4F Abroad: ThinkTank and the Severn Spring Steam Gala

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:22]As was teased in the previous vlog of my trip to the UK, I traveled to the Seven Valley Railway for their annual Spring and Steam Galla. This is a massive event hosting steam locomotives from all over the country along with homebased steam engines on the railway operating passenger services and on occasion freaked along the line. Join today as I cover Earth the event on that particular Saturday, enduring both sunny spells and a bit of a downpour, but with excellent performances from the locomotives involved, both big and small.

[00:01:30]Heat.

[00:01:34]Heat.

[00:01:39]Heat.

[00:01:55]Heat.

[00:02:13]Heat up here.

[00:02:47]Heat up here.

[00:03:16]Before we get into the Sever Valley Springsteen Gala, we have to go back to the previous day, Friday, on the first week, as my goal was a rather different one.

[00:03:31]That day, I went to the Think Tank Science Museum in Birmingham.

[00:03:36]Think Tank has a collection of old stationary engines with some used for industrial purposes. Many of them were running that day, utilizing the building's own compressed air system.

[00:04:14]stationary engine.

[00:04:20]Rustin Proctor Lincoln.

[00:04:24]So, this doesn't move by itself.

[00:04:28]You do have to It fires like a normal steam engine, but what it it's used for is that flywheel there. There's two on either side. Actually the flywheels are actually the what are used to operate stuff like mills threshing machines and you see the cylinder arrangement here.

[00:04:49]It is in fact a twocylinder.

[00:04:56]Neat. We did have the car but we also had these things.

[00:05:02]This is a boat and steam wagon.

[00:05:05]and it is operate. And yes, that does mean it is a steam engine.

[00:05:12]This is what was used to work roads in the age when the automobiles were starting to take shape.

[00:05:19]They also have airplanes. This one right here is a Spitfire.

[00:05:26]I actually saw three of them go over to that another video.

[00:05:44]Hello, Michael Kane.

[00:05:49]Uh, yes, I am a fan of the Italian job.

[00:05:56]The Mini is just such a classic car.

[00:05:59]Actually do like this sectioned off. You can see exactly what the iners look like, especially with the engines.

[00:06:09]I never knew they were that small speed that they can do. That is impressive.

[00:06:22]But the true object of this visit is her.

[00:06:31]46235, City of Birmingham.

[00:06:38]The only one of the Duchesses to not run.

[00:06:46]You see very clearly that on the top is what we saw at York. But that on the bottom is what this one up here looks like now.

[00:07:22]As impressive as Think Tank was, this turned out to be a short visit. So, I decided to head south by train to a place I knew I'd be going on Saturday, but I decided to stop by for a little bit anyways.

[00:07:41]Yep. By that Friday, the Seven Valley Railways Spring Team Gala was already in full swing, and I arrived just at time at Kaminister to see Great Western Hall class number 4930, Haggley Hall, head off for a break.

[00:08:33]There was Another train waiting at the platform to depart. But at the front end of this was one of the special guests of the event. Riddle's standard class 8 Pacific Duke of Gloucester. Not able to get a good.

[00:08:47]>> It turned out that he was waiting for another train to come in from beauty.

[00:08:52]One that the hall had gotten out of the way before taking its break. These being the two other guests of the event. Port of par backnel tank. Judy and Lancasher and Yorkshire pug number 11243.

[00:09:32]So over here at Kaminister they are expanding the platform over here to accommodate for longer trains. You can see here the Duke's train is just long enough so it just sticks out from where the original platform ended. So this extension here is being made in order to accommodate that size of train.

[00:09:56]Once the path was clear, the Duke could depart with its train, letting out the best whistle I have ever heard in my life.

[00:10:19]Heat up here.

[00:11:04]Heat. Heat.

[00:11:32]Coming in after the Duke's departure was the railway's rest manor number 7802 Bradley Manor hauling their beautiful set of Presley teak coaches.

[00:12:04]So, for those of you on the 7 and 12 in gauge, that's actually connected to a a water pump. So, this is actually fed with an axle pump as well as the injector, which is really cool.

[00:12:18]After the manor arrived, the two tank engines were cleared a path and they both chuttered out of the station with their train.

[00:13:05]by At this point, the rain had come in, but I didn't care because there was more action to follow.

[00:13:13]Coming back from taking a short break to let the tank engines in, Haggley Hall rolled into the platform again.

[00:13:23]Yeah.

[00:13:48]The firemen then uncoupled the loco from the coaches so that it could run round to the other end.

[00:14:22]which was what Bradley Manor was doing at the same time.

[00:14:33]Heat.

[00:14:53]Heat.

[00:14:55]Heat.

[00:15:13]Heat.

[00:15:29]Heat. Heat.

[00:15:42]Heat.

[00:15:58]Heat.

[00:16:19]There we go.

[00:16:21]After being coupled back to the coaches, Agley Hall was signal to leave.

[00:16:30]Heat.

[00:16:41]Heat.

[00:17:08]followed by Bradley Manor a few minutes later.

[00:17:32]Heat. Heat.

[00:18:00]Coming into the station afterwards was a unique addition to the SVR's loco fleet.

[00:18:14]Oh, heat, heat.

[00:18:41]This is the soul surviving LMS Stan mobile number 13268.

[00:19:22]The moguls actually came before the famous black fives being built between 1933 and 34, but not in the same numbers as their 460 counterparts, but were still as versatile as the former, with some lasting until 1967 in regular service.

[00:19:45]Number 13268 was rescued from Barry Scrapyard by the Stan Mobile Fund in 1973, and since restoration in 1991, it has been a member of the SPR's fleet for several decades. recently re-entering traffic after an overhaul in April 2024.

[00:20:24]>> I kind of expected this to have a ster hooter. Oh yeah.

[00:20:31]They've got coming back from Utley were the two tank engines on the off shut.

[00:21:21]The pug is one of two LNY class 214 saddle tanks left in the world. The other located at the Keith Leworth Valley Railway in Yorkshire designed for short hall shunting work in yards with sharp curves. The Pug is a tiny engine.

[00:21:40]However, nothing compares it in terms of the size of Judy at the other end.

[00:21:46]If you think an engine as small as her has little bark, you'd be very wrong when you look at her later on in this video. And she's got a power factor that tips the scales.

[00:22:17]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:34]It was at that point where I decided to head back to the flat for the evening so that I could get ready for the next day where the fun really begins.

[00:23:07]So, we're back here again in the morning, but this time I come with a few friends. Hello.

[00:23:15]and the one in the blue in the back who's waving.

[00:23:19]So, yeah, my good friends Ben and my new friend Chris were here at the Seven Valley Railway. Although, this is my my second visit cuz I went yesterday in the cold rain, but still rather fun just to get a nice glimpse of what's going on.

[00:23:37]But this time, we're here to ride the trains and go further down the line.

[00:23:43]We went up to the ticket booth and got our passes for the day rover. But luckily for us, our first train of the day would be hauled by the big guest of the event.

[00:24:03]>> First to depart from Kister Town though was the Stanium Mogul running tender first in the direction of Richmond.

[00:24:11]Heat.

[00:24:31]Heat. Heat.

[00:24:40]After the Stan mogul had gone, after taking home water for the run, Bradley Manner backed down towards its train, which was left in the yard.

[00:25:12]After the manor had cleared the road, the Duke would then slowly advance towards its first train of the day.

[00:25:37]Duke of Glouester is a story of failure and resurrection.

[00:25:44]The engine was built basically out of necessity.

[00:25:48]You see, Robert Riddles wanted to build an express engine similar in power output to the Duchess Pacific, but was rejected the chance multiple times by the BR top brass. Then in October of 1952, the dreaded Harrowan Wellstone wreck occurred, which resulted in the loss of the former Turbo Motive number 46202, Princess Anne.

[00:26:15]This created a gap in the roster of 8P class engines, a gap that BR needed to fill in. So they gave riddles the green light to build the engine.

[00:26:26]Unlike the earlier Britannia, the Duke was a threecylinder engine with capi valve gear, a camshaft type gear which allows for precise control of steam admission to the cylinders as well as improving exhaust flow and boiler drafting when compared to the more conventional valve geared locomotives.

[00:26:47]However, problems arose during construction when the wrong type of blast pipe was selected.

[00:26:55]As a result, the locomotive's performance suffered due to the choke area of both the chimney and blast pipe being much too small for the pressure created by the exhaust. This along with the incorrectly dimensioned ashpan and dampers reduced efficiency greatly.

[00:27:14]After rolling out of crew in 1954, the loco was hated by crews for its poor steaming abilities. And this combined with BR's ineptitude and rectifying the problems led to no more of this type being built.

[00:27:31]The engine was in service for only 8 years being withdrawn in 1962.

[00:27:40]Its reputation at that point cementing it as a failure.

[00:27:47]But the story did not end in a South Whales scrapyard.

[00:27:52]After spending seven years at the infamous Woodham Brothers scrapyard in South Wales, it was purchased by a group of railway enthusiasts who would form the BR class 8 locomotive trust. The two Capradi cylinder sets were long gone, so new ones were fabricated. But the work to restore the engine lasted 13 years. But in that time, the problems of the original design were sorted out.

[00:28:26]When the Duke hauled its first mainline train after restoration, it was found that the engine was not a fluke.

[00:28:36]It was a powerful beast, being more powerful than even the class 40 diesels that replaced him in service. In the 1995 SHAP trials, the Duke broke the record for the fastest northbound ascent and achieved the highest estimated drawar horsepower figures during set event, averaging over SHAP at 2300 DHP and peaking over 2800.

[00:29:07]Coronation Pacific Duchess of Hamilton only generated figures of 2100 and 2300 respectively.

[00:29:18]Very impressive for a locomotive that was once considered a complete failure.

[00:29:25]Nowadays, the Duke of Gloucester is a very capable engine being the most powerful passenger express engine in the mainline steam circuit.

[00:29:37]Prior to appearing at the SPR's Gala this year, it had just returned from a 14-year overhaul, marking the gala as its first public appearance since then.

[00:29:51]So, naturally, it would be a crime if I didn't board its train for my first ride of the day.

[00:30:00]>> There she is. Coming in on the opposite platform with the two visiting tank engines and the resident 1400 auto tank number 1450.

[00:30:22]is a very interesting site.

[00:30:25]>> And there's the This was my first ride behind a steam engine during my visit to the UK.

[00:30:43]I couldn't have picked a better engine to ride behind Heat up here.

[00:31:38]Heat up here.

[00:32:05]Heat up here.

[00:32:25]We stopped at Bugley station to let the train from Arling break.

[00:32:43]>> Hello again, Haggley Hall.

[00:32:58]This gave the firemen plenty of time to build up a fire for the climb.

[00:33:09]With a roaring fire, the Duke continued its way to Arlington. Heat Heat.

[00:33:39]Heat.

[00:33:50]Heat.

[00:34:09]Heat.

[00:34:24]nicely.

[00:34:26]She pulls it in 107.

[00:34:34]>> Coming from highly was another riddle standard. This being the resident standard 410 wheeler number 75069.

[00:34:43]one of four preserved that is fitted with a double chimney.

[00:34:54]After the standard 4 had arrived, we then continued up the line to highway.

[00:35:12]Here we disembarked in order to go to the engine house.

[00:35:45]But before we walked that way, we watched as the Duke left the station with its train making its way further up the line towards Bridge.

[00:36:10]Heat.

[00:36:20]Heat.

[00:36:55]Once the Duke was out of sight, we made our way to the engine house.

[00:37:05]This is the Severn Valley Railways locomotive exhibit where many of the non-runners are stored.

[00:37:13]>> London transport panier.

[00:37:23]Hey, Originally, this one was actually located in Eperis with until a few months back.

[00:37:54]So now she's here.

[00:38:33]I think this is true.

[00:39:02]So, you might have noticed there's something a little bit off with this engine.

[00:39:26]The reason why, of course, is that this engine in the past was actually dressed up to masquerade as Thomas for Day Thomas events.

[00:39:52]So, this is actually Stan's 280 variation. It looks very similar to a black 5. Yes. But main difference is it's got eight drivers and one pilot axle.

[00:40:08]Big note about this particular engine that this engine was built during wartime as a war department.

[00:40:23]This is the mobile version of the ICMTs.

[00:40:29]So they built two variations of this engine, tank engine and a tender engine.

[00:40:34]This is the tender engine example.

[00:40:37]Heat.

[00:40:55]Heat.

[00:41:08]And speaking of panurs, that was the next engine to be seen entirely.

[00:41:34]However, what you're seeing here when the pier departed, the timetable was off. This was due to an unfortunate event that happened outside Kinster, which we'll come back to later.

[00:41:48]Due to said affformentioned events, a swap was required. So Haggley Hall ran round to the front of the coaches that were sitting on the siding next to platform track.

[00:42:34]Heat.

[00:42:48]Heat.

[00:42:53]Boom.

[00:43:00]And then made a short reverse movement to clear the walkway.

[00:43:40]A few minutes later, coming from the direction of Kminster. Bradley Manor arrived with the next stopper.

[00:44:29]This would be our ride up to Hampton Lo and the manor made great strength going up the fearsome climb out of Oakland.

[00:44:56]Heat. Heat.

[00:45:22]We decided to get off at Hampton Road in order to have a look around, particularly at the vendors area.

[00:45:29]>> Poetry 13. Heat.

[00:45:49]Heat.

[00:45:55]Heat. Heat.

[00:46:32]Heat.

[00:46:35]Heat.

[00:46:40]Heat.

[00:46:45]Heat.

[00:46:58]If you are wondering though, I did happen to get an item from one of the vendors at the Sign Valley Railway because on Friday I acquired this, an Acme Thunderer whistle. This particular one being a Great Western Railway stamped version manufactured in Birmingham.

[00:47:22]Originally built by Hudsport Clark in June 1901, number 813 was rebuilt by Swidman 7 years later to the form we see it in today.

[00:47:39]It would later be retired by the GWR in 1934 and sold to the Backworth Collery in Newcastle on time, later to become National Coort Property.

[00:47:50]Thanks to its original builder supplying a new boiler and firebox by 1962, the engine was a natural choice for preservation by the newly established A13 Preservation Society being purchased for the then sum of £320 in 1960s. Mothers and everything else there for a few hours.

[00:48:25]>> Yeah.

[00:48:33]Yeah.

[00:48:35]813 is very different to many of the great western tank engines that exist today.

[00:48:41]>> But that doesn't stop her from drawing crowds as she was my next trip up the line to bridge north.

[00:49:03]Heat. Heat.

[00:49:13]Heat.

[00:49:28]Heat.

[00:49:57]on the boiler for something.

[00:50:01]2,800 >> 2857 >> and oh wait >> oh Teddy on shed >> oh hello 1501 it's the Hawksworth pardon >> this is the soul surviving Hawksworth 1500 00. It's basically Frederick Hawksworth's attempt at making a derivative of the American S100s that have been introduced at the time.

[00:50:41]There were not very many made though.

[00:50:44]But this is the Soul Survivor and it's currently awaiting overhaul at the moment.

[00:50:51]This one's actually a pretty exciting one. This is one of the uh 280 2800s number 2857. So you can see here it's in bits because it's also undergoing an extensive overhaul.

[00:51:04]Bridge north has been the southern terminus for the line since the preserved railways inception.

[00:51:10]Located here are the locomotive sheds and workshops. The railway prides itself for being one of the few preserved railways in the UK to have their own boiler shops, which allows them to fabricate brand new boilers, something they have done for many clients over the years.

[00:51:27]Waiting to depart after 813's arrival was the Stan Mogul, which Julie set off.

[00:51:46]As there was time before the next train was due in, 8:13 ran round to the other end.

[00:52:01]Meanwhile, during the lunch break, Brantley Manor was being refueled near the shed, waiting for the standard 4 to arrive with the stopper from Kaminister.

[00:52:26]Once the Standard 4 had arrived, it and the Matter would swap duties with the Standard going to refuel and take a break.

[00:52:35]This swap couldn't occur though until 813 departed with its shuttle back to Hampton Lo.

[00:53:01]Heat up here.

[00:53:50]Oh, sorry.

[00:54:16]And that particular type of locomotive is basically got a similar power output to the manners.

[00:54:24]And we're about as light.

[00:54:35]We hopped on to the man's train to go back in the direction.

[00:55:08]Heat. Heat.

[00:55:28]Heat.

[00:55:31]Heat.

[00:55:38]Heat. Heat.

[00:56:01]Heat.

[00:56:13]Heat.

[00:56:22]Heat. Heat.

[00:56:43]Heat.

[00:57:00]Heat.

[00:57:14]But we only went as far as Butley, where we hopped off to take a look at the vendors located there.

[00:57:34]But was the northern terminus for the railway until the mid 1970s when the British Sugar Corporation moved out of Kadminister.

[00:57:43]This allowed the railway to acquire the land, building their own station there, but also allowed them to make their own connection to the mainline network.

[00:57:52]This of course allows for mainline rail tours and dining trains to be able to enter the preserved railway without the passengers having to change over from the mainline station nearby thereby blocking service train traffic.

[00:58:07]So, the weather just turned British. So, currently at Utley, we were looking at some of the stores, the vendors here.

[00:58:17]So, I didn't get anything yet, but we're just going to walk over to the other side of platform and hop aboard train that's waiting over on platform three. And that's headed up by the two tank engines, Pug and Judy. So, But this did not deter the performance of duty.

[00:58:47]>> The popularity of the two tank engines was very well apparent.

[00:58:51]>> As the two auto coaches had standing room only available, >> so Judy had to work extra hard climbing up the beautyly bank in the pouring rain.

[00:59:03]>> But she made an excellent job of it.

[00:59:17]We have to do anything.

[00:59:33]Relax.

[00:59:50]Here we go.

[00:59:52]Oh my god.

[00:59:54]Oh my.

[01:00:10]Yay! I made it out.

[01:00:13]>> There's the downhill.

[01:00:25]>> Yeah, the one behind is another No, it's not.

[01:00:31]Thanks.

[01:00:33]Western You should keep that point.

[01:01:12]>> Oh, the western.

[01:01:19]>> Once we arrived back to Kaminister Town Station, we caught sight of what caused the timet to fall behind.

[01:01:28]Unfortunately, the autotank failed outside of Kinster due to a bolt on one of the rear spring hangers coming loose.

[01:01:38]This would result in the railway pulling the autotank out of traffic for the remainder of the weekend. And for that Saturday, Haggley Hall took over its duties while the resident Clayton class 17 diesel handled the Halls train.

[01:01:56]The following Sunday, the rested DMU would handle the 1400's duties.

[01:02:04]Ben and Chris had to leave early for the day, but I decided to stay behind, seeing that I had my own way back to Birmingham by the service trains.

[01:02:39]Heat. Heat.

[01:03:01]In that period, I went for another ride.

[01:03:04]This time behind the standard 4, which was hauling those affforementioned beautiful Elony Artiques.

[01:03:13]Heat.

[01:03:26]Heat.

[01:04:24]Nope.

[01:04:27]Same thing yesterday. Heat.

[01:04:46]Heat.

[01:05:04]Heat.

[01:05:06]Heat.

[01:05:26]Heat.

[01:05:28]Heat.

[01:05:36]Heat.

[01:05:55]Heat.

[01:06:15]Heat. Heat.

[01:06:43]The standard 410 wheelers were an interesting part of the standard types being inspired by the GWR manners and many of them worked on the old cam.

[01:06:53]mainline in the 1950s, but weren't used throughout the whole network. Big example being the Scottish region didn't have any allocated to their depots in VR games.

[01:07:13]At this time, I was getting close to my departure time from the SPR, so I decided not to continue on from Butley and instead headed back on board the Halls train.

[01:07:47]Oh, dude.

[01:07:54]Oh, Judy's going light.

[01:08:07]Dy's trailing behind us. July's trail behind the other track.

[01:08:12]Yeah, look, >> this would be a surprising drop as the crew on the hall decided to try and make up for the time lost on the earlier delays.

[01:08:28]>> Needless to say, the charge up the beautyly tunnel was extraordinary.

[01:08:37]If you don't count the wind noise from my camera, Woo!

[01:09:22]Heat!

[01:09:45]Well, look at that. We just got honked out on the main line.

[01:10:24]Back at Kin Minister, I went up to the crew. crew to congratulate them on the run. But to my surprise, >> I was asked up to the foot plate.

[01:10:35]Never ask, never say no.

[01:10:45]The vacuum seems to then overheat the pump. No wonder that no handbrake on as well.

[01:10:58]on your side or mine? Don't know. I suspect my side is potentially crossing to your side.

[01:11:13]It wasn't too long before the hall had to reverse onto the siding to let the shuttle into the station again. So, that was when I took my leave.

[01:11:41]Overall, I had an amazing time at the gala.

[01:11:47]Prior to this, the closest thing to a steam gala I had witnessed was the Florida live steamers winter meets. And the last full-size operational steam engine I had seen up until then was US Sugars number 148.

[01:12:02]This was very different.

[01:12:06]The engines were full size. There were more of them in one place. And it was a variety of both mainline and industrial engines. More action, more fun, more excitement.

[01:12:19]I have never witnessed anything like it before, but I had more fun to look to later on in the trip, though.

[01:12:28]As we'll soon see, I traveled to two other major preserved railways in the country.

[01:12:36]One legendary with its appearance in film and the other legendary by being one of the first standard gauge preserved railways in the country.

[01:12:48]We'll see you for part three.

[01:13:14]Heat up here.