VT - Marylebone Flyer (Inter-City) - Oct 13th

Not all tour operators are the same you know. It's like saying all restaurants are awful because you once had a bad experience with a kebab.

 

Absolutely true! We all have our own experiences and opinions.

 

Scepticism I agree but not cynicism at least not regarding VT. Yes things go wrong but I was distrurbed that some of the first responses were along the lines of 'they're using this as excuse for not running it'.

 

On the extremely rare occasion we have cancelled a trip due to lack of bookings, we have done so months in advance. Who in their right mind would cancel a trip 3 days prior for lack of bookings! Not us, that's for sure!

Besides, if you are going to cancel a trip through lack of bookings, you do so BEFORE you have to pay penalties to Network Rail.

Sorry to be so un-conspiratorial.

 

Well like the Castle to Scotland trip ...these things happen the facts are in and there's not a lot you can do about it
I wasn't booked on it but was very tempted as there were a few seats available...but already booked on the panniers
if there are seats available for net year I might just have a go that
As for the wingers we should be pleased to have any steam at all on the mainline ...I am

 

I've seen this as a blessing as I was working in a possession. Now happily booked up with two others and booked in for some hallage! Can't wait.....well.... Except my wallet!

Like I said to the gentlemen taking my call, I agree with cancelling it in my limited experience point of view, why eat cake with no icing on it, I said to the gentlemen.

James

 

Unfortunately, Ben it's not like that at all. Using your metaphor, in my experience, it would rather be visiting a quite large number of restaurants and being served something quite different to the advertised menu in many, having to eat very badly cooked and presented food in a smaller but still significant number, and occasionally getting a very good meal. It is to the credit of VT that they usually serve a feast but still not always the one expected.

 

Speaking as someone who a week ago was savouring the sense of anticipation which precedes any tour behind 5043, I fully support VTs decision to postpone the trip and am more than happy to transfer my booking to the revised date.

While any sub 2 hour timing would be very pleasing, would an ‘even time’ run be achievable, given a completely clear road and while respecting the 75mph speed limit?

For clues, I turned to my well-thumbed copy of O S Nock’s ‘The GWR Stars, Castles & Kings of the GWR‘ - of course, the runs reported are for the slightly shorter Snow Hill to Paddington route (110.6 miles) rather than Moor Street to Marylebone (111.25 miles), though without the benefit of recent line speed improvements previously referred to in this thread. (I should say that I am completely unfamiliar with either of these routes.)

The only non-stop run tabulated in full is in with a ‘Star’ on the ‘down’ Birmingham 2-hour service where a net time of 117.5 minutes is recorded with 370 tons gross to Leamington and after slipping 2 cars there, 315 tons to Birmingham.

Nock also refers to some runs timed by Cecil J Allen in 1924 (again in the ‘down’ direction and with ‘Stars’) where “The minimum station to station times of these runs combined to give an equivalent non-stop run to Birmingham in 105 min 55 sec, showing a generous recovery margin on the prevailing schedules”. These runs were with loads in the 190-290 ton range. So ‘even time’ was a definite theoretical possibility without the 75mph limit, though there is no indication of the best non-stop time actually recorded.

There is also a log of a truly exceptional run in 1930 with a ‘Castle’ in the ‘down’ direction with 14 cars, 475 tons gross, including a stop at Leamington in a total running time of 119.3 minutes.

To an armchair theorist, this all suggests that ‘even time’ is a possibility with 5043 on load 8.

Anyway, enough of this idle speculation - I guess we’ll have to wait until 6th April to find out just how accommodating the Chiltern Railways planners can be. Let’s hope circumstances contrive to be as favourable as they were on the ‘up’ Non-Stop Bristolian.

Nick M.

 

Even with a 100% clear road, I think it would be difficult to get under 1 hour 50 mins while sticking to 75MPH, even forgetting Gauging for a minute, there are various Permenant speed restrictions in places that slow progress, the crossovers to the North of Tyseley are 60MPH limited I think (though it's unlikely you'd be up to a mile a minute by then anyway), and the curves through Hatton & Leamington can't be taken at full pelt either, pretty sure High Wycombe is a slow one too though im less familiar with south of Banbury, though Chiltern/NR have done a fair bit to ease PSR's at places like Neasden & Anyho Junctions.

 

Much as i wanted I wasn't able to do Oct 13th, so if some do cancel i'm sure you will pick up a few willing takers, like myself for the new date.

 

We are starting to sell tickets based on the April 6th date.

If you want to come with us, we will gladly take your booking!

 

This tour is going ahead on April 6th.

We had to "bump" our Moonraker to Salisbury to April 13th - there was a challenge in the Reading area on that day.

Still some seats left!