Seasonal steam on the SVR
Severn Santa Specials
7 December 2003
There's always something to look forward to
in December - some clear, frosty weather for
the Severn Valley's Santa trains. Long heavy
trains, a frequent service (every half-hour),
steam hanging in the air, no heads out of the
windows - what more could one ask for? Well,
there is just one thing which would put the
icing on the cake - get the locos the right
way round please! The best shots are those
on the long curving bank to Foley Park tunnel on the return to
Kidderminster - but not when all five locos are running tender
/ bunker first...
...So, of course, when the trains leave Foley Park tunnel heading
for Bewdley, they're the right way round - but there's rarely any
steam...
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Here is a selection, in chronological order,
of some of the trains running on this
particular December Sunday....
It should of course be said that the SVR
Santa train are a wonderful spectacle
when the weather is right, whichever way
round the locos are. The locos work hard up the
bank, the sound carrying more-or-less from
Bewdley to the tunnel mouth - and you never
have to wait long before another train runs
past, with four trains and five locos in action.
There's little chance of getting bored, though
the feet need well insulating - the frost never
quite cleared from the shadier areas. And of
course, the revenue from Santa trains makes a
substantial contribution to the SVR's coffers.
