STEAM TOUR CANCELLATIONS‏ AND POSTPONEMENTS ETC.

We should not be surprised that Wayne and his colleagues have not commented in a public forum such as this. Whether they are ASLEF members or not, sympathetic to the leadership, management or neither, now is not the time and here is not the place for off-the-cuff remarks in public. I think they are very sensible to refrain from public comment.

To my way of thinking, it's a good sign that the debate between DBS and ASLEF is not being conducted in public. I take it to mean that discussions are proceeding well-enough internally and so there's a chance of things being resolved in a reasonable time, and this view appears to be supported by today's piece in Railway Herald.

 

Can't argue with any of that,totally agree with you.

 

As others have already said, a great post Mark!

Anyone who is/was expecting a post from Wayne and his colleagues on this subject really need to take a hard look at themselves but then this is Nat Pres after all, people need to know absolutely everything that goes on!

 

Saw 70000 on the Cathedrals the other night at Eastleigh and my video is below. It is a shame the tours this week and next are cancelled.

Not my best video by any means, but constructive criticism is always welcome!

70000 - The Cathedrals Express 11-09-12 - YouTube

James at SVN

 

Nice video James.

Lots of empty seats - not a good sign.

 

Thanks a lot

As for the empty seats, there were quite a few set downs before Eastleigh (Egham, Chertsey, Woking and Basingstoke, then Southampton Central, Romsey and finally Salisbury) so I think quite a few people got off at the previous 4 stations. There were quite a few that got off at Eastleigh, most of the people around got off the train (I was there with an elderly couple and a photographer with his daughter before 70000 arrived).

James at SVN

 

Sadly, the number of cancelled tours in the next two weeks and beyond surely signals the end of the main line steam era as we have known and loved it - the number affected who are not loyal enthusiasts must be such that they will not trust the tour operators again (whether they understand the underlying issue or not) and therefore bookings will have taken a terminal dive. Enthusiasts alone can only sustain a small fraction of the tour schedule that we have got used to. So much for the alleged resolution of the dispute between EWS/DBS and the union - judging by the almost total wipe-out of steam for the foreseeable future, they seem as deeply divided as ever. DBS operations/lack of them don't really affect fare-payers in general, so this continuing row will be the only way in which they interact with them.

Of course, I desperately hope I am wrong, but the knife-edge economics of main line steam are typical of business ventures that usually sustain mortal wounds from this sort of dispute.

 

Glass half empty by any chance? Not a great moment I agree but worth revisiting this prediction in a year's time. Anyway I'm off around the Scarborough, Brid, Hull circuit on Wednesday, more or less sold out, 20 seats left in Standard. Hoping for 45305, that would be appropriate given Hull connections. Come on sun!

 

There's a 5Zxx move in the system for Weds lunchtime from NRM to Carnforth including a water stop at Hellifield. I would've thought that would be for 44932, leaving 45305 for the Scarborough trip, but who knows.

 

I think that's a bit pessimistic. Yes, it will almost certainly result in the permanent loss of a few customers, but Steam Dreams appear to be the promoter who have been hardest hit by these problems and as their customer relations are probably better than most other promoters, I'm sure they will do everything possible to ease the situation.

 

May I point out that the majority of tour operators are using a different TOC and are NOT having to cancel trains! We at VT are not planning on cancelling anything and all tours are running as planned!

Deepgreen - Do you realise there are other operators besides Steam Dreams?

 

Ben - yes, indeed - looking at UKSteam, I can see trains operated by TBEL and PATH cancelled by the industrial action, as well as STDR!

 

And all the other companies that do not use DBS? Should we throw in the towel as well?

If Steam Dreams can't run, but other tour companies are, surely passengers that really want to travel will just switch to a comparable competitors tour.

What's with all the doom and gloom? Touch of the Dunkirk spirit needed here I think!

We just finished our most sucessful summer Shakespeare season ever! Statesman are doing well. Compass are not cancelling anything.

CHEER-UP!

 

There seems to be two flavors of cool-aid being consumed here!

 

I prefer Kool-Aid!

 

Don't like your flavor!

 

You can’t just right off the main line rail tour industry by what is happening now. You need to look what has happen to main line steam over the past five to ten years. Every year there has been a growth in steam tours which shows there is a large market out there for rail tour operators to tap in to and continue to tap in to. Every industry has its ups and downs. This is just a small blip within another outstanding year for main line steam. More and more people are now taking the opportunity to travel behind steam locos on the main line to more and more locations. I can only see this industry continuing to grow.

 

The real outcome probably sits somewhere between the pessimism of those that think this is the end of steam charters as we know them and those that are hoping it's just a small blip in the steady upward growth of steam. For my part, it feels like the market is already pretty saturated looking at routes, engines and passengers available. (Yes I know we haven't had two panniers bunker first over Shap with a train of restored brake vans but most realistic operations and options are covered). It seems that the most likely fallout from this is that either the financially weakest operator(s) will fail or else the most exposed which looks like Steam Dreams. Lets' hope that if the dispute is solved quickly (and the industry's track record is not good in this area) then at least some of the tours in October and later can be saved. What I would absolutely suggest is that all of us continue to support the steam charter industry as much as we can - this really does feel like the Indian Summer of steam and we may look back at 2012 as a real high point. Even the Bullieds are not getting any younger and I really wonder how many more times we'll see the likes of Sir Lamiel on the mainline - this, and others of the same age, have survived well beyond their years already. Treasure and support what there is now - there won't be many Tornado's coming off the production line to replace them.

Yours in steam, Mike

 

Aye and maybe drinking from the same glass. ;-)