ScotRail Steam Specials 2015

Abelio steam specials, info taken from Scot-Rail gen site:


June 20 - 48151 - Stirling to Inverness via Perth

June 21 - 48151 - Inverness to Dunrobin castle

June 22 - 48151 - Inverness to Stirling via Perth

June 27 - 45690 - Carlilse to Glasgow & return

September 5th - Black Five- Polmont to Fort William

 

If successful this could prove a really important development for the future of mainline steam.

 

Mr Verster permitting.....

 

If Mr V thinks that WCRC are awkward to deal with then he has yet to find out what havoc determined Scots can create.

 

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I'd be interested to see how things develop once the turntable is reinstated at Aberdeen. If ScotRail are up for doing the odd 'one-off' from Edinburgh/Stirling to Inverness via Aberdeen, then I'd be pretty impressed and will try my utmost to get up to Scotland to do it. Also, if there is ever a 'one-off' to Wick with a bonus reversal up to Thurso before diesel-haulage back to Inverness, I, and my bank manager, would be feeling quite faint...

 

Today a programme of steam services has also been announced for the Borders Railway: Launch Speech from Abellio CEO

Thinking back to the event in Waverley on 8th October, my strongest memory was
the enormous interest in our plans for tourism and steam trains.

So in May we will launch ScotRail’s new and significantly enhanced tourist offer,
known as the Great Scenic Railway Journeys of Scotland.
This will promote tourism on Scotland’s five most scenic lines to visitors from
across the world, and we look forward to revealing more soon.

This increased focus on tourism will prepare the way for the launch of the Borders
Railway on 4th September 2015, and the first ScotRail passenger services starting
on 6th September.
We look forward with huge anticipation to welcoming the Borders Railway into the
ScotRail family and will celebrate this with a programme of steam services to
promote tourism on this exciting new railway.

A steam service will operate between Edinburgh and Tweedbank three times
a week on a Wednesday, a Thursday and a Sunday for the first six weeks of operations.
And the magical sight of steam will be seen across the whole of Scotland with
our plans for five other steam trains on scenic routes between June and September this year.

Tickets for these steam services can be booked now on ScotRail’s new website.​

 

Can't see any info on uksteam about the proposed ScotRail jobs, or is it still early days (or just me!)???

Will

 

Details now on the ScotRail web-site: http://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotland-by-rail/steam-trains

I think GWR4090 is a little busy with WSR matters just at the moment, which might explain why he doesn't get time to update UKsteam.info as often as he used to do.

 

Details for the five initial tours are on the Scotrail website.

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotland-by-rail/steam-trains

Each one is £59 standard class. 48151 for the 3 day tour in June to/from Inverness, 45690 on the GSW on 27th September, and Black 5 on 5th September from Fort William to Polmont. Bookings through Steam Dreams.

 

48151 is rostered for the Stirling - Inverness, Inverness - Brora - Inverness and Inverness - Stirling trains on 20th, 21st & 22nd June.

 

So it's in partnership with Steam Dreams ! I'd expect double diesel banking then

 

Scotrail website down at the moment. Must have crashed under the weight of interest generated by this announcement!

 

I think its an arrangement while ScotRail sort out their own booking arrangements. £59 to Fort William is still a steal for steam, and puts CathEx to shame...

 

£59 for a day out behind Leander including a climb of Beattock on the 27th June? I think I might have a bit of that I'm liking these very sensible railtour fares.

 

I have thought for a while that it should be possible to run a summer steam service between Perth and Inverness in a similar manner to the Jacobite from Fort William. A longer journey scenic in a different way. I think there are triangles at both ends that would allow turning the loco. Perhaps Abellio might look at the options.

 

Nowhere to turn at Perth now sadly after the turntable got scrapped.

 

DBS disposed of the turntable at Perth goods yard years ago. A long time ago, 2002, Peter Beet and his wife visited Aviemore to discuss with my Father the possibility of using the Strathspey Railway's turntable for proposed runs between Perth - Inverness/Aviemore with 5690. All were keen to see it happen but sadly nothing materialised.

 

It was a crying shame, and not the fault of DBS, that the Perth Turntable was scrapped. Having been sold to the SRPS for a nominal amount, the contractor then accidently scrapped the table despite having been supplied with photographs of what/what not to cut up.

 

And probably mis-filed the photo in the 'to be cut up' pile.