Cath Ex Thursday 11th June

I'm a confused bunny.

We have Steam dreams saying this

http://www.steamdreams.co.uk/Execut...r=71706&Route=1&Adults=2&Children=0&Infants=0

This trip will now will be diesel hauled throughout and terminate at Minehead due to pathing difficulties.

We have Railway Herald saying this

Thursday 11th June 2015
The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)

• WCRC 47/57 poolCheam (pu) - Epsom (pu) - Leatherhead (pu) - Effingham Junction (pu) - Guildford (pu) - Petersfield (pu) - Havant (pu) - Salisbury (pu) - Westbury
• To be confirmedWestbury - Taunton - Exeter St. Davids - Newton Abbot - Torquay - Paignton - Kingswear
• To be confirmedKingswear (pu) - Paignton (pu) - Exeter St. Davids (pu) - Taunton - Westbury
• WCRC 47/57Westnury - salisbury (sd) - Havant (sd) - Petersfield (sd) - Guildford (sd) - Effingham Junction (sd) - Leatherhead (sd) - Epsom (sd) - Cheam

We have UK Steam info saying this

Thu 11-Jun THE CATHEDRALS EXPRESS - (04/06)

​

Cheam-Kingswear [wcrc]
60007 61306: Westbury-Kingswear Bristol-Kingswear and return
[61306 replaces 60007 which is unvailable. Steam now from Bristol vice Westbury]

And we have these paths

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50538/2015/06/11/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50539/2015/06/11/advanced


(edit - can't find a path for Mayflower to Bristol from Southall WCR)


I guess its just diesel West Brompton to Minehead, but what a load of confusion!

 

and the SD site says:

YOUR DESTINATION - Kingswear & Dartmouth
A charming maritime village, perfect for a summer getaway.

Kingswear is located on the opposite side of the river Dart to Dartmouth in the South Hams area of South Devon, just south of the English Riviera.

Its most prominent feature is the privately owned Kingswear Castle, a 15th century artillery tower, built to defend Dartmouth Harbour.

Kingswear is also the terminus for the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, where trains are run from Easter to October.
YOUR ROUTE
This trip will now will be diesel hauled throughout and terminate at Minehead due to pathing difficulties.


There, perfectly encapsulated, is why the promoters get such bad press. It is terribly terribly shoddy and lazy communication. They can clearly update the page to change destination, but not the rest of it with the old destination on. The communication/marketing managers of Steam Dreams and RTC need a seriously good ass kicking.

 

Agreed,I think the kindest thing would have been to cancel this one,once it was clear steam was off. The timings are dire,people getting on at,say,Cheam are going to be on the train for 12 or so hours and the whole trip is nearly 17 hours.And ending at Minehead which to be polite is a bit of a dump. Can't think of many "normal" non-diehard enthusiasts that is going to appeal to,indeed it might put some off from travelling on railtours again.

 

RTC went ahead with GBVIII in the hope that it would turn out not too different from what had been offered. The result was "unfortunate", though the alternative of cancellation would also have been far from ideal for some of those who had booked, and for RTC themselves.

Do SD really consider that their T&C allow them to change both the traction and the destination, long enough before the date for the changes to be known about, and yet not allow cancellation for a full (or almost full) refund? I hope not, because it they do believe that who will ever dare to book another trip with them?

 

Also conflicting information about whether Epsom is a pick-up point or not. What a mess.

 

All I can say is I am very pleased it is planned to "terminate at Minehead" (or indeed Kingswear, if that is a mis-print), as any attempt to continue any further would be very messy!

Sorry!

Steven

(Seriously, I do wonder if that is meant to say Paignton, which would make more sense)

 

Unfortunately it has a lot of detail plastered over the website about Minehead so it looks like an expensive day trip to Minehead.

 

Since this is obviously a very late change, what is the point of going to a great deal of effort to update the website? How many potential passengers are likely to book on the basis on what it says on the website the day before the trip? Much more important to provide a full explanation of what's going on a passengers who have already booked (and past experience with SD suggests that's exactly what they will have been doing).

 

Because its the professional thing to do. To do anything else (and its not hard to do) is exceptionally poor communication, especially in your main face and portal to the public.

 

Agreed.

 

Whatever the rights and wrongs, this is very offputting to the punter who may be faced with a layout of £100 or more, by the time allowance is made for connecting services and maybe hotels, which may not be refundable.

There is a general atmosphere of uncertainty as to whether any particular steam trip will run as planned, and not everybody is prepared to risk that sort of money.

John

 

And because updating a website is usually a quick job and let's you get an urgent message out to people quickly - in addition to email etc.

 

47760 approaching Hedge End this morning, running about 8 minutes early.

James