XL railtours

Two brief comments before I disappear (works 'do' tonight):

1. Please can you take a break from bashing Mel? We discussed his past experiences in considerable detail before proceeding with this venture. I cannot comment on what happened a decade ago but we are all very aware of the lessons learned and have taken them to heart as part of our planning.

2. Point taken regarding the website. That's why in future we shall only be making references to firm, committed, tours.

Neil

 

Neil - its not the readership of this forum that you will need to convince

 

Fair point, well made.

 

XL Railtours website seems to have disapeared?

http://www.xlrailtours.co.uk/

Error 404: NOT FOUND!
Your browser cannot find the document corresponding to the URL you typed in.

 

Could be that they have decided to take it down till they have thier first tour actully planned and thier paying system sortted? i dounno , just taking a guess.

 

One minute they're promoting specific railtours, then they remove the details, then they remove the entire website. Weird!! Doesn't give you much confidence, does it?

Richard

 

To be honest , no , it doesnt , but even the biggest of companys startted off with one man and a thought . So might be a idea to wait a couple days and see if XL's rep on here wants to add to why its been taken off?

 

Their first tour was / is advertised for 9 May but with other mouth watering attractions already scheduled for this date eg a Brit [70013] recreating The Palatine with steam along the Midland Mainline and Hope Valley; a Scot [46115] over Shap, I think any new company would struggle to compete with such competition. There is also the Duchess to Hiolyhead. With these "horses for courses" itineraries already booking I believe would be travellers will stay with the tried and trusted.

 

It's getting on for 3 weeks since XL's web site disappeared, but I see that on UK Steam May 9 The Lickey Conqueror is still listed, although as provisional.
Has anyone seen anything in the railway press about what's going on?

 

Might be worth someone trying to gain access to TRUST to see if theres still a path left open for the tour or if thiers any sort of moment that day that might say its still being planned?

Must admit , its a bad time to try and sell something already out thier . but who knows , i hope im proved wrong

 

All XL railtours are now shown as cancelled on uksteam.info.

 

I'm told that XL Railtours has been disbanded !

David

 

Ah well, that's a day out down the pan then.
But it did seem a bit strange starting a company with the financial situation as it is, there again you only have to look at Vintage Trains site to see there is still money about for rail tours. The dining on the trip to York to bring 60007 to the midlands sold out weeks ago and the dining on The Bristolian On 28 March has sold out, proving that the money is still out there.
Which makes me wonder, were there other forces at work here?
Or is it that I have an over active imagination?

 

Steam Dreams St David's Day trip to Cardiff on the 1st of March with 70013 is also sold out in all classes.

 

Thank God they haven't got anyone's money like Kingfisher!

 

What a success!

 

Am i the only one who thinks a bit of this criticisim is unfair ? they haven't taken any money and haven't ripped anyone off as far as im aware, even if what they planned wasn't a success, but unfair to tar them with the same brush as other operators who have let joe public down and allagedly still owe money.

 

OLD JOKE ALERT!!!

Days Out were more usually known as "Days In". Becuase that is where you spent your time when you found out your railtour was cancelled when you got to Guildford at 4:00 AM to find no sign of it.

Been there, done it, got no refund.