Next Friday, 8th September, will mark 60 years British Railways trains ran on the Severn Valley line when a steam-hauled train ran from Bridgnorth to Birmingham Snow Hill.

To commemorate the event, the Severn Valley will be running a special train that will recreate part of that final trip. On both Friday, 8th and Saturday, 9th September, the railway plans to run ex-Great Western Railway 0-6-0 pannier tank, No 7714 with a special headboard to mark the occasion.

On Friday, the special train will depart from Kidderminster at 10 am, and on Saturday, 7714 will be on display at Kidderminster station, before it works a 12.45 pm departure.

When it closed in 1963, diesel railcars were the mainstay of services on the line. However, the final departure at 6.58 pm from Bridgnorth was steam-hauled by ex-GWR pannier tanks 9624 and 4665 with a train to Birmingham Snow Hill that carried a ‘Special Last Train’ headboard.

That was not the last passenger service north of Bewdley, as it was followed by an 8.30 pm departure from Hampton Loade to Snow Hill formed of a three-car diesel set.

At that time it seemed that over 100 years of railway history along the Severn Valley had come to a close. However, less than two years later, in July 1965, a public meeting was held in the Cooper’s Arms pub in Kidderminster, when a group of people agreed to form the Severn Valley Railway Society.

Since then, those pioneering preservationists faced a long haul to re-open the line, but it has now become one of the UK’s leading heritage railways, with up to 250,000 visitors a year and is one of the UK’s most popular and best-loved historical attractions.

Now run largely by a dedicated body of over 1,600 volunteers, the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) is a full-size, standard-gauge line that operates regular steam- and diesel-hauled passenger trains along the scenic 16 miles between Kidderminster in Worcestershire and Bridgnorth in Shropshire.

The line has six stations, all of them attractive and beautifully maintained. At Highley is the railway’s Engine House Visitor Centre with interactive exhibits, up to eight steam locomotives, a magnificent royal carriage, a ‘how the SVR works’ exhibition, and a café

Tickets to travel on the Severn Valley Railway can be booked online at svr.co.uk.