The Wandering 1500 Tour

So 'Ollie' is filled up and underway again?

 

Unfortunately I don't know I had to abandon the train like most others.

It was taking on water at 10pm, so guess somewhere around 2215/2230 departure.

I do suspect it was running nigh on empty at Witham given the urgency that the support crew were going around. The funny point however was the look on some unsuspecting station staff at Witham when 70013 pulled up mid platform and the crew jumped out and demanded a fire hydrant and the guys reply was "what ? Who the hell are you" looking completely puzzled.... It was just funny.

 

70013 went through Brentwood at 10.55. A long wait but well worth it. Good to see her back where she belongs.

Stan

 

Whats the process with NR keys? Clearly its impractical to have a different key for each lock/padlock on the trackside I had assumed they were all standardised/categorised in some way. ​

 

I had an absolute fun day yesterday, both the out and back runs were excellant, the return run was very enthusiastic.
Passengers had photo ops at Norwich, Cromer, Sheringham & Holt, in both directions, + of course Witham.
In my opinion this tour really delivered the goods, sure the engines were different but everything else was the same (how often has any railtour, past, present or even in BR days turned out exactly the right engine every time).

We got the GER route, it's a real shame about Marks Tay, if it had been timed only 1 hour earlier everything would have been good and got their last trains despite the delay, but in all honesty I cant see how they could have timed the trip in any less.. it was a long journey on a long day.. I for one appreciated the 2 hour stop over in Norwich (it would have been nice at Sheringham), but a break to grab food at the pub was well appreciated.

Before anyone berates the organisers for the "proper day out for the proper paying public yada yada".. remember this trip was an enthusiasts trip.. who else would do a 250 mile day out by steam for a 10 mile ride behind 1 engine on it's home railway
.. a bit of drama is right up an enthusiasts street.


Fantastic day, Oliver Cromwell is in top form... cant wait for the next trip.

 

Rubbish.
I said the situtation looked urgent, I didnt say everyone was running around panicking and the situation was out of control.

Are you suggesting every member of staff on network rail be familiar with the watering requirements of a steam locomotive, just incase a locomotive drops by requesting a pint or two of water ?

The locomotive crew were well organised, which is what took the staff at Witham by surprise (as they, nor anyone else in the world) was expecting 70013 to rock up at Witham needing water at 9.30pm on saturday night (when other NR sources even thought it was going via cambridge).. The crew disboarded with a stand pipe and immediately started looking for the hydrant, whilst at the same time looking for the spot where they could line the tanker upto the locomotive. The train crew immediately arranged for the next service train to accomodate the passengers (which given there was only 10 minutes to arrange it was exceptional), they despatched a rep with us on train to make sure we could get out Liverpool St)... all well organised.

All in all I bet most people got home either ontime, or earlier.

(At Marks Tay, I was expecting they would have taken the 47 off and put it onto the front, but I saw them checking the water level in the tender and was a bit surprise/concerned when it got the green.. without watering I was thinking oh o.., as it turned out Witham was the solution).

save your hollywood drama for somewhere else.

 

A good day out for sure. With the tour rather short of ballast we rattled around Brentwood bank after the water stop at Witham. That is where network rail obviously mean't it to be rather than at the sand storage depot at Marks Tey.
Still many on the train did not know the journey was not to end at Kings Cross and as late as 10.00 some still did not know! The comments about a PA are very valid. Golden rule is ask, ask ask again. A tough job being a tour promoter that is for sure however, with modern communication this should be much less of a problem.
Fortunately many of the passengers have the time and the compulsion to continue how ever much everything seemingly conspires to leave them dotted around the network.

 

I agreed with all the above.

Upside - Being able to travel both ways between Norwich and Holt, because the train was not full, for an additional £ 10.00.

Downside - Stock being turned at Norwich ( I was in coach G, although we could still hear the loco).

I bailed out at Witham and arrived home the time I expected ( before the problem).

Most people seemed in good spirits on the service train to Liverpool Street and despite the problem. I heard there was a couple who's car was at Witham.

 

Good to meet up yesterday and have a pint and good too you got home at a reasonable time. It's not been the best of weekends again for main line steam has it.

 

.

 

I'm not sure how a tour can be said to have delivered the goods (to quote ADB) when locos, origin, route and finishing point all bear little or no resemblance to what was initially advertised.

 

Now, forgive me if I have this wrong, but a loading gauge is a standard, for the very reason that people who update, move, improve, and build railways know what specifications they have to work to, and builders and suppliers of trains also know what they have to work with. Has that gauge changed since 1950? If it hasn't then BR/Railtrack/Network Rail have altered Liverpool street to be out of gauge. How far do you accept unofficial variations in standards, to the point when modern trains get ordered and don't fit?

 

We tried, but unaware of the route switch, arrived at Shepreth to be slightly surprised by the absence of B&TT tender...only then that actually checked on NP to discover it had been a wasted trip. We weren't the only ones...

 

Hi Desert,

Very well thought through post and I totally agree with your views.

First, all positive criticism can be used by learning and adjusting to suit.

There are so many tours so, many Loco's and a demographic age of traveller that means there is an over supply to a market with a limited audience.
The problem for some is that when we book we want some degree of certainty on the route stock etc.
From the other side - NR, if a B1 is booked and accepted into LS, why should they change arrangements to allow in a Brit, we don't know the detail but maybe the mainline day to day companies are concerned about the late changes to tours! They are running a national railway after all.

We select tours based on logistics, working we do not have time to scan the net trying to work out how to get into and out unknown stations, assuming that there will be a delay, as I suggested in an earlier post.

The future, maybe not short term, but medium to long is clear, many love steam and will put up with almost anything, others not quite so. Lose the later and profitability.........
I am often given the run of the mill questionnaire which ask for evaluation of performance, wants likes dislikes. Mostly, these seem a sterile marketing ploy. in this case I wish that RTC would conduct some, face up to the problems and move on. In the end it is about working together with the paying public.

As for the crew 10 out of 10.

Any one got bolt cutters or a petrol disc cutter for next time!

 

thanks for the reply.

 

Good to see you too Peter.