THE engine house visitor centre at Severn Valley Railway has undergone its biggest ever locomotives reshuffle.

Over a period of four days, a small team carried out more than 70 movements and relocated 11 of the 12 locomotives at its Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley.

some of the steam locomotives had to be taken along the railway by diesel engine to Kidderminster and redirected on the turntable before heading back to Highley to be installed.

GWR locomotive No. 7819 Hinton Manor, which returned to the SVR last August after being on display for over 11 years at a shopping centre in Swindon, was moved into the Engine House as part of the shunting.

Hinton Manor replaces GWR No. 7325 as the Railway’s ‘wedding locomotive’ – enabling couples to tie the knot in civil ceremonies on its footplate.

The No. 7 Typhoon, on loan from the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch railway, was also delivered and installed as part of the work.

Matt Robinson, SVR operations manager, said: “This was quite a challenge for us, which involved many hours of detailed planning, resulting in over ten pages of instructions.

“Everything went smoothly in the end and I would like to thank everyone involved.”

The Engine House is home to SVR’s reserve collection of historic steam locomotives, as well as a range of interactive displays, the latest exhibitions and a wealth of railway memorabilia and is open everyday the railway is running.

For more information about the Severn Valley Railway or to book tickets, visit svr.co.uk or call 01562 757900.