Swanage Railway General Discussion

Annoyingly just as I was going out the front gate earlier to go to Boots the T3 was departing hauling the two 33’s. Did not hear any diesel noise so if both dead I guess that is about load 5? It got back not long after I got home.
Also noticed the T9 is now in the sidings.

There also seemed to be what I assume was a P.E. actors/ staff meeting in a Mk1 on the set in platform 2. Must be pleasant on something that has had not heat for a couple of weeks. A bit like being on a railtour really.

 

Does anyone know if the T3 will be in service during the Winter Warm Up on 6-7th January?

For us living in the Bristol / Bath area it's frustrating that the gala clashes with the SVR gala on the same weekend. [BJ]

 

I suspect both may suffer a little because of it , but I would not be surprised if both are shut after that weekend for and engineering period before half term.
I probably should know but does the T3 have the capability to steam heat the stock? Back in the days it was built I do not think passenger comfort came very high on the list of priorities.

 

It has steam heat pipes on the buffer beams....

 

Might of helped if I had looked at my image on the front page of the current Swanning Around.

 

563 is steam heat fitted. It was done as part of the restoration as it was previously removed. 563 was out on test today trying out its new blast pipe cap.

 

Any chance of letting us know when the ETH and Blue star multi working’s being fitted? No truth in the story about waist level pipes being fitted either?
I’ve buggered up next year’s April Fools haven’t I…

 

Having missed out on the recent runs I hope it is working during the Winter warm up. Planning to go if I have recovered enough

 

Ditto

 

I for one hope the T3 comes out for the winter warm up. However it's normaly only 2 33s and 2 steam they use....

Really hoping it's a success!

Let's all hope the sound of steam will still be singing later in 2024!

Do we know what the top few biggest fixed costs are for the railway????

Wonder how much they are paying for the 3 U and N class

 

This has already been discussed - read back a few pages

 

563 may well appear at the winter warm up but it will depend how it’s work in the shed progresses and how it can be test run during the polar season.

 

As also mentioned in a previous post the three main costs are wages / salaries C£1M, coal C£280K, hire fees C£240K.

I think, but perhaps someone can correct update if wrong, the Moguls are C£30K per annum each.

Thus the out of service Moguls (2) have cost the railway about £540K over the past 9 years. (Plus of course any insurance premiums, works to prepare them for service).

 

They say the sun shines on the righteous, but today only the tender!
T3 under cover.

 

Good to see the 33 having it's new chimney fitted <BJ>

 

What work is still needed?

 

It will be having a washout next week. After that we will be going through the list of running repairs that have accumulated over the initial running period. We will then be doing a piston and valve exam. We have had a few steaming issues with 563 that have taken time to work through but we have turned a corner with the new blast pipe cap.

Basically, there is nothing actually that drastic to report. It was always planned that 563 will head into the shed during extended periods of inactivity.

 

Double or single?

 

I tend to be with you on that Steve.
As we could not have our seafront walk as it is it is chucking it down and almost dark at 14:30 I decided to run some numbers based on my experience of negotiations and contract management in the context of this specific operation.
So firstly this is not a new offering in the UK so a precident will be well set as to what "the standard deal is"
Secondly you only have to look at he people holding the licences to run this to realise where the power lies in any negotiation (also echoed by the booking conditions small print if you bother to read them).
Like any negotiation there are various ways this could be costed but putting on my P.E. contract hat I ran various scenarios from what I would like, to the least I would be happy with, plus a high and a low costing for what I think it may cost the railway to run it.
I am not going to post those numbers, and anyway my assumptions could be widely inaccurate, but it does give the railway a figure that even at the lowest level I would think would be regarded as worth it without have the risk of the main promotional and staging costs.
The only real problem I see is that at the same time as the appeal for financial support, people may look at 30 days of over £40 per ticket and think the railway are coining it in, when that is very far from the truth. As we know from other walks of life optics are unfortunate often more relevant than the truth.

 

A thoughtful analysis. One element that has also not entered the wider domain is who was "driving the deal"? Was it Swanage Railway keen to replace the Christmas Lights train with something "even bigger" or were Polar Express looking to expand the number of railways hosting the PE experience? Of course it could be a very happy meeting of the wishes of both parties.