THE man described as the “public face” of Severn Valley Railway (SVR), John Leach, has died.

Mr Leach, 55, was the railway’s sales and marketing manager for the past 15 years.

He lived at Clows Top and had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past year. He died in Worcestershire Royal Hospital in the early hours of last Thursday.

He leaves a wife, Sue, and young family of three children. Funeral arrangements are being made.

Mr Leach joined SVR in 1995 as its first marketing manager. He set about arresting the early 1990s pattern of decline in the railway’s passenger figures through a series of new publicity and marketing ideas, repositioning the SVR to a far higher profile in the general tourism market.

Success came in new passenger records in eight of his first 10 years, rising from 172,000 passengers in 1995,to more than 250,000 in 2005, when 252,000 passengers were carried.

The railway’s revenue trebled in that time, today bringing an annual turnover of more than £6 million.

His marketing touch contributed also to a succession of tourism awards for SVR, including the accolade of Railway of the Year from the The Good Britain Guide in 2002.

He was also the voice of the railway, representing SVR in radio and television interviews. he was also on the panels of many tourism organisations, including the former Heart of England Tourist Board - now Tourism West Midlands - and he was chairman of Shropshire Star Attractions.

Born and brought up in Watford, Mr Leach had a lifetime interest in railways and on leaving school went to work for British Rail as an assistant at its Collector’s Corner at Euston.

By the mid-1970s he was working with BR London Midland Region as a press officer - his first dealings with the media - and in 1985 he became marketing manager for the Steam Locomotive Operators Association (SLOA), the organisation then running main line steam excursions on British Rail metals.

SLOA underwent many identity changes but Mr Leach remained as the principal promoter of tourist and day out steam charter trains on the main line, often taking the role of train manager on many of them. He joined Severn Valley Railway in 1995.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July, 2009. Although he knew the survival statistics were not in his favour - only four per cent of people diagnosed make it to five years - he said: “There’s absolutely no reason why I can’t be among the four per cent.”

He managed his illness by throwing himself into the job he loved. When he was undergoing chemotherapy, rather than easing up, he faced up to a demanding routine, including many out-of-hours committee meetings.

Aware, however, it might be a last opportunity, earlier this year he took his wife and children, Denise, 15, Anna, 11 and Kieron, 9, to Disneyworld in Florida when among other activities, the family went swimming with dolphins.

On returning home, he was diagnosed with both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and diabetes, complications which took their toll in his final weeks.

Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) plc chairman, Mick York, said: “John was always so positive that one could not but admire the courage that he demonstrated in the face of such adversity.

“He was a genuine railwayman, who loved steam, and the Severn Valley Railway is a much stronger and more robust railway as a result of the excellent work he did as our marketing manager.

“He was always thoroughly professional and conscientious and, as the many friends he made in the railway industry will know, his passing leaves a very big hole. He will be greatly missed.”

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