Dining trains VFM

The KESR Pullman prices I've seen have a separate fare element, which differs according to which car you are travelling in. The meal price is the same regardless of whether seated in Theodora, Barbara or the Maunsell NBO


Edit: Well there's a thing. I've just checked the 2017 prices on the website and although the fare is separated out from the meal price, there does not appear to be a different fare for different cars now.

 

Llangollen have an optional add on of a afternoon tea / cream tea type thing. A table is laid out with cloth and everything, then everything set up ready for your journey. Having just looked at the website for the actual thing it appears we do a picnic hamper option also. On one of the few times I've had a ride on the train this year rather than the loco, I sampled the afternoon tea as part of a fellow volunteers birthday. Very nice it was too.

http://www.llangollen-railway.co.uk/onboard-dining/

 

I find the Bluebell Golden Arrow good value - I fire 2x trips on it and they give me dinner and once we've disposed and signed off, a beer as well.

 

I've sampled the Pullmans on both the Bluebell and the K&ESR, plus premier dining on main line steam (including what's now the Belmond set) and have never been disappointed. Yes, it's a bit pricey but for a special treat like a wedding anniversary, well worth it. The best value I've known was when I was offered two tickets for the British Pullman Christmas trains by a friend who had been sent them on a complimentary basis and couldn't use them (a long story which I shan't bother everyone with.) This was in the days when the steam workings were hauled by Flying Scotsman in its hybrid condition with the A4 boiler, smoke deflectors and LNER apple green livery. I must say I was never keen on this particular combination, but the thought of a superb Christmas meal for free while travelling round the Surrey countryside soon removed any misgivings about 4472's appearance!

On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed a £5 curry out of a polystyrene container courtesy of the South Devon Railway on an evening special at the end of their 2014 winter gala. Many heritage lines have taken a very imaginative approach to on-train catering with wide range of offerings and everything from fish & chips through to pullman dining seems to be potentially profitable if well marketed.

 

Speaking as a non-squillionaire, I'm not sure you're right. My sister and I took my mum (and some other family) out for a meal at a reasonably decent establishment for a recent birthday, and I didn't bother to check the prices first. I suppose I knew from experience an approximate order of magnitude I was expecting of the bill - I wasn't expecting less than £100, or more than about £250 - but I wasn't really that bothered (when it came, I thought the actual bill of about £130 for two courses for five people was pretty reasonable). If I dined there every night, it might become more of a concern - as it is, the (very) occasional feeling of "money is no object" treating of family to a meal is really a rather pleasant experience.
I suspect a good many dining train customers are eating on this sort of "almost once in a lifetime" meal to remember basis, where cost is pretty unimportant.

My localish gastro-pub does mains for between £18-25 - and the odd occasion I've taken someone in there, I didn't feel robbed by any means.

If you are looking at benchmarking decent to upmarket food for comparison with railway dining prices, this would be my sort of starting point - so adding that to a typical ticket price easily gets you to the sort of prices quoted.
I'm not sure where the OP is getting a £15 three course meal from, but I suspect that is more Wetherspoons than gastropub territory - nothing wrong with that, but a totally different quality product, aimed at a totally different market.

 

I do not doubt the Wealden Pullman is a good product but the overall day/weekend package is just not for us ( location travel etc which the railway cannot change) , so we are quite happy to and do pay the Bellmond extra. Not all good quality products appeal to everyone.

Figures come from various society magazines over the years. Just take seating for example some are happy to pay £20k for seating in a simple TSO. A coachworths of Individual Wing armchairs is more of course.

Brian

 

£20,000! What's on the menu, unicorn steaks and angel wings?

 

You have made your share of typos, just like the rest of us.

PH

 

Be gentle - we don't want people to feel bulleid off the forum ...

Tom

 

Hence my smiley. Some recommended reading for you http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations_02.asp

 

Handbags at dawn...

 

I have had experiences at both end of the spectrum....

My wife and I had a trip on the 'moorlander' a couple of years ago, food was excellent and dining in one of the older pullman carriages was fantastic. Came away from it having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and thought it was good value for a 'treat'........despite the disappointment of the black 5 coming off at Goathland and being hauled back to pickering by by a cl37- the train had departed Pickering due to overrunning works at Grosmont. Need a good excuse to do it again......

Conversely we did a 'light lunch' at the Strathspey in May last year, which left my wallet feeling well and truly violated. The lunch was very overpriced the food was poor, and the service was worse (particularly the bloke in the office who took our booking!)
We ended up taking the view that we had made a 'donation' to the railway- and we won't be repeating the experience.

We also did a 'Murder Mystery' diner at the GCR, which was pretty good (both value and quality).

Chris

 

A further variable in the cost and therefore the price is the numbers of meals per seat which can be sold in the course of the service: a pub can expect that diners will finish and be replaced on a steady basis. Dining passengers tend to arrive according to the timetable.

 

It is an optional purchase, so there is no moral imperative for the supplier to charge less than what the market will bear. To charge less, when you have customers who are happy to pay your price, would be throwing money away and amount to poor management.

Personally, I love eating a proper meal on plates on a moving train, and especially seeing the steam swirling across the country. Doing this on a decent run with a destination to spend a few hours in, is a real treat. If this sounds like an advert for the Quantock Belle, it is - no apologies, they are very good and can rely on recommendations! If I'd worked a bit harder in earlier life, I could afford to do it more often but that is my fault, nobody else's.

John

 

If we're going abroad then dining on board Transnet's Union Limited was pretty cool. The highlight? Probably eating a Malay curry while a 25NC and the Red Devil were giving it everything up front. Difficult to say what the value for money was of any particular meal as I was on an eleven days long tour on board the Union Limited.

 

Definitely V for M. (Regular booker when near the NYMR on holiday) Agree with most posts made. Also add reliability of dates and sensible travel times compared with mainline steam. Less mileage for the money true but much more likely to run as advertised which for celebration events forms a very high % element of the booking.


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