Railway Touring Company

I was glad to see that Blaenau Ffestiniog is still on the menu; has not been the easiest destination for steam, but very rateable track.

 

Very impressive programme. Would like to do a few but the prices are rather draining on funds. Have to see which ones we can afford.

 

How about a bit of praise for the Cumbrian Mountain Express. I was,nt on the trip, so don,t khow what life on board was like, but from all these videos it seemed a winner. I am sure the crews enjoyed themselves even though it was a very long day for them, do,nt forget.

 

I see both Steam Dreams and RTC are claiming to have 70000 Britannia booked for 23rd April. I wonder who'll turn out to be right...... :argue:

 

I agree it is nice to see the full list, are most of them are repeats of this year?
Weardale has to be a booking this time.

 

I see there's another double booking mentioned on The Works, with the loco owner responding saying it's not booked to RTC.

It does make me wonder how many of the claimed rostered locos have actually been booked at the moment. Since I am intending to book several days of trips from the programme, in part to see and ride behind the locos that are advertised, I would be quite upset if on the day it turned out to be just whatever they could eventually get. Maybe I should contact them and ask........

 

See post #20 on the Great Britain IV thread- SD - 70000, RTC - 34067

 

7th May RTC are showing 46115 working St Pancras to York. Steam Dreams show 46115 from York to Carlisle on the same day.

 

If you check the RTC information for the 7th May trip you will see that it says 6100 Royal Scot OR 46115 Scots Guardsman as the loco.

Dave B

 

On the one hand, it's very sensible of RTC to list an alternative loco for this tour, given that 6100 has not yet gained her mainline certification and there may be a few more delays before that finally happens (best laid plans...). On the other hand, it doesn't look so good to nominate one that is being advertised by another operator on the same day.

I suspect that we are seeing a side-effect of announcing tour programs nice and early. Some of the details may still be "provisional" until nearer the date. That's quite understandable, but perhaps needs to be made clear in the advertising. For instance, if the details of the route are not yet finalised, it's better to say "we hope to be able to travel out via Market Harborough, but are awaiting confirmation from Network Rail. The alternative is our normal route via Oakham."

It's especially important if the proposed loco has not yet run after overhaul/restoration. If the tour is promoted as the loco's "return to service", then the advertising needs to say something like "in the event that our locomotive is not ready in time, this tour will be postponed until it is." If the new loco is not the primary attration of the tour, then say something like "in the event that our locomotive is not ready 28 days before the date, then a suitable replacement will be found. Alternatives include 46115 and 70013, depending on ...."

Different features of a tour (loco, route, date, destination) will be important to different people, so it's best to be honest about what is confirmed and what is still provisional, so everyone can make an informed choice, even if the choice made is to wait and see.

 

a scot out of St Pancras that Ive got to see and maybe a trip on the other one out of there whether its 46100 (46152) or 46115 who cares its something of a rare one not a scot been down this stretch of the LMS since the late 60s

 

You're right. I hadn't noticed the bit about 6100 or 46115. But like Steamage says, why advertise a loco that has been booked for another tour that's been advertised for months?

At least 6100 has steamed and worked passenger trains, although it has required extensive repairs and still hasn't got a mainline certificate. Anyone remember Days Out (In?) advertising tours with Tangmere, a good few years before she actually appeared, by which time Days Out were long gone!

 

Yes The Cathedrals Explorer has been advertised for months, but no motive power for any part of this tour appears on the Steam Dreams website at present. RTC published their tour info on 14th Dec. The locomotives listed on uksteam for The Cathedrals Explorer appeared after then IIRC, but the tour promoter still has none listed.

Dave B

 

The Cathedrals Express newsletter E-Mailed and posted to me however does state that 70000 is on the Stratford Tour but there is no mention on the website. Perhaps either the website hasn't been updated or indeed there is a problem with motive power. We shall see which company has the use of 70000

 

Why shouldn't a loco do two jobs in one day? London-York-Carlisle (one way-the returns are booked for different traction) is still less distance than some single runs.

23 Apr looks more of a problem though...

 

Now the trip to Matlock is off on the 5th will the trip to Lincoln be running on the 13th

 

The trip to Matlock has been postponed to the 22nd with a change of motive power to 70013 due to weight restrictions. How would this affect the Lincoln trip??

 

Got the RTC brochure through the letter box this morning. Same content as last year but very good in detail.