Two exiled A4s to return from North America for two years - official

Ralph - which profession do most Tory MPs belong to - it wouldn't be the legal profession would it???

Some practices built brand new palaces from the proceeds of privatisation fees - that did the network a lot of good didn't it?

 

Martin Butler = Jeremy Hosking?

 

When I saw Eisenhower, even it's rods had been painted, and the orange lining was very very thick and bright.. wasn't convinced it was original paintwork.

I hope they protect the plates on it though, when I saw them both, everything was original and we have a lot of light fingers over here.
Whilst it would be nice to see then spruced up, the thing that struck me the most was the cabs on both of them...

they are fully exBR... kinks in the pipes, cleaned not polished, evidence of repair and patch up, they feel like they have been dusted over to make them presentable...
with working locomotives there clean, dirty but cared for and maintained... in museums they are spotless.. these felt like working cabs where the gaffer said give em a once over.

Thats something that cannot be replaced... if you go on them you will see what I mean.

 

Will report in August, if you can wait, am visiting Wisconsin then and will look up "Ike"

 

With all the excitement of a possible line up for photographers how much would you be prepared to pay ?. At a guess it would have to be at least £100 what do you think.

 

How have you arrived at an estimate of £100?

 

I guess putting on an event will have a certain cost. So you have two options: attract lots of people at quite a low cost; or else make it a premium event and put the price high enough to restrict numbers so that the experience for those limited number of people is a good one.

So for example, if it cost £10k to assemble the six engines for a day, you could have 1000 people paying a tenner each (but no-one would get a decent photo); or you could have 20 people paying £500 (and everyone could get the perfect shot without danger of anyone else wandering into shot). Would you find 20 people willing to pay £500? Maybe - it's a matter of market research.

I'd have thought the best bet would be two events. For example, a daytime event for the masses; then a premium event of day going into night at a price that is high enough that numbers get limited so the opportunities are worth paying for. (e.g. if I paid a premium price, I'd be annoyed if there were so many people around that they kept wandering into my shot. But if I paid £5 or £10, I'd be prepared to take my chances...)

Tom

 

My reading of it, is that it will be much more than just a day and more than 1 location...

in fact over 2 years there's plenty of opportunity to see them, and therefore also plenty of opportunity to recoup the cost.

 

Indeed, I suspect that it'll be a right scrum around them when they do the first lineup. As mass market ticket prices (...way under £100) in the difficult economic climate we are in at the moment is important and should be a success.

It'll be interesting to see where we get lineups, presumably Barrow Hill will feature. I suppose they could also do an LNER Pacific lineup as well as a complete A4 lineup with Scotsman, BP and Tornado... the options are pretty awesome.

 

Yes, though the cost will be more than £10k - I doubt you'd get much change out of that just for one set of moves to one location. Moreover, since three of the six will have steaming commitments, it's not like it will be possible to assemble all six and leave them together for weeks on end.

I guess the point is that there would ideally be a mix of "popular" and "premium" type events. That way, anyone who just wants to see the locos together will be able to do so without being priced out of the market; but equally anyone who wants to achieve the perfect photo will - at a price - get a chance where conditions can be very controlled. If you are spreading things round the country, you'd also want each location to have some kind of USP specific to that location. I wonder if it would be possible to assemble all 6, plus Tornado, Scotsman and Blue Peter? What would people pay for that?

Tom

 

Anyone care to speculate photographic locations ?

York, Shildon, Barrow Hill, Doncaster Works Open Day perhaps ?, Carnforth Openday ??

even Southall Openday perhaps ?.. It is Londons last real steam shed.

dare we speculate one late night weekend photoshoot / engineering possession of plats 1-4 at KX ?

 

The reason i came up with £100 is at Railfest in June it is £50 and I think when they had 4 A4's it was £ 75 so 6 £100?.


Adult
1 Adult aged 16 and over. Allows entry from 18:30-20:30 on 4th June or 07:00-09:00 on 5th June. @ £50.00
Adult + £2 donation
This ticket includes a £2 donation to help support the National Railway Museum. @ £52.00

 

I'd like to think BH would feature, but don't forget there are only six lines in the preserved side of the yard.

 

Ah, you're talking about a dedicated photo shoot as opposed to just general entry.

 

I think Shildon will see the 6 gather together. There is 7 lines into the museum so they could be lined up side by side - they did it with 7 Deltics so 6 A4's should be do-able there. Personally Shildon would be the easiest place to get to but I will go wherever the line up occurs.

 

Shildon being one of the worst places for travelers from the rest of the U.K. to get to!

 

I can think of worse - and I live and commute from there...