Riviera Trains to be sold

To an extent but are/were Riveria Trains a TOC? I didn't think they were.

 

I was always under the impression Riviera crews were DB staff....operating staff that is not the managers.

 

It was my understanding the Riveira were a rolling stock hire company, DBS (usually anyway) supply the Traincrew.

Hopefully Mr Hosking can do something about the state of some of the coaches in the Riveira stable, externally and internally there are a number of vehicles in need of some TLC.

 

There are also a couple of rakes of very nice mk1 stock... the bad 'uns are no worse than any other operator's stock

 

Some of the roofs were awful in terms of corrosion and there are quite a few holes in the side (mainly the maroon set).......although on the plus side I have rarely had a Riviera train minus lights or heating which is the main thing. Never known one of their trains to actually set out with this problem.....good old Mick.......

Having said that as well as having the worst condition coaches,they certainly also have the best. The Choc-Cream set and Royal Scot set are rather nice.

 

A very interesting development.

 

Interesting news. Does this mean he will be getting some of the Class 47's listed here (some have already been sold to other operators):http://www.riviera-trains.co.uk/locomotives.htm

 

I'd been thinking to myself for a while that the best thing Mr Hosking could do next would be to invest in a rake of coaches, looks like he's going even further than that.

 

I wonder, if the deal goes through, if they'll still be based in Crewe, or will they be moved to Mr. Hosking's patch of land at Southall shed? I should think that if the latter happened, it would get rather crowded there. Where are they usually based when doing a trip from London? Let's hope his stewardship leads to greater standardisation of livery and improvements where needed.

 

All of the Riviera Trains Mk 1 coaching sets are based at Eastleigh. There are still a number of ex virgin mk2s still at Crewe.

 

IIRC, Riviera Trains and DBS had an agreement known as the "Charter Alliance". Although in theory DBS could act as TOC when rolling stock came from someone else, and Riviera stock could be hired to promoters using another TOC, in practice this seldom, if ever, happened. I wonder to what extent this agreement will continue under Riviera's new ownership?

The limiting factor for most tour organisers will continue to be the supply of steam drivers, especially those experienced with vacuum-braked trains. WCRC is the only TOC with a safety case for vacuum-braked trains at the moment, and I can't see that changing any time soon.

 

I thought Southall was a WCRC depot ?.

 

Before we all get too carried away, the Railway Herald article (p12) is very careful to use conditional phrases. It may be well-informed speculation, but it's only speculation. Even if a sale is being negotiated, it may be for only part of Riviera.

One encouraging snippet from the article is the comment that DBS are "once again undertaking crew training for steam operations".

 

This could be interesting. It will be interesting to be seen how much he invests in the coaches. Without wishing to denigrate coach providers, I have found in my experience that coach rakes on the mainline can leave a lot to be desired. I know it's a triviality, but if a single livery were to be standardised upon that would be nice too.

If you are unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, don't bother reading below.

Can I just say that I'm delighting in all the references to Mr. Hoskings' 'Stewardship'? I have images of him brooding with long hair a la Denethor, son of Ecthelion.

 

dosn't mr hoskins have a 2 road shed at southall

 

The former FSS shed.

Regards,

Dan

 

DBS seem pretty keen on 70000 too.

 

DBS not the only ones looking into training steam drivers!! Not so sure its Mr Hoskings on his own though, believe another 2/3 influential parties involved.

 

DRS? I recognise your name from another forum...