A Fantasy railtour for 2016 - or could it really happen?

Worth noting that now technically Southern and FCC are the same company, which would make dealing with it easier.

Also worth noting the London Bridge works are scheduled to finish in August 2016. The Brighton Line didn't open until September 1841. Sorted.

 

Isn't that a coincidence... 150 years to the month almost.. good enough reason as any

 

Lets look at something more important for fantasy railtours....

End of Scottish Region Steam 1966. Hoskings, your boys have a year to get the A2 ready....

 

Spell the gentleman's name right please and unless you're his old headmaster it's Mr. Hosking to you.

 

The last of the 2 rebuilt 10 and 11 terminus platforms( 10 - 15) should open on Monday. The works at London Bridge are due to be completed in 2018.

 

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/12179.aspx

Well not quite ....
The "Brighton side" of the station will be completed quite soon but the track work out to New Cross Gate will be completed by summer 2015. As far as I can recall, until August 2016 there will only be 3 running lines open to traffic between South Bermondsey Jn and New Cross Gate. To encompass the loss of track capacity Southern have reduced the number of trains per hour serving London Bridge.
Charing Cross trains will start calling at London Bridge again at the new platforms now being constructed over the gap between platform 8 and the Up Loop in August 2016. At the same time Cannon Street trains will run through not calling at London Bridge from August 2016 to late 2018. This is to rebuild the low numbered platforms and running lines
Full service with Thameslink services running via London Bridge will apply from "Summer 2018".

Hopefully that clears up some of the details.

Cheers, Neil

PS: FCC no longer exist, they are GTR Thameslink or GTR Great Northern.
(Correction Cannon St trains don't call at London Bridge from August 2016 to Summer 2018.)

 

Maybe an appropriate schedule for the Brighton belle ?

 

What, exactly, would be "a bigger show than the 150th"? Nothing suggested in this thread would come close, even if it was deliverable. Brighton 150 entailed inter alia two VSOE charters (both full) with a Class 73 engine specially painted to match the coaches in the sacred spirit of the Belle, a record run with a 319 from London Bridge to Brighton, and passenger shuttles to Newhaven with the 4SUB + 2BIL.

"a load of cold engines were shoved down one of the platforms" - nicely put, marred only by being complete twaddle. They were displayed in Lover's Walk Depot and over 10,000 people turned up. Only Gladstone and Stepney were cold, because neither were main line certified. The big three were in steam. Only the press preview was done in the platform, with Gladstone, a few days beforehand.

I know, because I as Divisional Public Afairs Manager I helped organise it. Contrary to what A1X wants to suggest, we did have some style and panache in the "bad old days".

 

I'm pretty sure I never actually said that.