Steam Dreams. London to Cardiff. 10/09/2015

Railtrack.
Network Rail.
WHO NEXT?
Bring back BR?

 

What a farce! Nearly booked on this trip a while ago to go on the Dean Forest Railway option. A waste of time moving 46233 down South as well. And why are they saying 34067 is unfit when Tony from the support crew says she is still fine?

This incident and others this year have made the producers of the Carry On Films decide to release at last the forgotten film in the series, Carry On Railtouring. It was never released as they thought audiences would find it far fetched. Below are some extracts:

Carry On Railtouring!
- Starring;
Sid James as Sidney Draincock, the Railtour promoter,
Kenneth Williams as Ivor Big-end, the irate customer,
Barbara Windsor as Allota Buffers, the on train stewardess,
Hattie Jacques as Ivana Big-end, the irate customers wife,
Bernard Bresslaw as Dick Spanner, the train guard
Charles Hawtrey as Freddie Roughshunt, the Buffet steward.

Scene 1; Interior of a charter train somewhere in the South of England. Ivor Big-end sits with his wife Ivana and complains that the steam locomotive at the front of the train is being pushed by the diesel at the rear.
Ivor : "I am not putting up with this anymore Ivana. I am going to complain to someone in charge, try and get some money back too".
Ivana: "Don't Ivor. Remember what happened last time you complained about something. You couldn't walk right for a month!"
Ivor : It's okay I know what I am doing."

Stewardess Allota Buffers walks past.
Ivor: Excuse me miss......sorry, what's your name?
Allota: "Buffers, Allota Buffers Sir"
Ivor: Looking at her ample chest "Yes, quite!. Er well I wondered if I could speak to someone in charge?"
Allota: Okay Sir, I will get Mr Draincock right away".
Allota disappears and then returns with Mr Draincock.
Mr Draincock: "How can I help Sir?"
Ivor: "Is there something wrong with the old girl up front as she keeps taking it from behind from the purple throbbing thing at the rear?"
Mr Draincock: "I beg your pardon Sir? We don't like your sort on here."
Ivor: Ooohhh! No wait!
Mr Draincock: Dick!
Ivor: How dare you!
Mr Draincock: Dick! Dick Spanner!
Ivor: Well I have never been so insulted in all my life!
Dick Spanner the guard arrives behind Ivor.
Dick: "Something up Mr Draincock?"
Mr Draincock: "This pervert is leaving at the next station. He is saying rude things in front of Miss Buffers".
Ivor: "No........I What?"
The train stops at the next pick up point and Ivor and his wife are escorted to the nearest door.
Mr Draincock: "Dick, help these people off will you".
Dick: "Yes Mr Draincock. Come on you two"
Dick stands on the platform and tries to remove Ivor from the train. Miss Buffers lends a hand.
Ivor: "Help! Help! Miss Buffers is pulling me off!"
Mr Draincock watches from the window and lets out his hearty laugh (insert video below)

 

what makes it more hilarious is when I looked up at the departure screens at Victoria on my way to work............Platform 2, 08:43 charter service to Cardiff!

 

You mean the BR who lied through their back teeth when trying to get the S&C closed with tales of imminent collapse of the Ribblehead viaduct?

 

Scotland gets a Queen we can't even get a Duchess!!

 

This whole debacle stinks to high heaven. It was patently obvious that this trip was in trouble days ago, and I bet that a visit to Southall shed 24 hours in advance of the trip would have revealed no hint of anyone warming up the Duchess. I suspect that the hand of brinkmanship is at work here directed against NR and the customer, as always is at the end of it.

 

Something else stinks.....the direct contradiction between the official SD response regarding Tangmere and the categorical denials of any such problem with the loco, straight from the horse's mouth (more than once!), so to speak.....

 

It is also interesting why SD don't seem to be able to run as advertised whereas VT do - and they use the same TOC

 

Damn shame. Glorious day and should have been watching a Duchess climbing Sapperton not stuck at home here! :-(

 

I would imagine that VT putting their own locos out on their tours rather than relying on what is currently a very small pool in the south of England has a lot to do with that difference. With the best will in the world, if you are booking Tangmere on a trip today knowing its been out yesterday and a few days before that then you have to take the risk of something failing on an old machine on one of those trips with very little time for repairs. By contrast when VT send 5043 out next (19th Sept) they will have had it in the works under their care since its last Shakespeare run on the 6th and have had time to go over it with the sort of comb that might even find hair on my head! Wouldn't entirely rule out a last minute problem but its clearly going to stack the odds one way!

 

It does seem that 34067 could do with the sort of TLC that VT carry out on their engines

 

I could not agree more. Maintenance is everything.

 

Well let's see what turns up on Saturdays RTC trip. The Tangmere support crew will look rather silly if it doesn't now!
The Duchess and Support coach was outside the shed at Southall on the Hoskins side in steam at lunchtime yesterday so there must have been hope it was going to turn up? It's totally unacceptable that the loco has been prepared and the support crew have come a long way as volunteers only to have it ruined by incompetence of NR at the last minute.

 

There is a 5Z39 11:21 Southall - Bristol move in the system for today so I assume that is for Tangmere moving west for tomorrow's trip
A shame about yesterday. I went over to Gatcombe and Purton anyway as it was such good weather, full sun virtually all day. Several disappointed members of Joe Public at Awre level crossing when I told them that what they were waiting for had been cancelled

 

You could be at work earning a crust!!

 

Looks like 44932 instead of Tangmere now.

 

Can all those who laid into SD now apologise. Who was right? Hope Tangy is OK for 19th as although I like the 5s they are 60 limit engines

Don

 

45231?

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs15.htm#twk

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/lem15.htm#twk

 

You are correct - UKSteam was showing 44932 earlier, David must have just changed it!