Steam Dreams 2023

One train you never want to get to Basingstoke is 2L23 the 09:42 from Waterloo. I have stewarded so many trains using the path out of Woking just after 10:00 that are around 10 or 12 late, and then have to take water at Winchfield.

 

34046 on this mornings run to Bath, seen firstly coasting through Barnes Bridge (unbeknown to me the 20mph TSR from last winter was still there!) and then again at Brookwood, charging through at speed:

 

Personally I think the Barnes shot is the better of the two, although I am sure some on here will "send the boys round" to deal with me later.

 

Yes - not sure what happened today - all was well until Virginia Water, when time started dropping away. A 5 minute station stop at Woking then a 24 minute water stop at Winchfield, against the booked 14 minutes. 2L23 was 19 late from Winchfield as a result.

 

I was a bit further down the line:



TTFN,

Ron.

 

The Winchfield water stop is always too short even with a fast delivery pump

 

Not much storming or accelerating going on here, 20 mins late lethargy.

 

Yes indeed it stood outside Winchfield Station for about 15 minutes this morning whilst a tanker overfilled Braunton tender!!

 

I had hoped that when SD was taken over last year that awful headboard would be dumped in the nearest skip. Sadly not so. The Saphos one is about as discreet as its gets. Pity something similar can't be created for SD if it is to remain a separate set-up.

 

I’ve always thought that shape headboard looks naff on a Bulleid Pacific Smokebox. On the rare times 35028 has carried one it’s been fixed to the middle bufferbeam lamp bracket, I think the last time was the John Farrow Memorial train to Sherborne

 

Yes - that's been raised several times previously so I'm surprised it remains like that. It occurs to me that the 'standard' late-running steam (10 or so minutes seems normal) could be put on the fast to allow 2L23 to 'undertake' it before Winchfield! The down fast is clear until a Weymouth working (1W61) 15 minutes later. Or hold the steam between, say, Brookwood and Farnborough and let 2L23 overtake it, all depending on exact timings on the day, of course.

 

I would have thought discreet, along side the likes of forgettable, is probably one of the less desirable descriptions for a promotor for something that's meant to be noticed and tell the general public who they are. That's assuming SD don't start start offering some other steamy dream based service then they may want something discreet.

 

Yes, an odd lack of energy. The preceding Exeter train was seven minutes ahead, running faster/widening the gap, so shouldn't have delayed it. 23L at Bath so it's not as if any slacks allowed time to be recouped after Salisbury. 34046 sounded in good form at Woking so ill-health isn't an obvious issue (and the 47 would have helped anyway if it came to it).

 

Fair enough, but there are better ways of advertising who you are. I have never understood why no operator has considered attaching something to the top of the carriages like the old destination boards. This has the advantage of being more visible than something attached to the smokebox - e.g, if a train is sitting in a station platform and especially a short platform where the loco is situated off the end. This would also enable you to provide more information. I am sure there would be enough room on a board attached to the roof of a carriage to say "Steam Dreams: contact www.steamdreams.co.uk 01483 209888" If all people see is the name of the company - and only for a split second - they are more likely to forget it. I have met people who have turned out to see a steam train on the main line who thought they ran for a select company of people and had no idea that anyone can book a seat.

 

The problem with doing that is you delay the 1L on the fast which causes serious reactionary delays on the single line west of Salisbury and there is also the 1T that follows the 2L on the slow line.

 

No, I meant hold the steam on the slow between Brookwood and Farnborough (if it's running the 10L that seems to be common) and let 2L23 cross to the fast just between those two stations to overtake it, and back to the slow again before Farnborough, thus then clearing the fast again in time for 1W61 to pass unchecked. It all depends on the exact timings of the trains involved of course but it could work in some circumstances. It avoids the repeated problem of 2L23 being stuck outside Winchfield while water is taken ahead of it. On the other hand, perhaps a late arrival of 2L23 at Basingstoke is not thought to be too terrible as it reverses and can start back on time.

 

Pretty sure SD used to have that on their kitchen car but I could be wrong. Its obviously not made an appearance recently (anyone know what's happened to it?) but if I am right that you did not pick it up is not a good indication for the impact of those sort of signs. The reality is people don't look above eyeline, there is a reason all the logos for the likes of LNER are on the side and not the roofline, add to that locos get far more attention than coaches and if you are standing on a station and a train goes by you get a chance to read what's on the front as it approaches but its harder to read than what is on the side.

While it would no doubt cause an immense amount of angst to many of the community I am amazed that we have never had a main line loco owner or owning group, like West Coast, develop a house livery and put their own branding on the tenders r at least not that I can recall . That will be a sacrilegious comment to many but in the modern world of mobiles with cameras and social media it would probably have a big impact in getting a name out there. Ultimately for our hobby to continue things either have to be commercially viable and those involved commercially savvy which may mean choices that most of us would not want to make or we rely on the continued support for locos from rich benefactors and owners whose numbers are likely to shrink over time.

 

Swing the argument. How many photographs will you see from today that shows Braunton wearing the Steam Dreams headboard clearly, versus how many photographs of today you'll see of the side of the stock that could have shown clearly such an advertising destination board?

Afterall, the three videos shown on this page (6) demonstrate just that.

 

If anyone on the Basingstoke stopper stuck behind BRAUNTON was planning to catch the onward connection to Exeter at Basingstoke, they'd have been unlucky. The Exeter train left on time at 11.08, but the Basingstoke stopper, due there at 10.58, didn't get there until 11.13¼!

With an hour's wait for the next one, they'd have been entitled to 'delay - repay', so who pays for that?