Cumbrian Mountain Express 2022

I understand there's a problem with the NRM inspection road and pit which will affect FTR's for any loco wanting to start from there, FTR's are mandatory before each run, no time schedule for the pit road to be repaired.

Could this explain the lack of steam railtours advertised to start from York ?

 

With regard to last Saturday's WCME, did anyone else think that the exhaust from both locos seemed particularly black? I noticed this when I stood alongside Tangmere at Carlisle, but thought maybe the fireman was stoking up. In several of the videos, both locos seem a bit smoky. Dirty coal?

 

With the Waverley's and Spa series advertised I hadn't noticed less than normal

 

Why is the Northern Belle more important than proper enthusiasts trips? They are just the plaything of the wealthy in my opinion, and if they were not running,the monied folk would just find something else to spend their cash on. By the way Sierra Leone is not a confused jubilee. It is the owners perogative to call his engine whatever he wishes! Personally, I hope she re enters service as Hong Kong or Punjab or one of the many jubes i saw go through Kettering every day.

 

The reason Sierra Leone is described as ‘confusing’ is she still carries Alberta’s number on the cab side, not to mention the fact that she is actually 45699 Galatea!

 

I would have thought it was quite obvious really. WCRC are a commercial business and the NB operation needs an air braked loco and Tangmere is the only one available at 10A currently. So to me it is obvious to protect a Premium product. Pretty much why Clan Line does very few tours other than Belmond.
What is a proper enthusiast trip? Most tours rely on Dining and First Class for their passenger base. The CME last weekend only had two standard coaches, a buffet and a half brake and I believe was not sold out in standard. I have today received an email from RTC saying they have managed to add an extra dining coach to the next two trips. Railtours can no longer just meet the needs of enthusiasts.
Of course Mr Smith can run his loco in any guise or colour scheme that he wants, he is after all paying the bills, not a society. @D1002 has answered very well why I regard Galatea (in good humour) as a confused Jubilee.

 

My take on WCR's business model is that there are various strands/products which together make up a commercial venture. There are the Dalesman, Jacobite, diesel tours etc directly marketed by WCR and provided from in house resources. There are a mixture of one offs and repeats marketed by RTC. There is the premium Northern Belle. There are the non charter train activities. All those strands are important ; without seeing the books it's impossible to say more, but the Northern Belle 2022 list gives an indication of its marketability.

I'm not sure these days how many 'proper enthusiasts trips' there really are. The Tynesider would have been one but has been pulled thanks to engineering works. Perhaps the one over the Hope Valley to Derby is another. But mainly I think you'll find the enthusiasts in coaches K and L of a multi-purpose train like the CME. Then there are the moneyed enthusiasts.............

Anyway, the point is--- there are three in house locos which can cover the Dalesman, SSE, CME etc plus the possibility of hiring in Bahamas for example to cover the summer down south. Without Lizzie and Tornado, they have only got one airbraked loco to cover the Northern Belle. At least until Tornado is back, it would be pretty understandable if management said that Tangmere is reserved for the NB, very much as Lizzie was. Hence I suspect why one or two people in the know made a last minute dash to Euston or Preston last Saturday.

 

They’re important because as a commercial enterprise how is West Coast going to pay its bills?

 

So as I invariably travel premier dining, I am not a proper enthusiast?

 

The Scarborough Spa Express operating dates are noticeable by their absence on the West Coast website... 'will be announced soon' is the comment

 

Indeed. @Rover 's rather ridiculous post seems to somehow "resent" enthusiasts spending lot's of their own money on travelling in first and dining, which make up by far the majority of seats on virtually all steam charters nowadays. The logic of that entirely escapes me.

 

The problem for the enthusiast is choosing between the financial support of travelling on the train or the lineside pleasure of photographing the train at speed / work in the Fells. As a supporting enthusiast I use the dining service because my wife can share the pleasure of the dining experience whereas the lineside experience is normally shared with other enthusiasts as the wife will stay at home. Given recent weather conditions I can understand her logic while she can't understand mine in making the effort to be outdoors.

 

Announced now

 

Where? It still says to be announced soon on the West Coast web site.

 

OK I will re word it -
Re - the original Post - The 'trips' are not in my view notably absent yet the actual dates are NOT there as I write.
My response was to "Could this explain the lack of steam rail tours advertised to start from York" - the Steam leg from York is advertised but not the time yet

 

There are no dates for the SSE's https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/scarborough-spa-express/steam-experience, the West Coast website has said "The Dates for our 2022 season will be announced soon" for months now.
The dates for the Jacobite, Dalesman and Pendle Dalesman are all there and you can Book Now for these but not the SSE's

 

Correct, no SSE dates public yet, but a lot of the planned details are advertised rather than absent.