Non - Stop BRISTOLIAN 17/4/2010!

I see somebody is asking for the times over on The Works as well. There is a lot of interest out there.

 

Okay people I apologise for the abruptness of my original reply to the post about the times for this train. But as most of you will realise this is such a high profile run that it will bring out more than the usual number of people who don't understand the dangers of being on the railway. And as David notes on UK Steam certain movements aren't published on his site until after the event for operational reasons.
I apologise for any upset I have caused, but as most of you will know I never make public times for our trains.
Now on a lighter note those of you that know of the legend of the Tyseley Wheelbarrow, well she is being shopped tomorrow for a repaint by yours truly. One very good reason for being on the platform at either Paddington or Temple Meads to get the real exclusive photo of the trip.

 

I suspect all this secrecy over times will achieve is people going out early in order not to miss it and thus be on or about the lineside longer than usual. I can remember when BR put an embargo on steam tour times back in the 70s/early 80s but it did nothing to stop people going out to see them.

 

That's certainly what I'll do.

 

I'll be working mind you so won't be anywhere near the lineside on Saturday. Hope to catch the Slough - Solihull trip on Sunday though.

 

times for the tour are already on some gen sites so why the secrecy on here pm me if you want time from paddington and bristol i got the times from fgw customer service

 

To be quite honest, I am totally appalled the way this has turned out! This thread is almost 40 pages long & has been running since early January. There has been much interest in it, particularly about the water carrier. Now look at it, the times seem to be cloaked in total secrecy. I don't know if this an official stance by someone along the line, so I cannot lay the blame at any particular person or organization. It is strange that Keyhamtrain says the times are available from FGW though. Whatever the reason, it is very, very poor public relations & does not endear people to support various loco/railway organizations. As an aside, how come the times for the 1st positioning move are available but nothing else including the return positioning move? It seems the only time we have had a situation like this is when steam hauls the Royal Train or the Top Gear Tornado run, this was probably for security reasons where high profile people were on board. This is not the case here.

 

It is nothing new from VT.A couple of years back I wanted to book on one of their tours,(not an SE) so when I rang to book I first enquired of the departure time from Solihull and the return time, a reasonable request I thought.The person I dealt with advised me it was not company policy to give timings over the phone but they would be sent with the tickets.Not a good way to sell tickets methinks.Other than SE's I have steered clear of VT tours for that very reason. :sad::sad:

 

I don't know if this is a VT directive in this case or not, but I notice that there is no provision for giving any times on their tour website. Totally different to the SD website where they give full timings when they become available.

 

What a very petty way to deal with potential customers.

 

To be fair it's all a matter of balance. Ticket lines used to be almost impossible to contact because of people asking for times.

 

From an old newspaper man,this is extremely poor public relations...Even Churchills funeral train had more publicity than this trip.thousands lined the route because they knew details in advance and wanted to pay respect...

Publicity should be welcomed with open arms by any company and would give a boost to future sales.Being short sighted looses customers in the long run.
Good job Im not running publicity,I'd have every station with a brass band with buntings.

 

Point taken but start and finish times can be important when booking tickets, especially if you need to use public transport to get the the start/finish point. Little point in booking a ticket if the scheduled arrival time is after the last bus/train home.

 

How long would the company stay in business with you running publicity? All this stuff costs money and how much money are all the people standing on the stations putting into the operation? Granted a few may book on future trains but not enough to justify the expense. Also from an operational and Health and Safety point of view who says VT, NR and FGW want people all over the lineside and stations?

 

According to details sent out---
Pl 3 PAD dep 11.30
BTM arr 13.56

"Non-stop steam leg London-Bristol"

My advice would be to turn up early in any case if we get a clear road..............

No intermediate times given but many enthusiasts can prob have a good guess. BUT a fast run just might..........!!!!

The spl HST is due to arr from Plymouth 11.07--on pl2 perhaps!!! Again,v poss to run early!!

 

They're going to get people all over the show anyway. Keeping the times secret, and I doubt they'll remain a total secret, may deter some but it won't deter them all. It's a sad reflection on the state of things in this country that we have a high profile event to commemorate a significant railway anniversary but the organisers want to deter people from joining in the experience. Take a look at how the Germans celebrated their 175th anniversary and note the stark contrast.

 

Exactly. You would think that the railway in general would need a dose of decent publicity for a change, look at the amount of people who turned out for the German event and how well generally it was handled, and yet one train here seems to be a state guarded secret with lots of petty fools keeping times secret and moaning about people watching the train go by.
Why not run it at night so no bugger can take a photo of it? Bloody pathetic.
Trust me, if I was at work this week full times would be posted everywhere.

 

There was a time when BR would only run steam specials on third rail lines at night so it's been done before but that's another subject entirely.