'The Peak Forester' 46115 St Pancras to Matlock (5/3/11)

This trip seems to have created a lot of interest, 1st Scot out of St Pancras for many years, 1st through train onto Peak Rail plus Harringworth viaduct. I'm booked on this as are a few others seemingly from the uk steam info thread! Should be a good day out!

 

But how does it find a path between the hourly EMT dmus between Ambergate and Matlock? I would keep Sunday clear in my diary, but we shall see.

David

 

Maybe the timers have identified a path? Cromwell is also booked out of St Pancras the following week.

 

Will the crossover be put in from network rail to peak rail in the next few week's and commissioned in time for this trip ??

 

What chance is there of this tour running as advertised, I would love to go on it but the Duke is out the same day and thats another trip I would like to do.

 

If you look at this thread in "Heritage Railways and Centres..."

http://railways.national-preservati...92-Peak-Rail-update-of-whats-occuring!/page29

you'll see that there seems to be an issue concerning 46115 and a bridge loading limit. I'd normally say ring the tour operator, but if they're still selling the tour as originally advertised they may still be in blissful ignorance. Currently the info in the thread is based on hearsay, used not as a term of abuse but the fact of the matter. Maybe Peak Rail need to clarify what's allowed over their bridges.

 

Allow me to update and clarify, as there are now two significant changes, namely, the train is re-dated to Sunday 22/05 and motive power is 70013.

Before the usual suspects start at RTC, this is probably my fault, in that both Peak Rail and myself had actively encouraged RTC to run a train and March seemed, at the time, the earliest suitable date, after the connection had been completed; unfortunately, continued 'negotiation' over the connection agreement (which in fairness, involves several other parties, other than NR and PR) has meant it would be wise to delay.

46115 is replaced by 70013, which was the last steam loco to haul a train over the Midland route, in July 1968, before it closed.

JS

 

Thanks for the update James.

 

Many thanks for the update its just a shame that RTC are still selling this tour on their web site as advertised. Perhaps in situations like this it would be better to get a tour confirmed before advertising it. Apparently "the web site will be changed at some point when details are finalised"

 

Letting people spend money on something that the tour operator know isn't going to run when advertised or with the same Engine seems a little unfair to me, lets hope they remedy it soon.

 

But surely this has just been remedied, James Shuttleworth has told us that the date and loco have had to be changed. This is some 6 weeks before it was due to take place, what more do you want??

 

RTC are still advertising and taking electronic bookings for this tour on the 5th March hauled by 46115 in the full knowledge that not only is the advertised loco not being used the date is also wrong!
http://www.railwaytouring.co.uk/index.php/the-peak-forester---050311.html

I cant see how their position can be defended on this one, as soon as the details were known to be under discussion the ability to book should have been pulled from the web site. My uncle is a regular on steam tours more so than I am yet he does not use this forum, how would he know that this Very High Profile tour is not to run as advertised?

I'm just thankful that I asked the question, James Shuttleworth answered honestly and that I was able to book two tickets on the Salopian instead.

 

It took less than 3 hours for the fowl cries to start.

Today I was looking at a website advertising the hotel intourist in Moscow, very close to red square, I stayed there 10 years ago, interesting communist place with some interesting experience.

Thing is the hotel closed in 2002 and was knocked down.

I dont see hundreds of posts on the internet berating them for not updating their website ?


I'm also looking for a new home and it's amazing how many estate agents are selling homes which apparently sold months ago...
and no complaints.

Whilst looking for the £1 airfares.. it's amazing how hard they are to find.

I live right in the isle of dogs, and can see the towers from my window...my internet is advertised as 20mb.. can I get about 2mb ?- you'll be lucky.

I'm not defending misleading advertising, but put in context..

give a bit of time eh ? (If it's still advertising this tour as is in a months time then maybe.. but 3 hours ?)

From where I stand.. I'm game on for the "concept" of this tour.. I dont care the date or the engine but I am definitely keen to do it.

Maybe everyone would be happier if they canceled the tour and didnt bother ?

 

but its not the first time is it..............
You are in a lucky position that you don't care when this tour runs but I for one wont be able to go if it is on a Sunday, not much good if I had booked (like I was ready to do) for this one.
I asked today if the web site would be updated only to be told "when the tour details have been finalised and letters sent out to passengers" fair enough but why not halt new bookings now? I think vintage trains do it right, they have in the past advertised tours as Provisional, not yet confirmed by Network Rail. The Collett Double is one example, the details have now changed but as it was listed as Provisional everyone knew where they stood.
RTC run some great tours and I will continue to book with them, but I think their web site laves a lot to be desired and at times can be very misleading.

 

I'm sure the Hotel or Estate Agents wouldn't take your money though if you tried to book/buy a house, whereas RTC still will! Its not the end of the world, I'd assume RTC will refund anyone who books based on the wrong data, its just poor service and something very easily fixed (and hopefully will be ASAP). Its great that people update on these forums, but at the end of the day it only helps us enthusiasts, not the general public who will no doubt provide RTC with most its income.

 

As I said up thread, there isn't a path on a Saturday unless you cancel an EMT return service, so seems a bit naughty advertising the almost impossible. I wasn't the only one who had noticed this and we've all been watching for when the date changed to a Sunday! Annoying it's moved to a Sunday that's already booked up for me though.

 

For me DELTIC from the X to Edinburgh is a very good consolation trip on the 5th

 

I think there are two problems here:
1) Most Railtour companies (RTC are not alone in this) don't make an obvious distinction in their advertising between tours that are provisional (some aspect still being negociated) and those that are fully confirmed. This is understandable, given that some details, such as the exact route or timetable, aren't confirmed by the suppliers until a few days beforehand.

RTC probably suffer more than others in this respect because some of their tours are quite ambitious and break new ground both in terms of routes and locomotives. The Peak Forester is a good example of this. We'd all love to see steam from St Pancras and onto the Matlock branch. The tour has attracted lots of interest and quite a few bookings. The only problem is that it is described in the advertising in the same definitie style as tried-and-trusted tours such as The Scarborough Flyer. What's needed is a slightly more cautious style, so that potential customers understand that it's more likely to be changed than some of the "regular" tours.

2) Many small businesses do not run their web sites themselves. They sub-contract to a specialist. This means that they are not updated in real time. Once a week is more likely, often less frequently than that. I don't know whether this is the case for RTC, but it might explain the observed facts. Also, they are a small firm and the boss is often out of the office travelling on the company's tours, which perhaps explains why updates take a while. Not everyone spends their lives at a computer keyboard... ;-)

Personally, I applaud RTC for the tours they run and for publishing their programme well in advance. I've travelled on a couple of them and had excellent days out. I've also spent many happy hours chasing them around the country with my video camera. Our hobby has benefited from their entry into the UK tour market. Sure, there are things that they need to improve, and the fact that "Melton North" keeps in touch with this forum means they'll not be short of ideas and advice! ;-) Perhaps we should not be surprised that a company prepared to be adventurous in the tours it runs is similarly forthright in the way it advertises those tours?

 

Personally ive never seen the ASA organize a tour, so those posts are somewhat irelevent, and have been removed to their own thread.

so..
All passengers who are interested in the ASA please change here

http://railways.national-preservation.com/showthread.php/29287-Discussion-about-the-ASA


and people interested in steam to Rowsley calling at a few stations.. please remain on this thread which will continue shortly.

 

Letter received from RTC today.

Loco now 70000 and steam throughout(original trip was Steam on the return as far as Derby or Leicester). The trip is now to and from Kings Cross, outward via Grantham, return via Stamford.

Note : - trip not currently shown on their website.