Cancelled railtours

Torbay Express Limited paid 25k to take on 100k of bookings.

 

Was thinking about 80 mins to Salisbury Alan!

We discussed it on an email group recently and sort of left it that we would maybe put out feelers to it's possibility. Nothing done yet! 80 mins with 35028 on 11 cars from Platform 16 is easily possible with a 75 mph limit and no other checks. Still just possible if the bridge restriction just after MP 31 is applied. But 07.17 is no good for that as it would catch the 07.10 ex Waterloo before Salisbury. Not sure if there is a pathway between 07.00 and 07.05.

Anyway, it's probably cloud cuckoo land.

 

Putting a Kitchen car in doesn't always mean the price of standard tickets will increase. Considering that catering always has a big mark up usually around 100%. This could be the differents between making a profit or making a loss on a particular rail tour.

 

From the amount of dining going on within the various trips I reckon you could be spot on there.

 

I was on the Somerset and Dorset rail tour with 35028 in May and we left Waterloo at 07.19 two mins down and we arrived at Woking about three mins early 07.47. We also reached a average top speed of 78mph.

 

Speaking of 'cancelled railtours', its a shame that Exeter is now effectively cut off for steam from Waterloo, unless you are willing to 'suffer' an ugly detour via Yeovil Junction and plenty of diesel haulage that includes the eastbound ascent of Honiton. Anyone up for a late night jaunt down to Exeter and back behind 34046 or 34067? Don't forget to take your own dinner with you!

 

There's location and TOC to consider too, no idea what quotes for a job that WCRC & DBS would be like but would be suprised if they were indentical, starting from Crewe or York also could be more conveniant logistically than Barton Hill.

Could all be a load of bunkem but worth considering.

 

I have to agree with Nigel that the price hike on the TE must have had an effect. Even a huge fan of the train, like myself, thinks twice before booking. The price compared to Rail Touring just doesn’t make sense. Remember trains in previous year pretty much all sold out. Not so this year. The failure to offer a Family ticket (like RTC and SteamDream do) is very surprising on a perfect family day out train. Its a real shame because the TE is a fantastic trip.

Sadly from what I’ve heard this evening expect more changes and cancellations to be announced soon (not TE) and this time not due to low booking.

PS: As I understand it DBS own the path for the Torbay Express so not realistic for West Coast to quote.

 

Yet another " I've heard something , but I'm not saying what" comment. All that does is cause speculation and rumours and we have enough of that on here as it is.

If you've heard something or know something but don't want to say what it is then why mention it in the first place?

Dave B

 

Hear Hear!

 

I don't think you need to have "privilaged information" to state there will be further cancellations, and not due to low nookings. Just look at how many of the locos that have been advertised as working tours over the next few weeks that are currently out of traffic. We have already had some cancellations for this reason and the number of regular services currently running means that covering from other serviceable locos will be getting ever harder.

Steven

 

It's a paradox. Tour opertaors need to run more services to maintain their business model at a time when the available loco stock is reducing due to unforseen circumstances.