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Steam Dreams. London to Cardiff. 10/09/2015

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by free2grice, Sep 8, 2015.

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  1. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Loco allocation and timings still not available for the Cathedrals Express charter from London to Cardiff on Thursday, 10th September.
    Steam Dreams still mention the Duchess on their website but who knows. <BJ>
     
    free2grice, Sep 8, 2015
    #1
  2. eggbert

    eggbert Member

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    Fingers crossed all works out well. what could the TBA be if the Duchess misses out??
     
    eggbert, Sep 8, 2015
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  3. AMP

    AMP Member

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    Steam Dreams said on Friday that they still hope to use the Duchess but if its not available then West Coast have agreed they can use 34067.

    Andrew
     
    AMP, Sep 8, 2015
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  4. Robbo

    Robbo Member

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    Robbo, Sep 8, 2015
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  5. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    Anyone on the tour got their tickets and timings yet? its only two days away now.
     
    mrKnowwun, Sep 8, 2015
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  6. AMP

    AMP Member

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    Tickets yes. Timings no. Less than 48 hours until the trip.

    This is one of the many reasons I'm getting fed up with mainline steam.

    Andrew
     
    AMP, Sep 8, 2015
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  7. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    24 hours to the start, and still no timings or traction details.
     
    mrKnowwun, Sep 9, 2015
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  8. steamvideosnet

    steamvideosnet Well-Known Member

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    steamvideosnet, Sep 9, 2015
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  9. Steamage

    Steamage Part of the furniture

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    Steamage, Sep 9, 2015
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  10. steamvideosnet

    steamvideosnet Well-Known Member

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    steamvideosnet, Sep 9, 2015
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  11. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    On the face of it, the delay seems to be more about NR failing to find a path that incorporates the pickups rather than any problem with The Duchess from which we infer, I guess, that the original problem with her was in the Bath area.
     
    Big Al, Sep 9, 2015
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  12. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

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    As has been raised before, the imponderable could be the Swindon-Kemble redoubled section, though having been along it there didn't appear to be any clearance issues. Nice wide area all around. New rail with a ride as smooth as it gets. Can't be anything trivial for the timings to be this late.
     
    1020 Shireman, Sep 9, 2015
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  13. Steamage

    Steamage Part of the furniture

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    Where's the water stop on the return? There's 27 mins between Awre and Gloucester, and 26 between Wantage Rd and Didcot - is that enough? Also, the times between Gloucester and Swindon seem very brisk - 17 mins to St Mary's Crossing and 13 from there to Kemble.

    Edit: then again, Mayflower was allowed 33 mins in March, starting from Gloucester to passing Kemble, so maybe these times are "normal" after all.
     
    Steamage, Sep 9, 2015
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  14. steamvideosnet

    steamvideosnet Well-Known Member

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    From the SD website:

    "Cancelled due to guaging issues and locomotive withdrawal

    Tomorrow’s trip has been postponed following news received earlier today from West Coast that Network Rail have been unable to satisfy the gauging requirements for the Duchess of Sutherland despite the fact that it has been run on all of this route within the last year. In addition Tangmere, our reserve loco, may be withdrawn from service when it gets back from a trip that it is on today due to problems with its boiler that might need immediate attention.

    We are in the process of contacting all passengers booked on this tour to notify them of the situation. We will also be writing to all passengers booked on this trip in the coming days."

    James
     
    steamvideosnet, Sep 9, 2015
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  15. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    "news received earlier today"

    Vol 2 of the last minute book of excuses. This one has been smelling like a dead rat for the last 5 days, the stink becoming unbearable over the last couple of days. Now I understand (but not forgive NR) the reasons for the cancelation, I appreciate that it is beyond the control of the Tour promoter and TOC, *BUT* this is another in a very long repetitive line of very poor communication by the tour company. There was no excuse for dropping this on the pax less than 24 hours before the run.
     
    mrKnowwun, Sep 9, 2015
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  16. Steamage

    Steamage Part of the furniture

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    Poor Marcus. If it weren't for all the bad luck, he'd have no luck at all....
     
    Steamage, Sep 9, 2015
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  17. steamvideosnet

    steamvideosnet Well-Known Member

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    And a letter from Marcus, just appeared on a Facebook group:

    "Dear Passenger,

    10 SEPTEMBER 2015: LONDON TO GLOUCESTER, LYDNEY & CARDIFF CANCELLATION

    It is very unusual for us to do this but we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s trip following news received this morning from West Coast that Network Rail have been unable to satisfy the gauging requirements for the Duchess of Sutherland despite the fact that it has been run on all of this route within the last year. This is compounded by the fact that Tangmere, our reserve loco, might have to be withdrawn from service when it gets back from a trip that it is on today due to problems with its boiler that would need immediate attention following a problem that has developed.

    WE WOULD ASK THAT YOU PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS EMAIL TO OUR BOOKING OFFICE ON 01483 209888 AS WE WILL BE RINGING ROUND ALL OUR PASSENGERS AS WELL.

    I can only apologise for the lateness of this cancellation and the inevitable disappointment it will cause.

    What is not acceptable is that this is entirely the fault of Network Rail, who has totally failed to fulfil their obligations to West Coast, with whom they have the operating contract, to provide gauging and timings in a prompt and efficient manner and have failed to do so. Steam Dreams and West Coast have provided their specification for this train and the roster of possible locomotives 12 weeks in advance as requested and yet Network Rail are providing incomplete information to West Coast within 24 hours of the train running and I can only apologise for this poor service from a large corporation which is of course owned and funded by all of us the taxpayers.

    While we intend to run this itinerary, or one similar to it, in the next 6 to 12 months we have decided to make an unusual offer to all passengers on this service and if you wish to transfer your booking to a different day trip between now and the end of April we will refund 20% of what you have paid to you when you transfer. In the next few days you will receive our new brochure for Christmas and Spring 2016 and you will see that we are using Princess Elizabeth as part of the 90th Birthday Celebrations of the Queen. Additionally we will be running Flying Scotsman which is under the auspices of the National Railway Museum (NRM) and alternatively we could transfer you to one of these trips before they go on general sale later this week but no discount would be applicable due to the involvement of the NRM.

    Yours sincerely,

    Marcus Robertson
    Chairman"
     
    steamvideosnet, Sep 9, 2015
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  18. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    It seems that the line of communication from NR to WCRC to SD does not move quickly or in a timely manner, especially at the NR/WCRC interface. As for Tangmere, there is a RTC trip on Saturday that needs her fit and a day or so gap is probably needed for whatever needs attention. You can't help but fear that as far as WCRC is concerned, Network Rail feels it can do what it likes, which, of course it cannot but who will bring them to boot? If WCRC raise their legitimate concerns you can see NR saying "so you are complaining about us inconveniencing you?"

    I realise that they wouldn't dare say that but this chain of events is becoming very one-sided and NR does not seem to be coming through faultless at this stage.
     
    Big Al, Sep 9, 2015
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  19. J Shuttleworth

    J Shuttleworth Member

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    I think Marcus had the information from me, this morning, less than 5 mins after I had had the same from NR.
     
    J Shuttleworth, Sep 9, 2015
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  20. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    And that perhaps illustrates the point even better than I made. I'm sure that one issue may be the fact that at Network Rail nobody seems to take responsibility at Milton Keynes. Yet the charter community gets people like Marcus Robertson and Nigel Dobbing prepared to stand up and explain. They even travel on their own trains and talk to passengers, for goodness sake!

    Back at the TOCs (who actually are one step removed from the public who buy tickets on the charters), you get people, whether it be in management or the crews, who are prepared to contribute and explain - rather less than we might like but definitely rather more than we are entitled to expect. Yet at Network Rail, that is one step even further from the paying passenger, nothing. "Well what do you expect" I hear you say. Actually, with any service where I have no choice, as with NR, I do expect the system to be responsive and nothing filtering down through the TOCs and tour operators suggests that they are on top of the job. And sorry, small business like charters is just as important to be served properly as the major operators.

    Over the years I have contacted Network Rail Customer Relations twice and also South West Trains twice. In both cases, SWT replied promptly and actually were good in their response. The same is definitely not true of NR. Draw your own conclusions.

    End of rant, but thanks very much, JS, for the interventions.
     
    Big Al, Sep 9, 2015
    #20
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