46100 - The Citadel Express - 14/09/16

Here's a chance of pure steam ! Pricey, but worth it for the lengthy mileage.

http://www.pathfindertours.co.uk/index.php/tour-calendar-reader/events/the-citadel-express.html

 

Despite no diesel on the back tour is caped due lack of bookings!

 

Seriously?????

 

Wonder if it was advertised as NO Diesel on the rear ;-)

 

I wonder whether the fact that many of the pick-up stations are within Vintage Trains' "catchment area" and the latter's passengers may look at Pathfinder's fares and decide to stick with VT.

 

Probably due more to it being a Wednesday. Still, it's quite bizarre that Royal Scot both ways over Shap couldn't fill a train any day of the week. Proper Steam and few takers. Really sad. How times have changed.

 

Possibly, but other promoters seem to be able to run mid-week trains.

 

Worse than that, they fill them when most aren't even proper Steam hauled trains. Then again it's the London Market where diesel assistance has sadly become the rule not the exception as destination seems to be everything.

 

A real shame when one considers that many on here bemoan the lack of trains without diesel assistance. I believe there is still room on this coming Monday's SRPS trip with the Scot southbound over Beattock should anyone be interested. The diesel for the return working will be following at a discreet distance.

 

I thought about this one but dining was pricey and not available from Crewe so lost interest.

 

I bet West Coast are smiling at this one. 100% steam and no takers. Looks like the public prefer having a diesel on the back! I took a day's holiday to book on this one so am naturally disappointed.

 

Err....surely, as a Pathfinder outing, this would have been a DB-C job. So WCR are, at best only going to be neutral about this. Unless, of course, they were getting high on a massive overdose of schadenfreude. In which case, I guess, anything's possible.

 

This is a bit of a disappointing comment from Ralph. This was a DB operation, not WCR. My post was to highlight whether a diesel attached to a train impacts on the uptake of seats. You can draw whatever conclusions you like from this cancellation. However, it is no secret from reading other posts that WCR are more prone to attaching a diesel than DB Cargo. Furthermore, I am only too aware of the great financial risks tour operators take when planning trains. In conclusion, I repeat that it was disappointing to receive the letter of cancellation this morning.

 

It's no different from the cancellation of 60163's trip to Morpeth last New Year. No DL, yet no uptake. Then again, 60163's trip to Chesterfield wasn't exactly full in Standard, either.

In this instance, it is presumably because the market for steam over the hills has already been cornered for most of the year. This is one of the things I think will become more of an issue if and when repeat itineraries become the only game in town.

 

It's a fickle market but I'm still amazed the uptake on this train was poor. Shap both ways obviously didn't appeal to a wide enough audience. The slow train down the coast has more general appeal it would seem. Perhaps the pure steam fraternity are all on holiday!!! We certainly aren't suffering from steam fatigue this year, very much the opposite. Time was when a train of this type would have been fully booked with a waiting list. No diners just first and standard class. The times they are a changing - and not for the better.