Discussion - All Night Train Services behind preserved steam ;)

I'd reckon for the uniqueness if you threw in an English breakfast, you could reckon at least £100per person a night, or maybe auction it...(how much is the chain bridge hotel charging ?), do those kind of Maths stack up for a 9 day gala ? ( + maybe a day or two as static accommodation before the event ?

 

I travel over the Cambrian every now and again where some jointed track still exists and find the clickety-clack doesn't exist at all. It's more a constant bang-bang-bang from the 158s - it's the same on a few other places that don't have CWR or LWR. Perhaps it's only classic rolling stock that allow the noise.

 

As a regular on the Cambrian, I can assure everyone here that BANG BANG BANG BANG is not conducive to a pleasant journey. Clickety-clack is lovely and all that, but from a maintenance perspective welded just has so many pros going for it.

 

I think I heard that Vic bridge has welded rail on it to help reduce vibrations and therefore reduce wear on the structure.

 

Heart of Wales line is pretty much the same.

 

There used to be a railkway near me ran all nighters - A Golden Arrow at 03.00 outside the Rhythym Station - there were some sights there all right! Standing outside the Brown Cow at 01.30 listening to a Blackie punch its way into a still frosty starlit night - pure magic!

But these people who call themselves manijmunt have declared it no longer possible - intellectual and commercial pygmies!

 

I'm dead!

 

I agree, 45ft jointed rail panels on concrete sleepers are particularly uncomfortable! On the national network it makes sense, both in terms of maintenance and passenger comfort, to use LWR where possible.

My point was to say that the sound of bogie carriages travelling over 60ft jointed track used to be part of most railway journeys in the steam era. It is as much a part of the heritage railway 'nostalgia package' that we like to offer our passengers as semaphore signalling. At 25mph max, it shouldn't be intrusive or uncomfortable as long as it's not spoilt by poor springing or wheelflats!

Anyway, back on topic, I suggest that all night running would appeal to very few paying customers but running until 11:00 might attract enough to make it viable.

John.

 

Agreed on both counts. Whilst the SVR's all night running has the novelty value, I don't think I could take 60+ hours of continuous railways on a regular basis! There is something special about night running, but that doesn't mean it has to be all night!

 

Combine it with a New Years Eve and the risk of whinging neighbours is likely to be reduced, plus most passengers would have a good time on the silly-soup!

 

There IS something special about all-night running though. I remember one of the first weekends the SVR did with through the night running; After grabbing a few hours sleep in a compartment on one of the night trains I woke up just as the sun was coming up - totally disorientated with no idea where between Bidgnorth and Kiddi we were. I stuck my head out a droplight and got a cold, crisp blast of morning hour, and I could look along the carriages to see the loco - Hinton Manor - glinting in the breaking sun, and the sound of its loud rasping bark as it accelerated around Safari Curve en route to Kidderminster. Fantastic stuff. One of my fondest memories from all my visits to the SVR.

 

I had the same experience, except my loco was 7812 in 2008 (see photo). And then in 2010 I woke to the sound of 7802 climbing Eardington when I thought we were in Kidderminster! Personally, have a break in services and the attraction is lost. To me its the fact the trains run continuously in addition to it being late at night / early in the morning

 

46443 in my opinion seems the ideal overnight engine for the load 4 trains, smooth, not overly noisey unless being pushed, but most important of all - the steam heat was second to non, just a shame she's been withdrawn now.

I hope the SVR overnight running continues as this for me is the main draw of the ASG, along with the night photting opportunities it brings, up till 1am it can still be difficult to take station phots with many people around, but standing on Bridgnorth at 4am with hardley a soul in sight taking an Ivatt on load 4 is just magic.

Two trains of load 4 on the SVR seems about right for ovrenight demand usually as in not packed (after the drunks have gone home about 1am) and not empty, i'd suggest there isn't enough call more overnight events otherwise the these trains would be a little more full and people would be calling for the SVR to run longer/more overnight workings.

Night running is magic but let's not risk ruining it by getting over ambitious, as someone else suggested running up till 11/12pm seems a good compromise.

 

This year one of the sets was packed both nights and could have really have done with 5/6 coaches with the number of people that were on it. I changed sets on the Saturday night to find more room behind 46443 on the Teaks which was slightly better.

 

As I was working on KR station overnight on the Saturday, I did think that an extra coach (ie 5 coaches total) was needed, but this year's gala did have very high numbers of passengers.

 

Hmm, I seem to remember stumbling through a pitch black field, hoping there wasn't a present from the local dairy herd that couldn't be seen on the walk back to that crossing... today if you tried it who knows who your going to disturb.. and what they might be doing !

 

This year the IOWSR did an overnight stint - anyone from that railway or who visited could they tell us how that went?


Yes the IOWSR did an all night stint to celebrate 40 years of operating at Havenstreet. The trains although not packed were thought to have been well worth the effort. Tempory lighting had to be fitted to the rolling stock as they are not at present equiped with permant lighting.

 

The article in SVR news stated that sources of (good quality) 60ft rail lengths had pretty much dried up and there would be no choice but to buy new from China. They had been using ex London Underground rail, but even this was proving hard to come by. It was acknowledged that it was important to retain heritage feel and it is the intention to try and keep track in stations authentic at least for as long as feasibly possible. Cost is also a major issue and steel sleepers are now a cheaper option than concrete or wood. If you use steel then you also have to use modern materials that are compatible with the sleepers. With the SVR having to renew large lengths of track in the near future cost is very much a priority, as is building a permanent way that is of good quality, easy to maintain and will last. Using new and modern materials has to be the better option. Sadly, when looking to the future, these are some of the compromises that will need to be made. Perhaps mods may want to move this discussion to somewhere more appropriate as there are probably some important points to be made here that will risk hi-jacking this thread?

 

Slightly back to topic, a few years back I saw an immaculate looking GWR sleeper outside Kidderminster goods shed...

Is this an operable sleeping car ?, I assume it's just for staff use or is it for the Highley museum ?