The Great Britain X - 29/04/17 to 07/05/17

It wasn't convincing, hence the double checking. Especially if I'm about to book hotels to do an epic chase through Scotland.

 

Railway Touring Company website now states for the Oban day that steam is double headed for the outbound, but diesel hauled on the return.

 

I wonder if we will get any days with out the need for a diesel.

 

The punters have received their letter from etc asking for the balance to be paid

I won't be joining them this year having done 6 out of the last 7 GB's

The past 2 years farces meaning enough is enough for me on the GB front

Had some cracking previous GB's and made some good friends along the way though

 

Hotels in Scotland are booked. So brace yourself for The Black Hat vs the Great Britain X from Darlington to Oban!

 

S

This sounds like a Top Gear Challange! What's going to be your choice of Transport?

 

Hertz say an Audi A4, but I think a brace of Black Renault 5s may substitute.

If he's really unlucky it could be a diesel Sherpa.

 

Those on the train should look out of a Black/muddy Seat Leon FR Mk. 2....

It will be like the Top Gear Challenge as its raced from point to point and I try to take advantage of stops and breaks to find somewhere good. Quite often its just a game of leap frog and jumping out when in front only to race back in front again. The bad news is that I won't have too much idea of where I am going exactly, more roughly when its out on the move between places. The iconic photos should be easier as they are in places near the start or end of runs, but otherwise its a case of where I am, where the train is, what the road is in front of me and educated guesswork with the geography.

 

Email received from RTC offering premier dining seats on day 1 of GB10 from Kings Cross to York behind Scotsman for £249 !!!!

Oh and the meal you get for that.... Breakfast

Is it any wonder my friends and I aren't doing this GB after doing 5 1/2 previous ones ;-)

 

What a rip-off! By comparison, the TopGear special with Tornado a while back cost less than that, and that was all the way to Edinburgh, with breakfast and lunch, and a free first class service train ticket back to Kings X

 

I am getting so tired of the Rip off pricing of everything connected with Flying Scotsman, be it on the main line or while visiting preserved lines.

 

Why? No one is asking you to pay this price, but you can if you want to. Is it any more expensive than travelling on the British Pullman? There seem to be people who complain about the cost of restoration of 60103 and then complain when there is some effort to recoup this cost. Clearly there is a market out there for this as there is for the British Pullman and good luck to these operations. It is not for me, but I delight in the fact that it helps to keep steam on the main line.

Peter James

 

Agreed too but it does make it look like that she's not so much the "peoples' engine" but more like the "well heeled peoples' engine."

 

As has been mentioned many times there is a lot of cost recovery to made on the A3, both historical and presently occurring.

 

That is only because the NRM wasted public money by a bodged overhaul which had to be totally redone by Ian Riley's . Perhaps the wastage should be recovered from the pension funds of those civil servants at the NRM responsible for the disastrous workmanship.

 

I'm fully aware of the costs involved and the need to recover them in part at least but much has been made of her being "the peoples' loco" and premium price tours tends to fly in the face of that.