"The Atlantic Coast Express" Sunday 7th.April 2013.

The word "emergency" on the railways though has a special definition. ie an "emergency crossover" does not imply that a train is suddenly diverted to another line to prevent an accident!

 

Cracking shot.


After viewing the two videos on YT it looks like standard class is at the rear all day next to the big maroon vibrator. Glad we didn't fork out nearly £90 for this run..........

 

To quote a friend who has decided to travel,and is deciding to only do it one way:

"Us plebs at the rear with the 57 doing all the work,steward has been round explaining that as of last night there wasn't going to be any steam at all".

Cheers then.

 

More pics as promised. In order:

Cremorne Bridge / Battersea Railway Bridge 1

Cremorne Bridge / Battersea Railway Bridge 2

Steam Shard Approach

Almost at Clapham Junction

Passing Through

 

'Tangmere' made a fine sight approaching Farnborough this morning. I managed a couple of shots; nothing special as the line is in shadow at that point. However, here's the first one; clicking on it will enlarge it and take you to the other shot. (And the diesel in case some people are interested to see it.)


RD7833. TANGMERE appoaching Farnborough. by Ron Fisher, on Flickr

 

Right then, although it is in this thread this applies to steam tours in general. What we need is a independent body, similar to SLOA?, to oversee & control the way steam tours are run, to see if people are getting what they paid for, and most important to look into the legal side of things when people don't get what they pay for & to stop TOC's, Tour Operators & NR wriggling behind the small print. Also to make sure passengers get appropriate compensation if things are not as they should be. I am sure out of the many things out there, steam tour passengers are the ones who are most likely to get ripped off. I don't know how things like sale of goods act or the trades description act apply, but something needs to be done big time before it all gets out of hand. One of these days people are just going to boycott main line steam tours altogether & spend their hard earned elsewhere where they get what they pay for. Who can blame them. Partly because of change of circumstances & partly because of the current issues, my main line steam tour days are over. An extreme example, how would you feel if you went to a football match & a load of hockey players came out?
In a nutshell, the current situation cannot, cannot continue any longer.
Back to topic, looking at the videos plus the comments on here, the screaming monster is doing all the work with a steam looking ornament on the front for show. This tour should of been cancelled or postponed as soon it was known 777 couldn't run & a substitute wasn't available. This was well over a week ago.

 

Actually, Buseng, after spending a few hours at the Madejski yesterday, I don't think I would have noticed if they were hockey players !!! lol. Seriously, though, you are spot on and although it hurts to say, it seems that todays excursion despite all good work and will to get an exciting day on for the passengers, just falls a long way short of what was expected. It is really sad, but we are now so far removed from the days of regular steam travel, where there seem to be so many lateral and unexpected problems cropping up, that its a monumental job to get a tour the way it is planned. I'm really appreciative of the hard work that must go in to try to achieve a run. It must be a soul searching challenge. Pete

 

A quick bit off topic, don't think the new RFC manager will last very long.
Back to topic...........

 

Here's a view from Weybridge this morning. I know there is a bit of controversy going on with this trip but does anyone know the significance of the no 6 on the top route disc which shows well in Ian's shot at Clapham. Also, it appears part of the smokebox number has been replaced by 427?

Thanks

 

Some nice shots showing up already - the Clapham Junction one is nice with the modern skyline

Here are a couple taken at Potbridge - Tangmere didn't seem to be working very hard, the exhaust note was noticeably soft but was producing plenty of exhaust

B&W seemed the right way to go, with the muted colours and bare branches

ACE 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ACE 2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


STEVE

 

If I was a Reading fan,which I am not, then I would be quite happy to see a hockey team come out especially if it was a team of women playing.

 

The 427 looks like a reporting number, though it looks more like the LMS/Midland Region type to me, no idea on the 6 but the Southern used a different lamp/disc system to the rest anyway.

 

The head code is the correct one for Waterloo to Exeter. The no 6 is the loco roster reference for the down ACE. The details are in the book Southern Region Engine Workings by C J Gammell and as I recall the loco roster covers the scheduled duties over a 24 hour period to which a loco is allocated. In ye olden days, the loco on roster 6 would have done the ACE to Exeter then (maybe) a local Exeter to Salisbury service. The next day the engine would then be allocated a different roster number for its duties that day. Railtours and other excursions were not allocated regular roster numbers hence the sticking of SPL on one of the white discs.

I hope this clarifies.
Des

 

60 into Honiton Tunnel and nearly a tender full of coal says it all. the rumor on the train is we are cutting out the water stops and replacing them with oil stops.

 

Are you TBirdFrank in disguise? As a well known engineer said to me yesterday sometimes s**t happens.
Is it too difficult to read the T&C's before booking on a steam tour? Vintage Trains for example runs to a few short paragraphs, one of which refers to substitution of a steam loco for a diesel in extreme circumstances such as happened yesterday.

 

Tangmere seen here passing thru Walton on Thames.Mainline Steam 2013 - Stephen Leek's Photos | SmugMug

 

I thought is was Wednesday actually,but never mind. I am sure many on this forum would agree with you,however we have to live in the real world. Probably 80% of the passengers are Mr and Mrs Normal on a day out,would they agree with you? And if RTC cancelled or postponed the trip they would have to shell out a load of refunds and how many times could they afford to do that before they went bust? Also,after the fires in Yorkshire and the Chilterns this week is there a cat in hells chance this one would have run without a box on the back anyway even if 777 had been available to haul the return?

 

Should HAVE.

Although your use of language is far from the only flaw in that particular statement.