Clan Line to Exeter - 30/6/13

I saw the out bound was even held to time at the "water stops".. surely that hour at Salisbury could have been skipped and gone in path exactly 60 mins earlier and given the passengers more time in Exeter, as it was it arrived a few minutes late ? still the home run got back an hour early.

 

From what was said on the train,I gather efforts were made to retime the outward but NR were unable to do so. Another factor is that SD do sell tickets for people to join at Salisbury and had it left earlier they would have missed it.

 

I think some of the Steam Dreams staff that were informing customers at Waterloo need to go on a PR course, one in particular was very much "tough luck its not Clan line" which I thought was pretty poor. It doesn't really cut the mustard for people shelling out hard earned cash not to get what they paid for. In particular I felt sorry for those people that just wanted a day out with a steam train, they looked very upset.

 

Shame that Clan Line provided the only disappointment in what was otherwise a wonderful weekend for main line steam. Obviously, Bittern stole the show, but Tangmere, 44932 and Rood Ashton Hall all seem to have put in excellent performances judging by some of the posts on other threads - in other words, all 4 pre-48 companies contributing to the show!

At least Clan Line had the decency to fail its FTR exam and rather than breaking down in the middle of a single track section west of Salisbury. All the best to the MNLPS people in restoring their superb machine back to full health ASAP.

 

Said person needs taking to task by Mr Robertson, way to alienate your customers, who have shelled out a lot of money and not got what they paid for, volunteers or not, they need to remember Steam Dreams lives or dies by how many passengers it gets and p*ssing many off like that won't help.

 

Well yes,clearly thats unacceptable,however the SD staff I spoke to were as gutted with the situation as the passengers. When I arrived at Woking I was given a letter explaining what was happening,and as we left Woking a very detailed explanation was given over the p/a saying exactly what had happened,how it was impossible to have a standby engine ect.. I actually thought communication on board was very good,and a lot better than I have experienced with other railtour companies. I mean,what else could SD have done in the circumstances? Clearly they couldnt cancel the train on the morning(even though for me and others on this forum that might have been the best thing!),I did think that the compensation offer was a bit on the mean side but SD are a business and have to make money.

 

Not good Al.

I have to say the problems with loco failures and late changes to locos as well as most of the timings that turn up these days have virtually stopped me travelling anymore. I might just do the whole of the ACE next year, purely for old times sake. Be nice to get a group for that from my old timers. Have to see what the likely loco position is. I'd have to accept it could be a total waste of several hundred pounds if schedules were rubbish and/or we ended up with no SR locos on it and I walked away at the last minute.

But for the present, I do very much admire your tenacity in the way you keep at it, especially as you do so many of the SR routes/locos. Makes you a better man than me!

I'd cope I guess with turning up and finding a box on the front or the wrong class of loco, and accept the loss of the money. No choice in that. But it's the interminable hours some of the journeys so often take these days. I've got better things to do rather than sit for hour after hour just hoping for one decent start to stop section. The rest of the runs outside of one decent section mean nothing to me. All the checks, being looped, stopping in sidings for water. Not my scene I'm afraid, it all bores me stiff. I still shudder at the thought of my last run to Swanage, and even then I got on and left the train at Woking.

I would have gone on the A4 ex the Cross on Saturday except when I do that, I want to be sure it would be a very fast sub three hour schedule to York. Maybe with a second tender and of course with 90 mph running. Non stop or just one stop at Grantham station. A real flavour of the days gone by. I don't want much do I? LOL.

But I know I'm an exception, (my comment above about a life being on my own for many aspects of it is totally true), and trips just can't be run like that anymore. Or of they do it will be at 02.00 in the morning with just 80 - 100 on board and someone, (me? ), will have a very big bill to pay for it. And all my spare finance is directed towards Short-Eared Owls for the next few years or longer. I want to help fund radio tagging at some stage to learn more about them and share that with others.

I know I've been very spoiled by the past. And having been recently re-united with most of my old log books I am enjoying an Aladdins cave of delight at present, and I do have plans to tabulate them all in some way or other. And an email group big brother Don started a few years ago keeps many of us from those days in touch. Even meeting up most years now on SDs July 9th trip: not this year though, and I am glad I didn't do a large group booking as we've lost our SR loco with 34046 not ready yeti. And I don't know what sort of schedule will be given for the run to Swanage.

But I am getting a lot of pleasure seeing a new generation of steam followers enjoying such as Saturday behind Bittern, (very much enhanced on Nat Pres by the wonderful work of ADB). It's a rare chance for them to get a glimpse of what such as the MNs and Light Pacifics were doing almost on a daily basis at times towards the end of SR steam. Roaring through a mainline station behind a pacific, whistle wide open at speed is one of life's great experiences IMHO. A pity footplate riding by us hoi polloi is virtually unobtainable as a I reckon riding the footplate of a steam loco at speed is the ultimate life experience. Be great to see other rank and file like me enjoying it. Even those days are over for me now as my beloved German 012 100-4 may never run on the main line again. But in the 21st Century I did at least have a few fast runs on her footplate, (at that time the Germans were much more relaxed about footplate rides than over here, they still may be). Standing behind the driver leaning out as were roared over one of the Kiel Canal bridges and raced up to close to design limit of 140 kmph. Won't ever forget that.

Oh strewth, writing my memoirs again! Not just a Fat Old Miserable Ba...rd. But a right boring one too!

 

Bloody Hell, not only did I post a load of crap. But I posted it twice!

Now deleted. Easy to do that. Not so easy to delete me entirely though! LOL.

 

The ACE is apparently already half full - Marcus advised this over the PA system yesterday.

 

Many thanks for that Paul.

No way am I going to book on it other than closer to the date for the reasons I've mentioned above.

If it fills up well before I'm ready to take my chance, (and I guess it may well do), I reckon I'll book me a trip at that time to the desolation of Finland, Norway or Western Russia away from phone and internet coverage to watch the Shorties leaving on their long migration flights. Sort of studying Owls but with me head in the sand like an Ostrich.

Or I may end up in posh class on the ACE with a very expensive ticket! Will I still be allowed to eat my meals with my fingers, like Yetis normally do? Or they could put a bowl down on the floor for me! .

 

The return run arriving early was a close run thing. We got sent around Westbury on the return run as there was not a platform for us and we then had to sit outside Westbury for some time and nobody knew what was going on for a while. We lost some time here and then went on to Salisbury where there was some great negotiating done between SD and Network Rail who were going to make us stick to the schedule but changed their minds. Thankfully they allowed us to go early and we had an impressive high speed run back to Woking. I tried to imagine there was a blue A4 Pacific at the front rather than a Class 67 diesel.

 

We actually went past Westbury along the avoiding line, the crew changed ends ( I saw Wayne walk past our coach) and reversed in. When we arrived in the station there were no other trains in the station.

 

Oh, very good Ralph!

 

Even if clan line had run passengers in coach m would have been as far from clan line as possible right next to 67 in fact so maybe I should have gone!