Great Central Railway General Matters

I suggest you look at previous discussions on the topic, and in particular the input of @Bean-counter regarding experience at the NYMR. My assumption, based on that highly informed comment, is that the likelihood of exemption rather than treating the GCR/GCRN as a "full" railway, is extremely low if passenger carrying at more than 25mph is to be allowed. As an armchair member of the GCR, I would also be extremely concerned about the impact on costs, fares and fundraising given the extra forces that higher speeds would impose on track and structures.

 

In response to standard tank; Don't know that much can be done about that. Did I see that there we're some new compacted/recycled plastic sleepers being looked at somewhere that had properties similar to wooden sleepers-
a 'coasting only' section ?

 

I don't think anyone is asserting absolutes. Sawdust simply said forget higher speeds and, in essentially agreeing with him, I certainly haven't said it's impossible. It only needs another David Clarke but, without such a benefactor, it doesn't stack up.

 

The Ffestiniog have used them on the Cob and at Porthmadog, I believe. Not a cheap solution, though.

 

raise the speed and you shorten the ride, meaning you'd have to increase the mileage to give the same value for money.

 

I don’t think value is seen in those terms, especially once the journey is a meaningful distance.


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No? well you should read some of the comments to be found on trip adviser for various railways where people complain that the trip was too short in terms of time .If you run a train faster, it would have to go further to give the same value for money.

 

Having read several reviews on Trip Advisor, my conclusion is that there are some people with some downright odd expectations out there. In the case of the Corris, it would have been reasonable to ask just what the hell one reviewer expected from a line which doesn't hide the fact that it's (currently) under a mile long!

From what I've seen, the majority write reasonably balanced pieces on lines they've visited, but some of them!! If it were my pet line being subjected to some of the invective I've seen, which let's face it, does happen, I'd be sorely tempted to "do a Basil Fawlty" (..... herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically...). All diplomacy has limits!

 

Clearly the Corris trains are going too fast, and therefore not giving value for money.

 

amusing but sadly true. It's really up to lines to create an attraction at "the other end" to make a full rounded day out in which the ride is only a part.. Clearly Corris are in what I call "the new list" and haven't reached that stage as yet.

 

It's really instructive to read the bottom end of the comments and see what people really do think. The Lynton and Barnstable comments amazed me the other day, where someone thought nothing of the ride, the view and the rolling stock, all of which are first rate. They did comment that the ride was too long and slow and there was nothing to see at the far end (except Exmoor and the Bristol Channel!...no Wildebeest)

 

They have gone in a several locations on the Festiniog now. Cost is comparable to a decent hardwood equivalent. They have a longer life span and can be recycled into new sleepers when you're finished with them. The main reason for using them is they are much easier to get hold of being produced in the UK, and the price and quality are very consistent.

Tim

 

I am slightly startled that someone would think that the L&B was too long, given that you reach the other end in only about ten minutes or so. It puts their quest to extend into perspective!

 

Puts some of the numpties on Trip Advisor (and elsewhere) into perspective! How do they survive the trip to Exmoor in the first place?

 

The GCR is firmly on my list to explore further next year, haven't been to GCRn at all yet. I'm not a big fan of the area but Quorn makes up for that, a charming place I thought.

 

On the other hand, I'd pay for speed in the right context. Getting to experience a typical mid sized mixed traffic loco trotting along at 45-50mph without a box on the back, and it having to be a day on a railtour would be something I'd be willing to open the wallet for (much more so than to travel behind express locos at 25mph).

However, my understanding is that heritage railways do pretty much have two choices - keep the speeds down to 25mph or less, or lose all the derogations which allow most heritage railways to survive, and operate just like the mainline, with all the costs attached. In an ideal world, one would have bands of regulations, so the rules progressively tightened up more for railways running up to say 40mph, or 50mph, but I don't think that is how the legislation was written.

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but in the good old days when we had people like Maj Olver in charge at HM Rail Inspectorate someone asked about upping the 25mph limit and his reply was along the lines of 'we know you lot run a little bit faster at times, but if we allow an increase in speed to say 45mph, you'll take the mick and run at 50, 60mph trying to make up time!' In other words 'Don't take the p##s'

 

Maj. Olver was a legend, wasn't he?- an official with a sense of humour and understanding of human nature too. A pragmatist.

 

yes and so would I and most others on here, but we're very much the minority. You'd have to open your wallet very wide indeed to cover the costs.

 

Tripadvisor's problem is that it is amateur. It does have some well reasoned reports plus considerably more that err to the over-enthusiastic side. However, a surprising number come in the category of "spiteful" e.g. when Mr. Chump has a timetable but does not read it properly and visits on a day when services are not running. He then proceeds to give a universal rating of one out of five to something he has not experienced because of his own ineptitude. With professional schemes, such as that operated by Visit England, at least we can know the assessor will, in turn, be assessed.

PH