RTC 2025

Yes did at least two LE runs yesterday afternoon, although it bought a new 33 back from Corfe on one of them.

 

Re:- RTC Railway 200. I wrote to RTC last week with a genuine concern over this train.
"My wife and I are booked on the Railway 200 trip on 27th September. I think you would agree that this is perhaps the most significant railtour for many years given the date on which it is taking place and the route over which it is projected to travel.
West Coast Rail’s reliance on a tiny number of locos is seemingly wearing rather thin, given the recent failures and the withdrawal of Tornado from the rosters. I would like to be assured that all is being done to assure beyond any reasonable doubt that this landmark railtour WILL be steam hauled as scheduled from York.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Neil "

The answer was thus:- "Good afternoon, I can confirm we intend to run the trip as scheduled at this point in time. We intend to run the trip steam hauled between York and Bishop Auckland and on the return between Darlington and York. You can find further details on the link below:https://www.railwaytouring.net/r200-27-09-25
I hope this helps.
Kind regards
Jack Amos
Office Assistant
The Railway Touring Company"

I found this response desperately disappointing seemingly completely ignoring the the current situation and advising me to read the webpage which of course I would have done to book it in February.

Or do I just expect too much for my £450.

 

Whilst understanding your concerns what is wrong with the answer "I can confirm we intend to run the trip as scheduled at this point in time".
What were you expecting the answer to be, I am a little confused.
The website makes no mention of loco, maybe it did before, was it originally down as a Tornado trip?

 

With the recent loco failures and consequent cancellations and assumed lack of back up I guess I was looking to a more pro-active answer i.e. hopefully a plan B or at least a description of what they are doing to ensure it will run with steam..
No there was no loco mentioned, not that I expected one and Tornado had another duty that day but I suppose might have been able to step in.

 

This might slightly put your mind at rest. The Jacobite afternoon service ends the day before the Railway 200 trip, based on last year, one of the Fives headed back to Carnforth as soon as this happened so my prediction is this railtour will be run with the Five that leaves Scotland first.

 

Even with the best will in the world, getting from Fort William to York overnight is almost impossible. The loco will have worked pretty much every day for the last 5 months, based 300 miles away from home. With a diesel on the front you might be able to get to York in 15-16 hours - leaving Fort William at 6pm would get you to York about 9am, just in time for the tour!

 

Given how heaven and earth were moved to get Tornado from Edinburgh to Southall last month, I wouldn't say it's out of the question.

 

It's possible that the final week of the afternoon Jacobite could always be diesel hauled, to facilitate a washout and then movement to York.

I do believe that the Jacobite has regularly been diesel hauled outside of fire risk, due to planned washout and maintenance routines for the Black 5's, with WCRC notifying passengers a few days beforehand. If the Railways 200 tour is of big enough headline, I can see a lack of hesitation in sacrificing the final few afternoon trips in the Fort...