Severn Valley Railway vandalism: Work to repair carriages will take volunteers weeks
Work to remove graffiti from two historic train carriages – including one which was part of The Flying Scotsman – will take up to a month, it has emerged.
An investigation has been launched into how the intruders broke into Kidderminster Station but the repairs will not prove as expensive as first estimated, Severn Valley Railway chiefs have revealed.
Volunteers will work on putting right the damage throughout January, although it will put back their winter maintenance programme.
The yobs struck over the festive period, defacing the wood on the Flying Scotsman carriage with pink and green graffiti and also spraying white paint and the word 'Banksy' in black on a 1938 art deco-style carriage.
The vandalism at the railway's Kidderminster base, where the two trains were parked after finishing service on Christmas Eve on the Santa Special runs, was found by workers on Boxing Day.
But after inspecting the trains, experts at the SVR say the vandals have not done any lasting damage.
Mick York, vice president of Severn Valley Railway Holdings, said: "It was a sickening thing to happen but fortunately it's a problem that can be solved.
"It will take three to four weeks but it's not serious damage. A number of volunteers were contacted and they have offered to come in and help remove the spray paint. Work can then begin on restoring the sign lettering.
"Hopefully this will be done before the the trains go back into service during the school spring half-term.
"The railway closes for a few weeks after Christmas to allow time for essential maintenance work to take place so at least services have not been affected but it will take volunteers away from work which they would otherwise have been doing on the rest of the fleet of over 60 coaches."
The railway, which covers a 16-mile route between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, is largely run by unpaid volunteers who repair and repaint stations, reconstruct viaducts and bridges and rebuild locomotives and rolling stock, as well as operate the trains.
Mr York added: " A lot of time goes into restoring these trains and for something like this to happen is soul-destroying.
"Now we need to find out how the vandals got in and make sure it cannot happen again."
