Vintage Trains announces Enthusiast or Gricer Class!

Vintage Trains is planning on offering a limited number of seats in the Buffet coach on selected trips.

We have 3 x tables of four in the Buffet that we are going to offer for sale on selected trips as “Enthusiasts” or “Gricer” Class.

We guarantee that the Buffet will be the closest coach to the engine in one direction.

The ticket price will be the Standard fare plus ₤15. For this, you will get tea/coffee from the buffet, a bacon roll in the morning and a cake or light snack in the afternoon.

The are offering these limited seats on the following trips:

3 Nov – Pannier Rambler
17 Nov – Cumbrian Mountaineer
2 March – Cumbrian Guardsman
23 March – Double-headed Halls
6 April – Marylebone Flyer (provisional date)
13 April – Moonraker (provisional date)

Please call the booking office on 0121-708-4960 to reserve your seat today.

 

I thought 'Gricer' was the term for a linesider and 'Basher' was for one who likes to be on board?

 

No offence meant - it's officially "Enthusiast" Class!

 

I've always though Gricer was someone travelled behind steam and a Basher someone who chose diesel haulage?

 

Or is it "gronks"...........? And while we're on the subject - who are "Veg"?

Sorry Ben we've rather hijacked the thread.

 

Cranks / Bashers / Neds are the same thing aren't they?

Veg is someone who sits in a field waiting for a train to pass, much like a vegetable...

 

Gronks are class 08/09 shunters.

Veg is deregotary term for someone who stands on a platform for hours taking numbers.

There's a whole library of enthusiats terminology (especially on the Diesel side) if you really get into it.

 

Any idea what the origin of the word "gricer" is? Where was it first used? When does it first appear in print? The on-line version of the Oxford Dictionaries says:

The Urban Dictionary suggests an origin on The Bluebell Railway in the 1970s:

Really? There are several similar stories around...

Wiktionary suggests a different origin:

A Wikipedia page on UK railway terms and slang says

The most interesting source (I think) that my quick Googling session has turned up, though, is this set of scans of correspondence pages from Railway Magazine, June 1970, and others. One correspondant claims to be part of the group from Manchester who coined the word (in 1938 when exploring remains of lead mining railways around Weardale). Am I alone in detecting a whiff of spoof about this story, written by "Colonel Soupspoon"? The subsequent references to the same tale in the other scanned pages look to me like they have come from the same source. Then again, another correspondant in that June 1970 RM says it was in use by the Cambridge University Railway Club in 1947, having been introduced some time before from "an influential locomotive society in Manchester." As an aside - it's interesting to see the comments in Branch Line News bitching about how RM has declined over the years. Plus ca change...!

I describe myself as a gricer. The old term "train spotter" is too narrow. To me, it means someone who collects numbers, nothing more. It has also become a derogatory name. "Gricer" is, I think, a more general and even complimentary term, meaning one who is a railway enthusiast, probably passionate, perhaps single-minded, and yes, occassionally obsessive.

A "grice" is a day devoted to railways, be it a visit to a preserved line, a ride on a mainline special or a day spent chasing a steam train with a camera. It normally involves an early start, a late finish, and all other considerations (food, drink, sleep...) are secondary to maximising the railway content of the day.

"Gricer" is to "Trainspotter" as "Geek" is to "Nerd" - someone devoted to, and knowledgable about, their subject, but deserving of some respect rather than ridicule.

 

Ned is reportedly New Engine Desperado, i.e. people who go out for haulage from a loco, tick it off in their book, then never go after it again.

 

Ben, speaking as a regular customer, I am not so sure about this. You are restricting the guarantee of being in the coach closest to the engine in one direction (which is something I am willing to pay a premium for) to just 12 people. I would much prefer the guarantee to be applied to the club class coach where up to 64(?) people could take advantage of it.

This would obviously require the club class coach to be marshalled at the end of the rake in front of the Pullmans. It was in this position on the Castle to Scotland tour, though on the Cotswold Explorer it had been remarshalled between the Pullmans and standard class which was not so good from my point of view.

Of course, on tours where the stock is reversed at the destination, and assuming the club class coach and buffet are at opposite ends of the rake, the ‘closest coach to the engine in one direction’ guarantee could be applied to both club and enthusiast class.
Nick M.

 

I don't think you can play about with the ends of the current VT rake too much, one end tends to be the support coach, and the buffet at the other end is a brake coach, the Pullmans and Mk2's in the middle are shunted in and out depending on that tours requirements, but the support and MK2 buffet/brake seem to be there 24/7.

 

Nick, I understand your thoughts, but I am afraid this is a situation where we are dammed if we do and dammed if we don't!

The Club Coach occasionaly appears before the Pullmans when the tour involves a diesel - the Pullmans don't have vestibule doors, so if the Support Coach is not on the train (for the diesel portion) so we have to put something there.

When we do put the Club Coach infrount of the Pullmans, we get complains from some of the Club passengers about the distance to the buffet. Also, the Pullman passengers complain that people are walking through the coaches carring cups of tea when they are trying to eat.

Also, when the steam engine is attached, there will typically be the Support Coach between the 1st Passenger Coach and the engine, therefore I could never guarentee that Club would be the closest coach to the engine.

Sorry about that!

Ben

 

Ben,

Thanks for explaining the mystery of the positioning of the club class coach. It all makes sense now!

When you were referring to ‘...closest coach to the engine’, I had assumed this excluded the support coach and what you meant was ‘...closest coach with fare-paying passengers to the engine’, rather than it would actually be the coach next to the engine. Thanks also for the clarification on this point.

In the early days of club class (I am thinking in particular of the return working of the Devon banks trip), serving and refills of hot drinks in club class was not happening as soon or as frequently as was desirable. Hence I can understand why some passengers were making the trek to the buffet car to get a drink (and the resulting complaints).

I am pleased to say that on the recent Cotswold Explorer trip, there were no such issues – plentiful supplies of tea and coffee were on offer at just the right time. For me, one of the attractions of club class is that it obviates the need to visit the buffet. So maybe those complaints were just the result of teething troubles with club class and should not be regarded as a justification for sandwiching club between Pullman and standard classes (a club sandwich?).

As you say, damned if you do, and damned if you don’t!
Nick M.

 

Putting "enthusiasts" in the buffet car? Do they realise that (1) they won't buy anything from the buffet and (2) they will probably scare off the other hungry passengers too!

Richard

 

Think that needs ellaboration...

 

Given the choice of queuing next to the a group of people wearing goggles, holding cameras and fluffy microphones, and drawing lines in ABC books, or going back to my seat hungry, I know which I would do. :behindsofa: :bolt:

Now, if there was a moderators' carriage, the customers would enjoy our friendly, welcoming and safe environment for purchasing their comestibles. Mind you, Ralph would have to take his googles off and hide his fluffy microphone.

Richard

 

If only there were a window-hanger class...