Tornado

I think what I paid to drive 55 019 there was far better value for money (£295, I think).

I think it's much less than that to drive 34081 (maybe @Spamcan81 can answer that)

 

Seems about the going rate these days, but you normally get some coaches to pull. Unless I misread it this is just a L.E. run is it not.

 

Blimey. When I did this experience with this very loco in 2019, it was around £300-£400.
Then I did one on the GCR for roughly £600 with rolling stock in 2022 which was much more entertaining and more valuable than just light engine.

It says on the booking page no rolling stock:

 

When I went out 5 years ago, you got accomodation as well included for that price, and the budget airfare was peanuts, plus they picked you up from the airport. I couldn't even begin to consider this to be good value in comparison.

But then again, given how everything has shot up in price in those years, guess I can't blame them for getting as much money as they think they can sell for. The trouble will be if they find out people aren't willing to fork out.

 

And now You can't, Yet another Brexit benefit!

 

We don't have any say in NVR footex fees and it's been more than 12 moths since they've done one with her so I can't recall what they charged. Pretty sure it's not £600 though.

 

I have to admit I was surprised at the driver experience cost. But an HST driver experience went on sale earlier this week for the same round trip at £400 and sold out in less than 2 days, so there is obviously the belief that the market for high end experiences is still strong

 

It's the way of the world these days. Price to the maximum the market will bear, and sod those who can't afford it. There are few things priced to be affordable to the majority of people now days.

 

Playing devil’s advocate …

Two people per course. The experience lasts an hour; let’s assume you have 15 minutes handover between groups and the instructors get a lunch break, you can probably do five courses in a day while staying in daylight and keeping the day within hours for the instructor crew (allowing for prep and disposal).

So a maximum of 10 people, £6000 gross income per day. Factor in all the coal burnt (running a pacific for one day is not very efficient with heating and cooling costs; and footplate courses don’t tend to be very efficient); add in the loco hire fee; costs of getting the loco to and from the railway; and allow the railway to make some profit proportionate to their costs and risks, and I’d say £6,000 isn’t way off beam.

We are involved in an expensive hobby, and that becomes crystal clear when you split the costs over a very small user base, ie probably no more than ten people who have to pay all the operating costs between them.

Tom

 

£600 just to say "I've driven Tornado", I don't think so. Maybe £60.

 

Dear Satan, I wouldn't argue with your figures, but . . . you seem to be assuming that the driving experience is the only reason for hiring a loco in . . . and therefore the only means for covering the costs of that hire. I'd suggest that hiring the loco is meant to attract more people in general to the railway and driving experience is just an additional means to maximise the income while it is on site (Which is obviously fair enough).

 

Possibly - and I don’t know all the other things planned for the visit. I’m just making the point that railways are expensive businesses, and surely we shouldn’t begrudge one ensuring it makes a profit in its activities? I suspect in the past the opposite happened - railways were essentially under charging for those kinds of activities.

Tom

 

It is £5 more than the Bulleid experience at Swanage, which from memory is about the same price as the Britannia ones last year after the gala. They sold out almost straight away, on checking just now, this year they do not seem to being booked so quickly, the Bulleid of course being a resident loco. Also many Bulleid fans may well be SLL shareholders and will have had chance to drive one on their members events. The Class 33 one however at £250 sold out all 5 days before I had even seen it on the website. I suspect there will be a price point where demand falls.
However my mental "back of a fag packet calculations" when the Bullied ones were launched I reckoned based on some operating costs @Jamessquared had mentioned before reckoned the railways were not going to be making a great deal.
Photo charters are around £150 a day or more (I suspect for around 30 participants) or so, I am sure @Johnb can tell us the normal number, but even that makes it £4500 for the day with a crew who are probably way more economical.

There of course is also the "Tornado effect" that is likely to make this one more popular.

 

How long ago was that though?

 

Price comparison puts it the same as the GCR current advertised price:
https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/special-services/steam-train-packages/ £595 bronze (which is advertised as light engine 8 miles drive + further 8 miles on footplate while other participant takes part - so sounds similar to NVR offering with Tornado at the same price) / £995 for GCR with coaches and double length of time
https://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/experiences/unique-experiences/drive-a-steam-train/ £645 (8 miles drive/8 miles fire + 1 return guard, usually with parcels set these days)

 

Given the price of coal is still over £300 per tonne £ 600 to drive a pacific seems quite reasonable to me