21st Century Steam Ltd Tours (Tornado Rail Tours)

Whether that plan was abandoned for engineering or financial reasons, it deserves to be considered for revival.

 

There are plenty of covenantors and former volunteers who would gladly step up to help. But not with the current autocratic, out of touch and incompetent regime in place.

 

The future for the SRPS set being a particular point of interest.

 

They seem to have a fetish for the Armed forces:
Tornado - RAF;
Prince of Wales - RN;
Highlander - Army.

I think they also got squaddies involved with track laying at Bonomi Road?

A bit more time spent on engineering wouldn't go amiss.

 

Well when you look at their Chairman's career hardly suprising!

However, leadership styles that work in the forces may not necessarily be best suited for the current situation??

 

I know of plenty of former volunteers like me and others who have been associated with the trust who are willing to step up but NOT under its current incompetent, deluded and authoritarian leadership.

 

He was in the army, didn’t you know?

it’s fantastic to have such relationships but not at the cost of engineering, fundraising, project management, financial management, etc.

As we all know treating volunteers like squaddies doesn’t work and they have left in droves under the current regime. And it would be interesting to know the real reasons behind the ‘resignations’ of Allatt, Bruce, Bunker-James and Parker over the past three years - the last two haven’t even been communicated to supporters although they happened months ago.

 

All good observations. I think that the events of April 2018 were the first clear signs that all was not well in Camelot and it’s been steadily downhill since, accelerating like a runaway train if you’ll pardon the pun.

 

They’ve been let down so many times by A1SLT - like the NVR - I suspect they will not want to put many eggs in that basket.

 

All I can say is that in the conversations I have had many would but all of the existing trustees who have been complicit in the trust’s rapid decline would need to go.

 

If this tour does run on the 31st August then chance of 3 steam locos at Carlisle
The Lakelander, Northern Belle and the Tornado tour

 

I wouldn't bet on Tornado working any main line tours before 2025, the testing, that will be needed, and all the bugs that will need to be ironed out with the new electronics will take time, then of course the engine will need to be tested with the new signalling system going live on the mainline, before it operates any revenue earning tours.

 

I suspect that you are right. That will present them with a major problem moving the Pullman again from a contractual perspective.

 

But surely the new electronics are only necessary for when it's running on an ERTMS/ETCS-signalled line, or am I missing something here?

 

Plus I understand that there is still a lot of work outside of ERTMS that still needed doing to Tornado when it arrived at the GCR from LMS. I think that their latest email to supporters letting them down again still failed to be open and honest about when Tornado will be fully operational. I certainly won’t be booking on a train this year and taking the risk of hotel reservation cancellation costs only to be let down close to the tour date by an organisation which has consistently failed to deliver on its promises in recent years.

 

I sense your frustration but I cannot believe anyone books any railtour, regardless of operator, loco, steam or diesel regardless of where it may be in its ticket, and then books a hotel you cannot cancel for free on the day of the tour.
The opportunities for something to cause the tour not to happen are way beyond if the loco is finished on time.
NR Steam Bans
Late engineering works, especially now with frequent poor weather events.
Failure on the day.
Even in 2022 a passenger death on board just before departure led to the train cancellation.
The list is potentially endless.

When we are asked to book a hotel as a steward on a trip that starts away from London it is always on the understanding it is cancellable at no cost. Recently one of my steward colleagues was recently asked not to go to Norwich but Ely, long after his hotel booking in Norwich.