Great Britain XIV 2022

I thought there was already a thread on this, but it wasn't coming up in my searches.

Anyway, GB 2020 is now available to peruse:

https://www.railwaytouring.net/travel-tours/the-great-britain-2020

Looks good as usual, with Oban a clear highlight. Will have to wait and see if I can do a repeat of this year for that leg.

 

Looks a good un. Tornado on the EC, 6233 in Scotland and 6201 over the Devon banks. No mention of Scotsman though.

 

Tempted again, enjoyed 9 (11) days this year so much

 

Yaaay! It's coming north of Newcastle on the ECML again after missing out the last few years.

That's more like it.

 

And it looks like the Cumbrian Coast has returned to the agenda after a few years away

 

Tornado?? on a train run by West Coast , well that's something I never thought I would see .

 

Thursday's Aberdonian was hauled by Tornado and was operated by West Coast.

 

All Aberdonians are WCRC operated as well as the North Briton two weeks ago and another tour later in the year from London to Newcastle which Tornado hauls London to York and back with N09 hauling the train between York and Newcastle in both directions.

 

Fascinating itinerary. Will 6233 be in gauge on the HML? Would be great to see a red duchess in the highlands.

 

Indeed. Full marks to them.

And it ain't cheap. For the full dining option, with the trip to Oban and the supplement for single occupation in the hotels, it's over £4k for seven days of steam (eight days total but one day in Penzance); so about £600 per day. Full dining on a day trip costs less than half that, so seems to me considerably better value.

 

All true, not cheap. But you don't need to do full dining, part-fares may be possible, you may be able to opt for your own B and B.

If your bag is steam mileage then the GB is not vfm compared with ten days out. If you want to visit Inverness, Oban and Penzance by steam, or you want a land cruise, or a good selection of locos, it is as good value as other iconic experiences {horrible phrase} such as Covent Garden opera or Premier League or the cricket world cup or the VSOE. At least it was for me last year, need to think about it next year.

 

There are some legs of the tour that I would immediately sign up to but there are others that wouldn't thrill me. The thing that frustrates me is that some places that rarely see steam such as Kyle and the far north, the only steam is the Great Britain. I would love to do steam on the Kyle line (doubt I'll get the chance) but there is no way I would want to do the whole Great Britain.

 

In recent years, I believe both The Great Britain and Highland and Islands tours have offered single day bookings for Kyle of Lochalsh, Aberdeen and Stranraer days.

 

I would like to do the whole Scottish leg of the Great Britain and perhaps the S&C on top of that but nothing in the south interests me at all.

 

It's worth contacting RTC as they are quite amenable to requests for parts of the Great Britain. Did it myself last year, just the first 5 days, and I recall a lady on an earlier one who just did the Scottish part.

Dave B

 

It wouldn't happen next year but once my studies are finished I can't rule it out.

 

From a photting point of view the Oban line has to be done!

 

Locos tender to tender again?

 

Well I seem to have gone and booked again today. Looking forward to seeing some faces from this years wonderful trip and after talking Sunday to people who work on it I know a few of them are down to go again. For anyone who went this year I have 4 of 5 slide/video clips uploads now on Youtube under ' 1Goldsteam ' (not 'high' quality as I did not take my DSLR's but an historical slice of each day on board)
> Stranraer