Severn Valley Railway - Spring Diesel Bash - Sunday 16th May, 2021

The Severn Valley Railway hosted a splendid spring diesel gala event, which featured over 11 diesel locomotives in action, producing the classic sounds of first generation power, something that we have both missed on the heritage railway scene since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The event, which was advertised as the 'Spring Diesel Bash', ran from Thursday 13th May, 2021 to Sunday 16th May, 2021.

It was our first time going back to the Severn Valley Railway since Thursday 16th May, 2019, which, ironically, was the very same date that we went to the 2021 Spring Diesel Bash on Sunday. The diesel bash was fantastic and we couldn't have picked a better day than the Sunday of the event.

Due to Covid safety meassures, we filmed passing trains from the windows on the coaches while we were on our booked round trips, filming at Hampton Loade, Arley, Kidderminster and Bridgenorth, with the rest of the day then being filmed around Kidderminster railway station. The weather changed during the day, ranging from sunny spells to a rainy thunderstorm.

The main star of the event was the Class 17 (D8568), which has recently been repainted in BR-Blue livery by the Severn Valley Railway, in which the overhaul took over a year to complete due to the Covid lockdowns. It was our first time seeing the Class 17 again, since we last saw it, in it's old BR-Green livery, at the Dean Forest Railway in September 2017.

We really enjoyed our day out at the Severn Valley Railway, and despite the mixed weather results, the event really drew in the crowd.

The 11 diesel locomotives included:
Class 17 (D8568), in repainted BR-Blue livery
Class 14 (D9551)
Class 33 (33108)
D1015 'Western Champion'
D812 'Greyhound'
50035 'Ark Royal'
50007 'Hercules', also re-numbered 50014 'Warspite'
50049 'Defiance'
20227 'Sherlock Holmes', in London Transport livery
40106 'Atlantic Conveyor'
D1755 (47773), in freshly repainted BR-Green livery

Filmed on Sunday 16th May, 2021.

Filmed by
Scott Coombes
Thomas Coombes

Produced by
Thomas Coombes

(C) 2021 Marches Trainz Productions