Return of the Cotton Mill Express

I was on the first Cotton Mill Run,

- At Lancaster RYTC made several announcements of the trains progress.
- Whilst on the train they made several more announcements
- Within a week of the trip came a letter offering various options and an explanation of the initial problem.
- They also telephoned me to enquire as to my availability for the re-run.

I cannot fault RYTC's customer service, before during or after the trip. I will certainly have no problems booking with them again in the future.

 

I will be booking several trips with RYTC later on with their summer trips up north, I have travelled with them before and I have no problems with them or WCRC

 

As my post has been removed and people seem to be pledgeing support to the two organisations I wish to make it clear that I have no problem with RYTC.

 

Looks like a rerun is not on the cards for now - after the first failure I got a letter offering a choice between a ticket on the rereun or money back, today I got a 'credit' email from the RTC, simply saying that £60 had been put into my account.

I feel very sorry for all concerned, a very dear do, at least we did get a full refund after 2 splendid runs along the WCML. We all felt awful listening to her limping along like a wounded bull, and didn't really need the announcements which were made, we knew it was going to be terminal> Perhaps the ironic applause as we left Preston was misplaced. Consensus on the train was to blame 'Whispering Dan' Cruickshank.

I don't blame David Smith for wanting 46115 back at Carnforth rather than leaving her at Eccles, what with the price of copper, brass and coal these days....

 

So far I have not heard anything from RTC except an email yesterday telling me about 2 of their forthcoming tours.

Will see what tomorrow brings.

Dave B

 

Pete Thornhill Moderator
Thats quite alright!

 

This thread throws up an interesting arguement re WCs policy of silence. While "we" the public have no right to demand information, a very simple statement from them would have dampened some of the ill-informed dross we have seen posted here. All that happens with a media "blackout" is that people have to rely on rumour and one person, through malice or ignorance, can besmirch a loco/person/group.

Regards.

 

That's right we have no right to demand information, it is their engine not ours, even if they did make a statement there is still SOME people on here who would still have their ranting say and try to twist the truth and slag people off just like they are doing in another thread about Royal Scot, there are some deceant people who write good posts but there is a number of people who delight in malice rumours, such talk is doing mainline steam no favours, in fact it is doing the opposite and giving it a bad name, it only takes for an official from NR to come on here and read all the rubbish about locos being not fit to run and slaming a mainline driver for incompentance and it could all come to a crashing halt. NO MORE MAINLINE STEAM!!

 

Maureen
That wont happen.There is too much money being made for that to happen.They,the operating company, might get a rouler over the knuckles but thats as far as it would go and only if NR beleaved what was being posted and I rather much doubt that they have the time or inclination to be bothered.

 

Further to my last post,I think people ought to be more careful about what they say on here in case any legal action that might be taken against them.This is only my opinion.I am not connected in any way to the two organisations.

 

OK, here's the full text of the letter received from the Railway Touring Company today...

 

Thanks for posting Malc. Can't ask for more than that !

 

Well done RTC, and lets hope we will see the Scot out and about again this year. I hope this will now end the pages of speculation and general waffle that has prevailed on this topic. I feel very sorry for David Smith and his team but they should now be left to get on with the repairs.

ps how many pages of speculation will there now be about locos for the Help for Heroes special ?

 

Every credit to RTC and thanks to malc for sharing the information. Now we all know and it is just one of those things. Let's hope Carnforth can make things right in the fullness of time.

 

Thanks malc for posting RTC letter for us all to read.

Hopefully all speculation posted on this topic will be now replaced with that of support for West Coast, to get the scot running again asap!

Hopefully she wont be out for too long.

 

There is a thread for this tour here
http://railways.national-preservation.com/showthread.php/21914-Help-for-heros-27-3-2010

Neil

 

West Coast has always had my support and still has, I wish them all the best with getting the Scot running again, a fabulous engine.

 

With thanks to Malc for his publication of the RTC missive which was presumably written after confirmation from WCRC of the precise situation regarding what happenned, the consequence for the engine and some indication of the timescale ( and cost ) required to effect repairs.

Whilst understandably critical of WCRC for its silence on the subject many posters have failed to understand that (a) the failure of 46115 is the sole responsibility of WCRC ( as loco provider ) to identify and repair, (b) the responsible bodies will have made the necessary pre and post run checks regarding 46115's fitness to run and (c) WCRC's reputation within the industry has been gained by meeting official standards - not by pandering to the lineside enthusiast who often suffers from that classic Foot & Mouth syndrome of making public comment and proving how little he knows.

Today's railway network is a complicated network of bodies who have specific responsibilities and the failure of 46115 only served to confirm how many were needed to deal with a situation that was as heartbreaking to loco owners and train operator as it was disappointing to the many linesiders who were prepared to brave the cold weather for an event that didn't materialise. There is surely no call for some of the damaging ( possibly libellous ? ) comments posted on this thread - especially when no time was allowed by posters for a proper investigation to take place.

Assumed Timescale : Failure - 13/02; Inspection - 14/02 ( 15/02 if no work on Sunday ); Confirmation to RTC - 16/02; Letter prepared and sent -17/02; Letter received by customer - 18/02. I commend both WCRC for correctly advising RTC of problem and then RTC for quickly advising customers of both problem and no-quibble refund and hope that some posters reconsider their comments in the light of actions take by both bodies; note that communication was between those directly affected - i.e. train operator, loco provider and travelling customers.

As a linesider I make no contribution to either WCRC or RTC but gain immense pleasure from seeing their trains operating on the main line behind a well prepared steam locomotive. As far as Saturday 13/02 was concerned my photograph of 46115 at Brock was worth making the effort for, and I am both disappointed for those waiting after the point of failure who missed the grand sight of a Royal Scot in full flight but even more so for both companes who were at the receiving end of unwarranted comments that condemn the writers more than the subjects.

I hope they do not judge all enthusiasts by such unwarranted comments and continue to provide the best of their skills for the travelling public and the linesiding fraternity to enjoy.