, yet speedy(!), passenger work. 
The 14's were notable, due to their large driving wheels, of being able to achieve, at their highest, 70mph performances! (Not bad for an 0-4-2 tank engine!). Anyway, back to us! 1401 was soon on the steaming bay and, after just over an hour of preparations, the 0-4-2 tank was ready for action. However, it was still blisteringly cold! Just to show you how cold it was, listen to this!:- Myself & Dave were preparing the loco when a drip of water from one of the injectors fell onto the rail and, guess what(?), it froze instantly to ice! So, yes, I would say, it WAS cold! With 1401 off shed, I backed her down onto a 5-coach GWR Rake of scale 7.25" coaches. Dave then took over for the first few runs, to check his engine out, as he hadn't used it for a few months. Following a handful of trips Dave handed me the engine. (Thank you!). My only experience of 7.25" so far was on Dave's other engine, the 0-4-0 "Trojan" (see earlier post), back in October so, as usual with things that are new to us, this would be a challenge! (Good job 1401 was so forgiving!). The minature railway here operates from the Station Concourse, along a very, very long straight track, climbing away, before 'zig-zagging' over a concrete road access. The line then approaches the terminus station where the steaming bays, turntable and sheds are located.
This single line method with no run-round loop meant that "Top & Tailing" was necessary and, sure enough, our tail-engine for the day was a 2-6-2 Small Prairie tank, No5541. (This locomotive can be seen above). Besides 1401 & 5541, there were two other 7.25" gauge visitors. One of them was a large 4-6-0 'County Class' locomotive, "County of Warwick", which included a large amount of detail from every angle. This monster was piloting the 2nd train rake, made up of 2 GWR coaches and 1401's two LMS Coaches. (Her train was tailed by a Large Prairie Tank, the 4th & final visitor). The large 4-6-0 can be seen below...
The final visitor, as mentioned above, was another highly-detailed monster: A GWR Large Prairie Class 2-6-2. This speedy machine is seen running back down from the terminus with the 2nd rake, tailed by "County of Warwick"....
Back to 1401, I enjoyed many very good trips. The locomotive includes vacuum brakes, screw reverser, two injectors, a hand-pump, an axle-pump, whistle, gauge glass, hydro-static lubricator and, naturally, two very nice scale headlamps! To run the locomotive for longer periods, the two injectors are not linked to the side tanks, but to the driving truck (A Scale GWR "Toad" Brake Van") which carries a large water tank inside. A good steamer, the engine clung to full pressure almost all of the time, making haulage much easier! Up the hill towards the terminus, with me leading, 1401 pulled the 5-coach train (+5541) well but, the large wheels and frosty alluminum track made it so that assistance from the 2-6-2 was always required. On the return run, I simply had to put the engine in reverse and tend to the fire & boiler water level. However, on some trips, 5541 required assitance back over the crossing before topping the bank. From the top downwards, 5541 coped easily, with 1401 simply hissing along nicely on the back! Here, 1401 barks out of the bottom station for the terminus with a heavy train...
1401 is then seen powering past me. In the distance, at the back of the train, 5541 can be seen providing a little assistance...
I must admit, 1401 was a very good puller and, if it wasn't frosty, I'm sure it could've handled the 5-coaches alone. (On an empty run, we even tried a "race" with the full size 4-6-0 No7812 "Erlestoke Manor"! 1401 was speeding along nicely with 5541 giving her best on the rear! We soon bet 7812 to the water tower! "Power to the 7.25!"). In all seriousness, the 14XX performed beautifully with no problems with steam, water, oil or power! I vastly enjoyed driving this marvellous machine many times up and down the track, thank you David & Kevin! At the other end of the line, around the terminus station yard, the railway's own 'Modified' "Tich" loco (0-6-0 instead of 0-4-0) was steaming around the yard. I would of liked a better look but it just kept moving!...
And, you know what else?: The best part about this miniature railway was that you could enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of full size steam in action at the same time! Here, Large Prairie Tank No5164 pulls into Kidderminster with a return "Santa Special" working from Arley...
Here, from the miniature railway terminus yard, 5164 is caught by the fading sunlight outside Kidderminster Town Signalbox...
The full size SVR was amazingly busy. Train departures were occuring almost every 30 minutes, if a little (about an hour!) behind time. Throughout the day, SIX different steam locomotives came in & out of Kidderminster Station. (Thats alot of crews and alot of cleaning!). And, EVERY SINGLE TRAIN was FULL(!). Well done Severn Valley Railway! I think that shows the popularity of this beautiful and very professional line to no end. Below, the lovely and sole-surviving LMS Stanier Mogul Class No42968 makes a spirited departure from Kidderminster, bound for Arley...
Passing me, the Mogul show's off her "Stanier-look" before barking away towards Arley...
Finally, I've included the following picture of another sole-surviving locomotive based at the SVR, the Ivatt Class 4 Mogul, nicknamed "The Flying Pig". 41306 has, only in the past few months, been returned to traffic following a heavy & lengthy overhaul. The Ivatt has, since returning to work, has had an accident however! A few weeks back, the locomotive's tender became derailed at the SVR's Hampton Loade station and was "dragged" across the point-work. At least one of the axles were damaged and parts had to be borrowed from another Ivatt tender, based at the Strathspey Railway in Scotland, to repair the "Pig"! Happily, as you can see, she is now back at work and earning her keep! The locomotive really did look the part and was seen "flying" about (excuse the pun!) all day...
Other engine's seen during the day but not photographed were Manor No7812 "Erlestoke Manor", 0-6-2 Welsh valley's tank No6695 and Small Prairie No4566 (the latter was on "train heating duties" I believe). Back on the Coal Yard Railway (miniature line), the cold weather was starting to get to us and by just gone 4pm we were all off the track! 1401 was soon moved back onto the Steaming Bay and we quickly disposed of her before draining her off. She was then loaded back into the vechicle and her two coaches were put back on the trailer. We waved goodbye to Kidderminster, and our fellow "mad dogs and Englishmen!", with a view of 41306 still simmering in the platform. Returning home as quickly as possible, we arrived back at base at around 5:40pm. (Not too bad!). My mum soon picked me up and it was off to home after a very enjoyable, challenging, interesting and, most of all, COLD, day. I must offer great thanks, as always, to Dave & Kevin for taking me along and allowing me to drive their engine. Thanks Guys, I had a fantastic day! Thanks for reading folks...More Posts Coming Soon. Evening All...
Hello one and all. Was anybody cold today? I was! Today, at 7:10am, following another kind invite by my friend Dave, I arrived at his house for our early departure. Our destination?: The Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster. Being a total of 16 miles in length and including no less than 6 beautifully restored stations, it is no surprise that the Severn Valley is one of the UK's premier steam railways. To add to this, the railway has, at it's Kidderminster Town Station, installed a rather enjoyable 7.25" gauge miniature railway and, today, Dave & his Dad had been invited to take one of their fabulous miniature locomotive's along for a run on it. Q: "Would you want to come Sam?", A: "Erm...YES PLEASE!". (There was no way I was going to miss this!). Leaving at around 7:30am with the trailer in tow, we arrived at Kidderminster at around 8:45am. The temperature gauge read -4 degrees(!!) and, yes, everything(!) was frozen! Meanwhile, in the platforms, a rather chilly looking tank engine stood 'steam-heating' one of the line's many rakes of coaches. A few fellow locomotive operator's then arrived and we soon set to work unloading the locomotive, No1401, along with her two LMS scale Bogie Coaches, from the trailer. 1401 is a model of one of the Great Western 0-4-2 14XX 'Autotank' locomotives which were built for mainly branchline and light, yet speedy(!), passenger work. 
The 14's were notable, due to their large driving wheels, of being able to achieve, at their highest, 70mph performances! (Not bad for an 0-4-2 tank engine!). Anyway, back to us! 1401 was soon on the steaming bay and, after just over an hour of preparations, the 0-4-2 tank was ready for action. However, it was still blisteringly cold! Just to show you how cold it was, listen to this!:- Myself & Dave were preparing the loco when a drip of water from one of the injectors fell onto the rail and, guess what(?), it froze instantly to ice! So, yes, I would say, it WAS cold! With 1401 off shed, I backed her down onto a 5-coach GWR Rake of scale 7.25" coaches. Dave then took over for the first few runs, to check his engine out, as he hadn't used it for a few months. Following a handful of trips Dave handed me the engine. (Thank you!). My only experience of 7.25" so far was on Dave's other engine, the 0-4-0 "Trojan" (see earlier post), back in October so, as usual with things that are new to us, this would be a challenge! (Good job 1401 was so forgiving!). The minature railway here operates from the Station Concourse, along a very, very long straight track, climbing away, before 'zig-zagging' over a concrete road access. The line then approaches the terminus station where the steaming bays, turntable and sheds are located.
This single line method with no run-round loop meant that "Top & Tailing" was necessary and, sure enough, our tail-engine for the day was a 2-6-2 Small Prairie tank, No5541. (This locomotive can be seen above). Besides 1401 & 5541, there were two other 7.25" gauge visitors. One of them was a large 4-6-0 'County Class' locomotive, "County of Warwick", which included a large amount of detail from every angle. This monster was piloting the 2nd train rake, made up of 2 GWR coaches and 1401's two LMS Coaches. (Her train was tailed by a Large Prairie Tank, the 4th & final visitor). The large 4-6-0 can be seen below...
The final visitor, as mentioned above, was another highly-detailed monster: A GWR Large Prairie Class 2-6-2. This speedy machine is seen running back down from the terminus with the 2nd rake, tailed by "County of Warwick"....
Back to 1401, I enjoyed many very good trips. The locomotive includes vacuum brakes, screw reverser, two injectors, a hand-pump, an axle-pump, whistle, gauge glass, hydro-static lubricator and, naturally, two very nice scale headlamps! To run the locomotive for longer periods, the two injectors are not linked to the side tanks, but to the driving truck (A Scale GWR "Toad" Brake Van") which carries a large water tank inside. A good steamer, the engine clung to full pressure almost all of the time, making haulage much easier! Up the hill towards the terminus, with me leading, 1401 pulled the 5-coach train (+5541) well but, the large wheels and frosty alluminum track made it so that assistance from the 2-6-2 was always required. On the return run, I simply had to put the engine in reverse and tend to the fire & boiler water level. However, on some trips, 5541 required assitance back over the crossing before topping the bank. From the top downwards, 5541 coped easily, with 1401 simply hissing along nicely on the back! Here, 1401 barks out of the bottom station for the terminus with a heavy train...
1401 is then seen powering past me. In the distance, at the back of the train, 5541 can be seen providing a little assistance...
I must admit, 1401 was a very good puller and, if it wasn't frosty, I'm sure it could've handled the 5-coaches alone. (On an empty run, we even tried a "race" with the full size 4-6-0 No7812 "Erlestoke Manor"! 1401 was speeding along nicely with 5541 giving her best on the rear! We soon bet 7812 to the water tower! "Power to the 7.25!"). In all seriousness, the 14XX performed beautifully with no problems with steam, water, oil or power! I vastly enjoyed driving this marvellous machine many times up and down the track, thank you David & Kevin! At the other end of the line, around the terminus station yard, the railway's own 'Modified' "Tich" loco (0-6-0 instead of 0-4-0) was steaming around the yard. I would of liked a better look but it just kept moving!...
And, you know what else?: The best part about this miniature railway was that you could enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of full size steam in action at the same time! Here, Large Prairie Tank No5164 pulls into Kidderminster with a return "Santa Special" working from Arley...
Here, from the miniature railway terminus yard, 5164 is caught by the fading sunlight outside Kidderminster Town Signalbox...
The full size SVR was amazingly busy. Train departures were occuring almost every 30 minutes, if a little (about an hour!) behind time. Throughout the day, SIX different steam locomotives came in & out of Kidderminster Station. (Thats alot of crews and alot of cleaning!). And, EVERY SINGLE TRAIN was FULL(!). Well done Severn Valley Railway! I think that shows the popularity of this beautiful and very professional line to no end. Below, the lovely and sole-surviving LMS Stanier Mogul Class No42968 makes a spirited departure from Kidderminster, bound for Arley...
Passing me, the Mogul show's off her "Stanier-look" before barking away towards Arley...
Finally, I've included the following picture of another sole-surviving locomotive based at the SVR, the Ivatt Class 4 Mogul, nicknamed "The Flying Pig". 41306 has, only in the past few months, been returned to traffic following a heavy & lengthy overhaul. The Ivatt has, since returning to work, has had an accident however! A few weeks back, the locomotive's tender became derailed at the SVR's Hampton Loade station and was "dragged" across the point-work. At least one of the axles were damaged and parts had to be borrowed from another Ivatt tender, based at the Strathspey Railway in Scotland, to repair the "Pig"! Happily, as you can see, she is now back at work and earning her keep! The locomotive really did look the part and was seen "flying" about (excuse the pun!) all day...
Other engine's seen during the day but not photographed were Manor No7812 "Erlestoke Manor", 0-6-2 Welsh valley's tank No6695 and Small Prairie No4566 (the latter was on "train heating duties" I believe). Back on the Coal Yard Railway (miniature line), the cold weather was starting to get to us and by just gone 4pm we were all off the track! 1401 was soon moved back onto the Steaming Bay and we quickly disposed of her before draining her off. She was then loaded back into the vechicle and her two coaches were put back on the trailer. We waved goodbye to Kidderminster, and our fellow "mad dogs and Englishmen!", with a view of 41306 still simmering in the platform. Returning home as quickly as possible, we arrived back at base at around 5:40pm. (Not too bad!). My mum soon picked me up and it was off to home after a very enjoyable, challenging, interesting and, most of all, COLD, day. I must offer great thanks, as always, to Dave & Kevin for taking me along and allowing me to drive their engine. Thanks Guys, I had a fantastic day! Thanks for reading folks...More Posts Coming Soon. Evening All...
2 comments:
Ah, I see Little Thunder is in Black now, used to be in light Blue, when it operated at the ESR, I have fond memories of that little engine.
Beg your pardon it's called Hurricane...
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