Railway Touring Company 2016

Why would they do this if they are Riley's Black Fives? On this fixture they have always run right back to Manchester Victoria and gone on home up the hill to the ELR.

Peter in Manchester

 

Yes, that is correct, but I'm thinking of the hefty mileage around the coast and then run back to Manchester. I can't really recall any steam tour going around the coast and then continuing past Carnforth.

 

Also, the same typos which are on the tour pages which I clocked nearly three months back, have also managed to be published in the brochure, which tells me that they don't check their website enough ! In regards to the pictures, there the same one's which have been used over many years now to advertise their trips. The brochure as I expected comes second to none and superbly produced, minus the typos !

 

I believe in recent years, most tours incorporating a Southbound run over the Coast have oringinated from London. This involves Electric Traction between Carnforth and the capital at a rough 4 hour running time.

This year, the 5's did the section from Carnforth to Manchester in under 4 hours. It'd be safe to assume the timings Northbound to Carlisle will see an earlier arrival to accomodate the earlier departute down the Coast, but the whole running time of the return trip will be unlikely to exceed the Carlisle-Whitehaven-London turns.

 

We get accused of being over critical but If I was a punter wanting to book a steam hauled train for the first time I'd be tempted by:
The Dorset Coast Express for 24th August : "These trains provide plenty of opportunitiy to visit the beautiful Dorset coast and relive the golden age of steam. Passengers have the option of spending time at the celebrated seaside resorts of either Bournemouth or Weymouth, where both have fine sandy beaches. Each train will be hauled by a steam locomotive that was built for express passenger train work".
One of the following steam locomotives will be used on this day trip:
No. 35018 British India Line rebuilt Merchant Navy class Pacific 4-6-2, built at Eastleigh in 1945, rebuilt in 1956, and used on express passenger trains.
No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell, Britannia class Pacific 4-6-2, built by British Railways at Crewe Works in 1951 to a standard design, and used on express passenger trains in East Anglia.
No. 34067 Tangmere Battle of Britain class Pacific 4-6-2, built at Brighton in 1947 by the Southern Railway, for use on express passenger trains.

How can that be acceptable when they KNOW it will be 45699 assisted by a diesel??????????????

 

The one that arrived today suggests 70013 and 45699 for DCE. Website probably needs revision, though.

 

Quite agree Alan but there are those that seem to think its unfair to expect steam charter providers to conduct their business properly and get shirty when its pointed out they ought to do better.
The proposition seems to be that being small niche businesses somehow grants greater freedom to fall short of reasonable expectations. It may be true that what is reasonable for a small business is less than a much larger corporation but accurate, current service descriptions are a basic in any business. And they are businesses, looking to thrive commercially.
It is all the more unsatisfactory when the closeness of the RTC/WC commercial relationship is factored in which ought to provide for a very good communication process. There just seems to be a basic lack of diligence in some key areas causing avoidable problems. There is probably lots of free help they could get too.

 

Mine hasn't arrived yet. Out of interest, does it show any tours for 2017 which are not yet up on the website? All the website shows at the moment are a few winter CMEs and GBX.

 

Maybe you can find one in the local Library - in the Fiction section...

 

John

No

Paul

 

Thank you, Paul. I therefore won't get too excited when the post arrives today!

 

Or with the comics...

 

Despite the website saying Leander will be on the North wales job on Sunday, a path has appeared for tomorrow from Carnforth DUGL to Crewe HC not long after the Cumbrian Mountain tour arrives into the loop, so Im guessing guardsman is now doing both tours?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50735/2016/08/20/advanced

 

Well are there 1 or 2 locos under steam at the moment?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

46115 dep Carnforth 2025 Sat to Crewe for North Wales Coast job Sun. AN

 

What's the plan for this week's CME, loco-wise?