The Atlantic Coast Express 5th-8th September 2014

I hope that the current difficulties WC is reported to be having in the north east are not putting them into a 'no win' situation in negotiating with NR on everything else they are trying to operate. I mention this because it seems the trundle of the ACE westwards continues after Exeter. Exactly how long ago was it that anything was scheduled to take 90 minutes from Exeter to Plymouth non stop? Very unusually, I don't share Steamage's positive spin about it all. Let's look at this trip from the perspective of someone trying to view it in a positive manner but also taking along someone in premier standard who doesn't have quite the passion for steam that I do.

We have breakfast at around 6 am before setting off for London. We take three hours to get to Salisbury where there is the chance to walk around the station and possibly grab a snack plus use the facilities. Mid afternoon, we have an hour for a very hasty "lunch" at Exeter that in practice gives no opportunity to sightsee. Next, we have the onward crawl to Plymouth with the extended stop to water the locomotives and possibly another sandwich at the station. We get to Penzance at 9 pm and then there is finally the transfer to St Ives - let's say we get to our hotel at 10 pm.

I challenge anyone to tell me where there is the time during the day to get a decent meal in a nice venue or do anything other than hang around a station or sit in a loop?

Is this what I was expecting? Is this what a 'Holiday by Steam' is all about? Am I naive to expect something different? Will my better half understand? Will she travel on a steam charter again?

Sorry but this has all got a bit personal for me. To be fair, the original promise of a departure and a destination arrival time has been met so we knew about the length of the day and were preparing for that. What I was not prepared for was:
- an overall schedule that defies belief
- departure from Victoria with all that this implies
- no time for a pleasant break in Exeter that would have been possible by not going to Barnstaple!
- a twelve hour 'train day' when you are effectively either on the train or at/near a station with nothing else possible.

I'll say no more as it's probably already become boring for those not affected. Let's just say that I knew that it would all unravel a bit as I do understand exactly what happens with steam charters but as I see it now, the ball of wool is completely unwound and on the floor.

Yes, I am grateful to SLS for offering a motive power solution because of the nonavailability of Britannia; yes, there are three steam locomotives; yes, there is steam in and out of Penzance. And yes, thank you to SD/WC for trying to run the trip. But I still worry that there may be another twist. I await with interest the final information from SD as I remain in partial disbelief over what I see as the draft times on RTT.

 

For those that are interested it seems that Tangmere will leave its banker behind on Grosvenor Bridge and head off for Exeter the long way round but with just its rake of coaches. So that means unassisted steam over Honiton. At least that gives Tangmere a fair chance of making it and we know that the operation of the sanders will have been checked before leaving Southall and at Chard Junction!

 

That's probably right although there is no reason why the train needs to return to Victoria unless NR cannot find a path to Waterloo (unlikely) or the train is too long to fit a normal platform. (Ask yourself when West Coast last used P19 at Waterloo?). People who travel by train to this trip are not using cheap day return tickets to get there so where we return doesn't really matter.

Either way, I do hope that a pick up at Woking is included. The train is, after all, exactly in the path of the Dorset Coast Express. Nothing calls at Woking P5 between 1000 and 1013. The train "passes" at 1003. West Coast knows all this. So I sincerely hope that they pull their finger out if SD requests a pick up stop and does the right thing by any passengers who don't want to fight their way to London in the rush hour for a wander around the suburbs. The same people can get off at Brookwood on the return if a Woking set down is impossible. West Coast owes this to the passengers.

It's about time that common sense prevailed. This is not an exciting recreation of the heady fast sprint of the ACE. It doesn't even go to anywhere that the ACE went to (Okehampton and Barnstaple were previously indicated). But it is a trip down the SWML to Exeter 50 years on from the ACE. We do go to Penzance and back with steam - that doesn't happen every day. It will involve three steam locomotives. It will include unassisted steam over Honiton (for which I sincerely hope Tangmere is given a run at the bank by the Controllers). So there is much to look forward to once you have downgraded your expectations.

 

Lovely stuff. I like your style - both of you. And if the appearance of Tangmere on the DCE today is a swop with 70013 so that there is a week's layover for last minute tinkering before the ACE then I will drink to that. I'm not certain that there is a Plan B is Tangmere becomes unavailable.

 

That says it all for something that really should have filled up nicely. It must have been a difficult summer for steam charters generally and you can't help but think that it's not just the fussy steam purists who have started to become highly selective about travelling.

Sorry to drift off thread but when Bill's food chain first started, it somehow managed to create a niche space with a small number of distinctive restaurants in a crowded market. It is currently expanding and that, I was told by a restaurant manager, has sadly led to some of its products being produced centrally and not in the restaurant itself. Recently I saw the down side of that expansion in an indifferent experience at one of its places.

You do have to test the market to assess its capacity, factors that may influence it and also its resilience. More than in 2013, I think that 2014 has proved to be troublesome for reasons that have been self inflicted but also external reasons. Personally, I am surprised that the ACE hasn't sold out but the wider context must be a factor. And there has been quite a lot of steam promised although much has changed or been deleted. I expect the market will self-regulate but I hope that happens before the paying public loses patience and interest.

 

Tickets for the ACE arrived yesterday. I see that SD has now inserted an outbound pick up at Woking. We all know that this would not have been particularly difficult given that the path of the ACE is the same as the RTC DCE trips. Nevertheless, what an intelligent decision now that it is clear there will be nothing non-stop (or fast even) out of or into Waterloo.

So that deserves a big thank you to one or both of James Shuttleworth and Marcus Robertson for doing the sensible thing. I guess it may make the serving of breakfast before Salisbury a bit tight for those in premier dining who board at Woking - and my bet is that there will be quite a few - but I suspect that's a modest inconvenience given the hassle saved in fighting your way to London if you live in Surrey/Hants