SVR Pacific Power 22nd-25th September 2016

I do agree the event will get I imagine a lower attendance than the spring gala and the weather can be cold and the days are short so the expenses and the staffing might not be justified with income.

 

With decent steam heat, and the waiting rooms left open the cold should not necessarily be an issue. The post festive trains, which run in the dark, are well patronised. All we can do is give it a go and see.

 

Yes and Manor 50 was in November, suffered from variable weather, did not involve overnight running but was widely regarded to be a successful event.

 

Would love to come to a November overnight but sadly my team have booked all holidays and as i work in Retail November is a no go. Hope all is back to normal next year.

 

I'm not sure all nighters would be necessary, what with the limited haulage capabilities and cold weather. But very late running (till about midnight) and early starts (7am) could be wonderful. Sure the local B&Bs etc would appreciate it, as I suspect the Scotsman event won't attract many doing more than a single day.

 

And I can't imagine early November is a particularly busy time for B&Bs either.

 

I can't say too much, however a number of people are trying o argue a case for re-instating the overnight running, so thankyou for your feed back and watch this space.

 

Prices now up, £25 per person (flat rate for adults, seniors and children aged 2-15)

 

That sounds fair, lets all hope the bank balance of SVR is much healthier after the event.

I personally will wait 4 or 5 years until all the hype has died down a bit before sampling it.

 

"Tickets will be valid for one timed return trip from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth and return only, and will not be valid for use on any other services"

 

Hmm, there might be something else to add there but it depends on what it is decide higher up

 

I could not agree more and have made my frustrations very clear to the SVR. I can understand the concern with overcrowding so they have dug themselves into a hole. My personal opinion is FS is a marketing tool aimed at the general public, is not loved by all in the heritage movement and as such the value of it's presence at a gala is questionable. The ASG is successful enough without the requirement for such a perceived draw card so it was poor planning from day one. For me, overnight running is the highlight of the year and whilst I fully expect it to return in 2017, any move to the contrary will result in me directing my generous donations elsewhere.

 

The trouble is now that the decision to cancel the ASG has been made and acted upon, I think it creates a dangerous precedent for the future. Although one would hope that after seeing the anger, disappointment and outrage expressed by so many people on this forum, Facebook, SVR On Line, etc., SVR management will think twice about doing this again.

The more I read about it, the more I'm convinced that things are going to badly pear shaped in September with resultant bad publicity for the railway. I sincerely hope it doesn't, but to hear talk of crowd control measures and security guards being put in place worries me. To be honest it seems like the railway has been caught on the back foot and has dug itself into a deep hole which, if it's not careful, will be very difficult to get out of. But as I said before, I hope I'm wrong.

 

It is for one year. If the SVR didn't take advantage of Scotsman/ Tornado coming together for the first time. Would you all be banging on about "Why didnt we see Scotsman on the SVR with the Teaks?"

As volunteers, we have our doubts/ reservations about the event but it will either be a success or a failure. The November date is a puzzling date to be chosen but we have to accept it and just get on with it. Life will go on.

 

Well said! You'd think reading some of the language on here that it was a matter of life and death! I'm all for trying something different and am happy to try the November event instead. Don't think I fancy the Scotsman/Tornado event as I'm not a great fan of either and would rather sample them on the mainline anyway.

 

I agree wholeheartedly that the SVR should take advantage of Scotsman and Tornado coming together for the first time. It's the way this has been done which is wrong.

 

An O4 at Retford in the late 60s?

 

As I said in a previous post, the SVR should capitalise on the fact that FS and Tornado are both in steam this year. And I really sincerely hope that the event in September goes well, for the railway's sake. And on a practical level, yes the railway has done the only sensible thing they could do as far as crowd control, etc., is concerned. My group has reconsidered and, depending on what the prices are for the "ordinary" tickets and what sort of tickets they are, (i.e. not FS/Tornado) we may go after all. Although I was told when I phoned up the SVR information office it's possibly only one day rovers that will be sold. We will certainly be buying tickets if the prices are right but we may go line siding during the event should we go if the crowds are too bad.

But I think that you can't get away from the fact that cancelling the ASG in this way has alienated and upset a lot of people.

 

Surely the biggest risk is that all the hype and publicity about Scotsman will have died down by September and the anticipated crowds may not appear. Time will show whether these visits are commercially more successful than the ASG which attracted 5935 passengers in 2014 and 7324 (leading to some over crowding) for Royal Scot and Britannia in 2015.

If the concept of special ticketing for visiting locos to avoid crowding catches on then doubtless there will be pages and pages of moans on here. Personally I've long wondered whether crowded galas with many expensive visiting engines are actually desirable by comparison with concepts such as having a "visitor of the month" which would allow movement costs to be recouped over more workings and a wider choice of photographing and travelling options.

 

The best ASG for enthusiasts in recent years must be 2011, with 828 (57566) visiting.
Just goes to show you do not need a big express passenger engine to please enthusiasts, but something rare to the area.