THE GREAT BRITAIN IV

I wonder whats going to be doing the Preston-Bristol section of this tour now that its not 6100. Any ideas?

 

I would love to see 46115 Scots Guardsman in my part of the country, never seen 46115 before...

Lewis

 

Didn't Barrow Road have some Royal Scots towards the end of steam? I like the idea of locos that would have worked the same route then being used today.I know it cant be done all the time but its a nice thought.
Which way would they go through the Midlands Lewis? Bescot-Soho-Smethwick-Stourbridge-Worcester or Bescot-Sutton Park Castle Bromwich-Landor Street Lickey?

 

I would hope the Welsh Marches

Lewis

 

Oh sorry yes thats probably the way, should have checked UK Steam!!!
I hope to be out videoing more GB IV than previous years so I hope it all goes well.

 

Utter Rubbish 70000 has been booked on the Great Britain for 7 months direct with Roland Kennington
and has been confirmed
We have no booking for Tangmere on the Great Britain
Who is trying to stir up trouble again on this site?

 

Dear Meltonnorth
I am not trying to stir up trouble on this site, that is the last thing i would do. I am merely passing on information in good faith that i received from Steam Dreams yesterday
This is the extract from the E-mail received yesterday

"We had a meeting with the owners of Britannia last week and have had it confirmed, that we will have that loco on the 23rd April to Stratford upon Avon. RTC who are running their 'Great Britain' tour that week will have Tangmere on that day
Kind regards
Steam Dreams"

Regards
Brian Gillman

 

I would guess that the above is your response to post 20.
No one is trying to stir up trouble, the poster simply quoted below what he has learnt in good faith from the tour operator, so who do we believe, Steam Dreams or RTC?

 

I think Steam Dreams keep to there word after some of the not showing of loco's that RTC stated they were going to use last year

 

I've just paid the balance in full - gulp!- to travel on this and here is the lastest loco changes:

Details on UKsteam, 60007 and 46115 have swapped, 60007 will now run from York to Edinburgh on the first day, 46115 is going to Aberdeen(? thats what I was told) on the second day.

No other news other than day 8 (this isn't on UKsteam) is not going to be two Brits but it will be 70013 and .......... 45305.

Andrew

 

I said that I had made my last post on this forum, but I have now seen a public post from a very reliable source that blows the previous advertising for this tour clean out of the water.

Inverness to Wick is steam - Wick to Inverness isn't!

RTC's advertising is now written very cleverly to give a clear impression of steam haulage, but not actually say the return is steam too. I always said it could not be done - now here's the proof - No need for Victor like risks on the town hall steps. I was right all along.

You should listen to your uncle Frank - he is very rarely wrong!

 

I thought A4s were only permitted to run from Dundee to Aberdeen if they stuck to very stringent speed restrictions in places? Still, a Scot over Druim..., Drumocter... That big hill near Blair Atholl should sound nice.

 

A shame that some parts of the tour have changed which in certain circumstances is understandable, but some like the planned Brits to Penzance really is not. Like 'Big Al' said above, it does raise questions as to the accuracy of parts of the future RTC program. However as 'meltonnorth' came on here clearly saying 70000 was booked on the GB, there may have been problems encountered with other parties that we are unaware of.

 

The fact 60007 is on York to Edinburgh leg has been on the SNGLPT website for months! The policy, which has been stated here many times, is that tours using 60007 are ONLY guaranteed to be booked with 60007 when they appear on the Trusts website (www.sirnigelgresley.org.uk).

 

UKSteam shows 44871+45407 hauling the train Inverness - Glasgow, so I guess 46115 will run E+C to Glasgow on Monday or Tuesday.

 

I have been reliably informed, regarding the use of 70000 on the GB4, that it appears that whilst RTC thought they had the loco booked, they had not agreed it with the owners representative properly, in effect they spoke to the wrong person.

 

The same as 5029's site. It says there that they are doing the Southern Irishman, when on RTCs site it says 70013 is doing it....

 

I would imagine that RTC's recent experiences would convince them that running the trip they promised, to the destination they promised, reasonably to time, is in the main more important than the occasional substitiution of the loco.

The changes to the GB4 do not seem too unreasonable to me, so far........ No, it's not rocket science, but planning for a year ahead, in time to get a well-produced brochure on the market, is inevitably going to have some uncertainties. Some of which will go belly up. S**t happens. That will cause some disappointment to some of their customers - but it's not the scandal that some would make it out to be.

I'm saying that as someone booked on their 4 day West Highland trip in the autumn. I know they've requested the loco's, I'm assuming they've requested the paths. Provided we get 4 days of steam to the advertised locations, and decent eggs for breakfast, I'll most likely be happy. If they have to substitute other steam locos for 46115 and the Black 5's, well so be it. As long as they're not diesel-hauled.......