If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Tornado to haul certain timetabled trains on S&C: Feb 14-16

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by GWR4707, Jan 13, 2017.

  1. 60017

    60017 Resident of Nat Pres Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2008
    Messages:
    9,002
    Likes Received:
    7,891
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired from corporate slavery :o)
    Location:
    Fylde Coast
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Parni lokomotiva dobry!

    https://johnleyland.smugmug.com/CD/Czech-Steam/i-FcvTZBh
     
    RalphW, Spamcan81 and 46223 like this.
  2. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,772
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    60017 likes this.
  3. 30567

    30567 Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2012
    Messages:
    5,608
    Likes Received:
    3,510
    Not forgetting the Waverley!

    And not forgetting that for those of us with a memory longer than three years, steam in Jul and Aug is inherently risky.

    Given capacity and line speed and layout constraints and marketing considerations I wonder what the best options might be for Plandampf 2. Could Plymouth-Penzance be feasible for example?
     
    lil Bear likes this.
  4. Where's Mazeppa?

    Where's Mazeppa? Member

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2013
    Messages:
    485
    Likes Received:
    494
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    At 12.30 mid-day today, this feature was Number Three in the "most watched" rankings on the BBC website.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-39020181

    In terms of content, it may not break much new ground for most regulars on this forum. But as a kind of tailpiece to a thread that has now attracted a massive 57.000 views and 700 replies in five short weeks, its a fitting tribute to the success of this whole exercise in communicating with and reaching out to a much, much wider population. On the basis of the kind of optimism and positivity that is reflected here by Northern, A1SLT and FoSCL, who knows what the future might bring!!
     
    Dobbs0054 likes this.
  5. Dobbs0054

    Dobbs0054 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2014
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    520
    Gender:
    Male
    Indeed. With the additional capacity, the services managed to carry over 5000 passengers. That has got to raise the awareness of mainline steam and leave many wanting more.
     
  6. guycarr360

    guycarr360 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2005
    Messages:
    4,414
    Likes Received:
    2,729
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Chester le Street County Durham
    Have to say this is a very sensible, post, yes, as everybody glories in the 3 unforgettable days, it could be easy to get carried away.

    Much better moving the 3 day event around the country, and as others say, what happens when the ground conditions are tinder dry, cancelling something like this could undo good work.

    Has to be said, everybody has come together to make this a fantastic success, and A1ST again shows how a group, can maximise publicity to the benefit of everyone, a big well done from me!!
     
    Matt37401, alastair and RalphW like this.
  7. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2013
    Messages:
    2,836
    Likes Received:
    2,677
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Relaxingly retired
    Location:
    Deep in the country
    Hmmm, not easy to post times 'visibly' for the trains.
    The Appleby-Kirkby Stephen Times should be in the pdf file below. As it was produced in Word I have no idea if it will be readable. Anyone want to have a go and try to download and read it??
     

    Attached Files:

  8. rule55

    rule55 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2009
    Messages:
    310
    Likes Received:
    219
    Downloaded and opened. Perfectly readable here: thanks for taking the trouble!
     
  9. Where's Mazeppa?

    Where's Mazeppa? Member

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2013
    Messages:
    485
    Likes Received:
    494
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Likewise in all respects. Looking forward to further instalments.
     
  10. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2013
    Messages:
    2,836
    Likes Received:
    2,677
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Relaxingly retired
    Location:
    Deep in the country
    Got numb fingers at moment!!! Done the outwards - will convert to pdfs later. Won't be as much detail in part 2 after Ais Gill Summit or down the bank to Horton and Settle. Then in the final part there's only really Bell Busk worthy of note due to the 45 mph speed restriction.
     
    rule55 likes this.
  11. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2013
    Messages:
    2,836
    Likes Received:
    2,677
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Relaxingly retired
    Location:
    Deep in the country
    Apologies for the varied timings on the Kirkby Stephen-Settle-Skipton table. My main stopwatch went seriously on the blink off and on and the new one played up too! Also as it was a Service Train it wasn't very polite to ignore one's fellow passengers, especially those who had no idea where they were on the line so some of my time was spent chatting.
    Mileposts were difficult in the rain and poor light, particularly on Bell Busk. Didn't have milepost seats that often - it's obvious when I did. Still it was fun. Pity there wasn't enough room in the vestibules but there were often 2 stewards in each so no room for GPS/Clipboard/Me and stopwatch.
     

    Attached Files:

  12. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2006
    Messages:
    6,122
    Likes Received:
    1,655
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway Technician
    Location:
    8C / 5D / 27C / 71B
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Remember I don't know enough though (not that I'm one to hold a grudge...)

    To benefit the communities most that it operates in, it'd be best to do it out of season but when there is chance of sufficient numbers to ensure success - so February Half Term / Whitsun week / October Half Term stand out IMO. Avoids the main summer season, when as you both say the weather could cause disruptions but also as many people are already enjoying days out etc. Also ensures the novelty doesn't wear off, as just doing 3x days or 1x weekend has greater chance of success than 5/6x days over 5/6x weeks. This isn't looking for the next Jacobite, but offering something different on lines that are suitable for the proposed operation.

    We've seen Northern take a chance, and I would say 5,500 is a good result. Now it'll be interesting if Northern decide they want to do it again, plus if any other TOCs decide it's worth a punt. There could be some interesting times ahead.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2017
    Matt37401 likes this.
  13. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Messages:
    15,326
    Likes Received:
    11,664
    Occupation:
    Nosy aren’t you?
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-39020181 when you think someone high up had the bright idea of wanting to close this railway, it makes you think! Well done everyone involved you all deserve a huge pat on the back for making things happen. Right Abellio can we please do something similar on the Bittern and Wherry lines please?
     
    rule55 likes this.
  14. keith6233

    keith6233 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    573
    Likes Received:
    150
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Manchester
    Alex Hynes who is head of northern rail is leaving to take over running the ScotRail Alliance so possibly a repeat in Scotland.
     
  15. 26D_M

    26D_M Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Messages:
    4,416
    Likes Received:
    1,681
    Glasgow to Carlisle GWSR route or the Stranraer line, if a suitably gauged air braked steam loco could be procured?
    Tyne valley line has to be a good candidate too. Not quite in Scotland though.
     
  16. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2009
    Messages:
    8,068
    Likes Received:
    5,164
    Many of these suggested routes have nowhere to turn the loco at one or both ends. I know they manage tender-first running on the Jacobite and they managed last week with Tornado, but it's far from ideal. Which routes would be short enough to be conveniently worked by tank locos?
     
  17. andalfi1

    andalfi1 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Messages:
    1,006
    Likes Received:
    466
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Semi Retired.
    Location:
    Haworth
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Apart from the Panniers, there are no mainline registered tank loco's, but maybe Std 4. 2-6-0's could be considered !
     
    lil Bear likes this.
  18. osprey

    osprey Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Messages:
    9,356
    Likes Received:
    2,313
    Occupation:
    semi-retired, currently doing R&D for my patents
    Location:
    Halifax
    According to today's press the three trains carried @5500k people........if all of them paid £17 a head that's quite a nice earner.............................
     
  19. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2013
    Messages:
    2,836
    Likes Received:
    2,677
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Relaxingly retired
    Location:
    Deep in the country
    Nah they didn't all pay £17 a head. There were numerous old codgers with Senior Railcards that only paid £11.20 a journey as did other railcard users. Some people I talked to did a round trip for £9.90 on the line's rover ticket after queuing for the 1457 APP-SKI and 1715 SKI-APP. The normal return was only £17.70 return tickets.
     
  20. malc

    malc Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2005
    Messages:
    2,409
    Likes Received:
    274
    If 5500k people did actually pay £17 each, then yes it would indeed have been a "nice earner" (5,500,000 * £17 = £93.5 million!). ;)

    Assuming that you actualy mean 5,500 rather rather 5,500k, and also bearing in mind that 5,500 is probably the number of single journeys made rather than the number of people (1 return = 2 single journeys) then, even if everyone did pay £17.70 return (which, as 1020 Shireman says, was not actually the case), the total income comes to less than £50,000 which is not a when you deduct staff wages, hire of stock, etc. I would be very surprised if Northern made any profit through fares for the Tornado trains alone, although I'm the publicity value was certainly worth it and you can also add on the revenue from people travelling to/from Skipton etc by rail, together with any future revenue from people attracted to a trip on the S&C when it re-opens fully.
     

Share This Page