KIngswear CE 19 th April

SD's this sunday mayflower
for kingswear sadly postponed

 

Explanation posted on SD's web site just now:

"Unfortunately we have been forced to postpone this Sunday’s trip to Kingswear due to circumstances outside of our control. We are sorry not to have given passengers more notice of this, but we have been working hard on alternative plans which sadly fell through late yesterday.

The reason we are not able to run our trip on Sunday is that our train operating company, West Coast Railways, has been temporarily stopped from running steam trains on the main line by Network Rail until 15 May. West Coast had hoped to sub-contract the haulage for this train to the only other steam operator in the UK, but unfortunately this has not been possible.

The alternative operator can only operate trains with carriages which have a different type of braking system to that used on our regular ‘Cathedral Express’ carriages. West Coast Railways have been working hard to make alternative carriages available (which would involve moving them from Lancashire to London) in order for our train to be hauled by the alternative operator. Late last night (Thursday), we were informed by West Coast that on-going discussions had failed to resolve the issue of moving a set of compatible carriages and the alternative operator was unable to come to our rescue.

In the coming days we will identify a new date in the summer for this train and we will be in touch again to let you know.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the late postponement of this trip and for any disappointment caused. We deeply regret not to be able to run this trip on the 19 April, but look forward to contacting passengers again shortly with a new date."​

 

If the (dual braked?) coaches could of been moved down, what loco would of been used?
61306, the booked engine, is vac only.

 

there was nothing apart from clan line (but in your dreams lol)

clan line is DBS contracted and is working this friday for Belmond.

any black 5's that have AB that are under DBS? not afaik sorry.

 

It had been suggested that Clan Line(in steam from its Belmond Pullman trip on 17th) might have stood in,but I don't know if that was ever a realistic possibility. I guess getting a support crew together could have been an issue?

 

AIUI, Clan Line could have been made available, provided a support crew could be raised (not usually a problem with sufficient notice), since this would not have interfered with MNLPS's Pullman commitments. In this case, I don't think they were (formally) asked. I guess that if WCRC could not arrange to move the coaches to London, there was no point hiring the loco.

 

suggested and realistic possibility of 35028 been mooted for 19th april ? -
doubt it entered the equation apart from pub talk, and almost certainly not for a full days run.

PAD-Kingswear and back for a day trip is a LOOOONG old day operationally for a steam sector plus the positioning from SL to PAD early morning and back there late at night -

i doubt Clan Line could have done this trip unless she had been positioned beforehand down (costly) to WSB and the PAD - WSB sector done by diesel at 100 mph to keep time for the day trip or vice versa.
- all in all, a rather last minute logistical nightmare but hey ho its been done before by the likes of people with a 'can do' attitude.

mayflower was going on at WSB not PAD.

 

2 trips this weekend to kingswear/paignton/dartmouth cancelled - thats about 900 people not spending their money in the towns gift shops, cafes, nor on the paddle steamer/boat trips or national trust houses nearby.

a lot of revenue lost, even the ice cream seller loses out....

 

I'm not aware of anyone suggesting steam would come onto the train at Pad, though I suppose DBS might have chosen to do something like happened a couple of times last year, with a DL pilot from London to Westbury, to save the steam-loco positioning move. In the event, the question didn't arise since other things couldn't be sorted out first.

 

As per the discussions in other threads, Paignton and Dartmouth are probably better able to withstand that sort of disappointment than quieter destinations, such as Mallaig or Blaenau Ffestiniog. Certain businesses (such as the ice cream van nearest Kingswear station) will be more affected than others.

 

yes steam age - i guess much head scratching and hand wringing has been done well into the last few nights sadly - and the season hadn't started fully yet!

 

I see that as a blessing, actually. It's bad enough for SD, RTC and VT having to postpone 1 or 2 tours a week, but better that than high summer when there are 10 or more tours a week. (Let's not think about heat waves and dried-out line-sides yet...)

 

indeed steam age, this debacle doesnt bode well - there are a few other smaller tour companies as well like Princess royal trust (the duchess) and SRPS - i feel very sorry for them and the private loco owners too.
as it stands disruptions/cancellations/postponements can be expected for 99% of ML steam tours scheduled until 15th May - be prepared to accept that at the moment.
that is another month of losing business - sustainable?

i would not like to own a rail tour company right now.

 

Many comments about various companies losing money but I am sure a good many folks who booked these trains stand to loose some money, especially if the alternative (if any is offered) tour is unacceptable for them.

I just read the T&C for Steam Dreams: I wonder how many who book tours actually read them. In another thread, related to this occurrence, mention of deposits being paid against the possibility of a tour subsequently taking place were made. It seems that deposits, in this particular instance, are non refundable.

 

I don't really understand the point you are trying to make. Certainly the T&C's of SD mention deposits,but I don't know why because I cannot recall having booked any railtour with any operator which did not require full payment at the time of the booking. Similarly,in the event of a postponement I have never heard of anyone not being offered a full refund in the event of the new date not being acceptable. Have you?