Dartmoor Railway

I was pleased to see that the Dartmoor railway supporters association are running a number of services in August http://www.dartmoor-railway-sa.org/news - does this mean that BARS have given up on the idea of running dining services?

Thinking about the future, i was wondering whether the Polar Express was going to be run on the Dartmoor this year, the Weardale web page - (https://www.weardale-railway.com/) suggests that their Polar Express tickets are going to be on sale 'soon'

 

I visited the Dartmoor railway last year Okehampton station is in remarkable condition and a credit to its volunteers. its a pity more cant be done for this railway as it the last of the of the Southerns former main line to Plymouth it felt very nostalgic standing on the former LSWR station when you think of all the locomotives that must have gone though it.

 

In answer to s1m0nad's questions, the August services are a Dartmoor Railway Supporters' Association initiative, independent of BARS's plans. We understand that the premium dining trains are now postponed until 2014, and that the Polar Express will run again this year.

Thank you nine elms fan for the kind words about Okehampton station.

 

Also there's this: The Dartmoor Railway Supporters' Association is pleased to announce that in addition to the trains that are running from Okehampton to Meldon Viaduct there will be a rare opportunity to travel over the whole 15.5 mile length of the line on Saturday 24th and Monday 26th August. "Thumper" DEMU unit 1132 will make two round trips to the boundary of the line near the former Coleford Junction. All day rover and family tickets will be available. Please see www.dartmoor-railway-sa.org/news for details.

 

It was mentioned on another thread that the 'thumper' based at the Pontypool and Blaenavon will be coming to the Dartmoor railway, can anyone confirm this?

 

Bank holiday weekend sounds good, I"ll have to chat my wife up if i tell her there"s a market down there she"s bound to say yes.
I"ll suffer the consequences later.

 

Nice to see that the DRSA has now set up a separate operating company, Granite Line Ltd.

Also note that Roger Webster is still involved. All good IMHO.

May I wish them the best of luck in this new venture and show BARS how silly they were for cancelling the proposed services, earlier this year.

Incidentally, is the new Thumper being brought in as a replacement of the BARs owned one eventually?