Great Britain XVIII: 18/4 -25/4/26

......... GBXVIII - "stand by yer beds ........

 

Have you had an email stating anything about it?

 

I understand we will have the details this week.

 

Exciting news!

I'm looking forward to seeing the routes for next year. Something I'm hoping for (I get it likely won't happen) but would love to see steam on the Epsom, Dorking line and then past Horsham onto the Arun Valley. Steam doesn't that frequently travel down those lines so would be nice to see it return.

Regardless I'm sure it will have an interesting journey planned.

 

Every year I consider booking but I have only actually spent the money once. More concerning than the routes is whether there will have been any progress on the coaching stock. If it's still MkIIs with dodgy aircon, that tips the balance firmly in favour of staying at home.

 

From memory there is one path each way each hour along the coast, written around WTT freight services. ( From memory getting paths for engineering trains along the coast was often a struggle.) The Arun Valley has a half hourly pattern of semi fast and stopping trains and the gaps don't match the shadow path along the coast. Which is probably why the LSL / Saphos jaunts to Chichester and Littlehampton normally run on Sundays when there is a bit more space.

Cheers, Neil

 

Yes I admit finding a path would be difficult. Though the small section of line between Dorking and Horsham is incredibly easy to accommodate steam. One train a hour in each direction runs and nothing at all on Sunday. Ofc as you said getting to Dorking and once past Horsham could cause some problems.

But I feel it has some potential for an interesting route if a path is found, especially as the scenery is great and rare track.

 

This is the big question. Since the start of the West Coast CDL saga RTC seems to have managed better than I for one was expecting. The "coffins" do not seem to have deterred that many customers from travelling with RTC, but the GB tours are more enthusiast-orientated and this year's version seems to have run with a shorter rake of coaches than usual, perhaps an indication that the Mk 2s have had more of a detrimental effect to a multi-day tour like this. As always, we will have to wait and see. I am on RTC's mailing list and responded to a recent communication by asking if there had been any progress on the CDL front. I received a very pleasant reply but it was still very much on the lines of "We hope that the Mark 1s will return." I guess we all do, but if GBXVIII is definitely going to happen, given the scale of the operation, one would assume that the decision to go ahead has been based on more than just wishful thinking.

 

Point of order - the Great Britain has run with the same number of coaches since 2016, other than 2018 when it had an RMB added. In that time, I believe the number of seats has only varied by 12 (I'm not sure if the RMB was used for seating in 2018). It has been 6x FOs, 1x RMBF, 1x Kitchen, 1x Brake in both 2024 and 2025. The RMBF has replaced a seventh FO. The reduction in vehicles from 11 to 9 (basically losing the second Kitchen and an FO) took place in 2016.

 

GB XVIII confirmed for Saturday 17/4 to Sat 25/4/2026, only eight days as opposed to the usual nine.
No further information yet.
Sorry,should be 18/4

 

Sunday return route engineering.

 

Do you know which route please ?

 

If you know that, you must know more about the planned itinerary than others do! Any hints?

 

https://www.railwaytouring.net/the-great-britain-xviii

 

Any locomotive and stock travelling between annan and Dumfries will need a repaint at very least with the state of linesde vegetation when traveling this route this year

 

Barnsley to Wakefield Kirkgate must be very rare track for steam. Quite historical because the 0515 from Kirkgate to Barnsley and 0610 return was one of the last NER steam trains in 1967.

 

This year's prices -

Premier Class £4895
Fort William Optional Day* £325
Single supplement £695

First Class £3995
Fort William Optional Day* £275
Single supplement £495

2024's prices -

Premier Class £3895
Kyle of Lochalsh option £299
Single supplement £495

First Class £3295
Kyle of Lochalsh option £199
Single supplement £475

Wow! A grand extra (a 20% increase) for dining compared to two years, bringing it up to £580 per day if the Mallaig trip is included. Absolutely staggering.

 

I toyed with idea of booking this, as a reward for getting my all clear from the Drs ( assuming I do get an all clear) but is there more to it than sitting in the same seat for a week albeit being pulled by steam or do you get time at the places it stops at other than in the hotel?

 

Some water stops are in stations to stretch your legs, this year I remember stops at Church Fenton, Newport, Arlesey, one in the Highlands etc plus strolls around Perth, Stowmarket & Salisbury without checking any more.