The Bath and Bristol 24th March 2012

Nice granstand view you had at Preston Park Ashley.

 

Indeed. It sounded like a short sharp metallic knock to me, not like a sticking drain cock which would be apparent over a fair part the piston stroke.

David

 

This thread shows the best and the worst of NatPres.
The best : The tour operator himself coming on here to tell us what happened regarding the 300 passengers on his train.
The worst : The usual armchair experts coming on here to tell us what they *think* happened/should have happened/didn't happen.

 

Managed to spot myself in your Haywards Heath photos

 

I suppose my posts are included in your worst setion, but hey sorry for having an opinion or thoughts on something......

 

As a matter of fact your posts are not to what I was referring. I was referring to those who'd posted on the situation regarding the rail tour passengers being ferried home by another TOC.

 

How would you of rescued a vac braked train then without another suitable vac braked loco anywhere near then ?, I made my comment because it points out how woefully equipped modern TOC's are to deal with any surge in demand, Ben pointed out a a railtour load is a lot to fit on one service train these days, do they not have more than 1 train heading towards Clapham that day then ?.

The comment was basically saying the modern railway stock has sod all spare capacity which isn't a good thing when demand goes in peaks or troughs, I don't see a problem with pointing out the truth that SWT seems totally incapable of dealing with a few extra hundred people despite running numerous trains on that route.

 

If this is aimed at me, read what I wrote.

 

Sorry having a bad day. : )

 

Im struggling to see any other post you might be referring to Ian, sounds like a case of crossed wires.

 

that just beggars belief Dan, no doubt giving a good example...

 

It looks like subsequent tours for Tangmere have been cancelled due to the unavailability of 34067. I guess 44932 would have been doing these trips had it not been for Saturday's incident. Has anybody else heard this?

Does this suggest the magnitude of the 5's issue as being substantial?

I hope that Tangmere's maintenance period shall be coming to a conclusion soon. More trip cancellations would make for an even more unfortanate situation.

 

SWT agreed to pass passengers via Southampton where there are longer trains with more seats. They were not happy that passengers went on services via Andover. They did not register their displeasure with WCR for no reason...

 

I am no arm chair expert.....I just quote the facts

 

Can you provide a bit more clarification of what SWT thought they had agreed to? SWT services from Salisbury to Southampton are, I think, usually only formed of a single 158 or 159 set (there are also FGW services but these again are usually one set) . Those via Andover are 2 or three sets. From Southampton to Worthing and beyond (the set down stations for the tour), services are provided by Southern.

 

I was on the train with 9 friends. Several of them were veterans of previous railtours although we haven't been for some years and the rest were warned that things like this can and do go wrong (particularly when we're travelling!). RTC dealt with the problem admirably - soon after the loco had been failed they arranged for us to get back to our respective start points by service train at no additional cost - we travelled back to Brighton via Clapham Junction. It was unfortunate that the Salisbury - CJ leg was only three coaches instead of six so many people were standing or sitting on floors but that's not RTC's fault. They also wrote to everyone on Monday offering a discount on a future booking.

 

Yes it is a nice spot up there and amazingly I was the only one considering how many people were around at Balcombe. I thought you might Dan, looking at your shots. I was the guy on the step ladder at the back. My video is now online...

Black 5 no.44932 with 'THE BATH AND BRISTOL' 24/03/12 - YouTube

 

I think you maybe in a video I took which I haven't uploaded a) due to slightly shakey hands and b) because someone who I think is in your photos placed their video camera over the fence and got in the way when I was zooming in on 44932 entering the tunnel.

 

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[TD]The customer services on said day agreed to allow the passengers on SWT services via Southampton only.
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