Past Time Rail

This is very bad news for mainline steam. Past Time Rail offered tours to both the regular and one off markets and their absence will certain damage the amount of steam on the mainline. I’m certain that one off trips certainly have a future even though they encounter a number of problems such as gauging and engineering work. Looking on UK Steam, I cannot see a single one off tour yet this year which has not run due to low bookings. With this being in a recession I really see no need for the reduction in these tours other than the obvious lack of promoters. We will all have to wait and see how the steam charter market adjusts to this huge loss.

 

Credit card payments will only be paid under S75 C C Act if they are over £100 in value

Also - and no reflection on Andy and Jo - who have run a sound ship until this unhappy announcement, but the creditworthiness of the "new" Torbay company will have nowhere near the clout that Past Time did - that's simple commercial reality - and no doubt moneys will be demanded up front by trading partners long after the initial set up period.

 

Torbay information and bookings here http://www.pathfindertours.co.uk/TorbayExpresses.htm

 

I'm very sorry to hear about Past Time Rail. They were a very good tour company to travel with. The Stewards were always pleasant unlike the Pathfinder ones. Does anyone know what will happen to the Cotton Mill Express? Is the future of this in doubt because of poor loadings which were reported in Heritage Railway a few months ago? I've not travelled with Past Time Rail this year due to me still being out of work and unable to afford to go on steam hauled trips.

Regards,

Alun

My fotopic site http://alunsphotos.fotopic.net/

 

Iam very sorry to here about the demise of PAST TIME i have had many trips with them over the years they treated every body as one of there extended family the stewards were the BEST, i was one of the POLICAL WING (as Benard callwd us the troblesum lot ) i hope Andy & Joe soon come back on the tour seen thanks for all you have done.

 

Why would the trip to Plymouth on the 8th of august , which was a fairly recent announcement , go ahead , and not the one on the 11th of july which was nearly fully booked ?

 

I have been given a present of a £40 voucher for Past Time Rail which I had planned to use on a Torbay Express. I'm assuming that this is now worthless. I've tried calling Past Time Rail without success. Does anyone have contact info for the liquidator?

Keith

http://www.youtube.com/hemerdonbank
http://www.hemerdonbank.fotopic.net/
http://www.keithmiller.fotopic.net/

 

Perhaps because 11th July was to be hauled by 70013 and therefore operated by WCRC, whereas 8th Aug is hauled by 60163 and therefore operated by DBS, who have a stake in the new operators?

 

The 11th July trip was supposed to be 60163 which therefore means a DBS job. 70013's trip was suppose to be June 20th but now re-dated to July 25th.

 

Hello Steamage, the 11th. July trip to Plymouth was to have been Tornado, Oliver Cromwell was doing the June 20th Plymouth trip which has been postponed to 25 July but Ollie's trip is a RTC operation, PTR also had advertised a August 8th Plymouth trip with Tornado , that has been cancelled and new one set up on the same date with Pathfinder.

 

This is sad news. In forming Torbay Express Limited, has the TBE business of Past Time been transfered ahead of receivership? If that is the case, the authorities may view this with suspicion. I hope not, but the theme of TEL continuing to run TBEs and honour existing bookings makes it look so. I hope it works though as TBE must be very profitable.

As already pointed out, if the liquidator does not reimburse, claims on the Credit Card Companies under the Consume Credit Act are dependant on the sum exceeding £100. One of the nice features of Past Time was that they only took a small deposit, but this will not be reclaimable.

At least they are approaching this sad situation in a constructive way and not repeating the Kingfisher traumas. Good luck to them in the future when the economy may be more prosperous.

 

I'm afraid I will reserve any sentimentality until I see what monies I recover, if any, from pre bookings. Not least 2 tickets on the WME which should have run today, but was cancelled, without a lot of fanfare and allegedly for an"administrative error". One of those tickets was a birthday present to another as well.
I've never owned a credit card in my life and pay by debit card:- that may now end up a hard lesson I will have to learn. Of all the tour operators PTR were one of the ones I had the most confidence in !!
I have money tied up in TBE bookings as well, again not just for myself. Could anbody explain how you "ring fence" monies for a new operation /business when you have called in a liquidator.??
The TBE is a great product,one of the great success stories of main line steam and it is as much a part of a British summer as Wimbledon ( and rain!!!) So i'd like to "keep the faith", not least for the sakes of the locomotives and their support crews/organisations. But I do wonder at the moment what the financial damage will be to myself and others in a similar situation.

 

I can't remember the exact figures but the accounts for year end 12/07 showed assets about £50,000 and liabilities about £500,000 a position which had worsened from the previous year.

Dave

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I have this feeling that although Past Time Rail has ceased trading etc.I am sure that Andy and Jo will manage to remain in the railtour market and carry on the fantasic job they have done of running the tours that we have all been used to over the past years .
You only have to look at Mr Farrow and the journey that has taken place for Hertfordshire Railtour as an example , although the name may have changed the contents are similar in the end and the trains continue to run.

 

I don't know the full significance, but from the statement at the Past Time website, it seems that in addition to the summer Torbay Expresses, nearly all the other tours that were due to be operated by DB Shenker have also effectively been transferred to the new company Torbay Express Limited. This includes The Armada on 8th August, The Welsh Marches on 3rd October, The Lickey Tornado on 14th November, The Ludlow Christmas Market on Saturday 28th November and The Yuletide Torbay Expresses on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December.

David

 

got a letter today saying my booking for the torbay express is to be honoured

 

Spoke to Torbay Express Ltd yesterday about about the statement on Past Time Rails website that the other tours, as mentioned above by David, where being transferred to them but I was told this statement was premature and no agreement to this effect had been made, at least if it had it had not reached the Torbay Express Ltd booking office. They added the only trains they had taken over were the actaul sunday "Torbay Express' series. As for the 8th August, 60163 Tornado over the Devon Banks, "The Tamar Tornado" was being run by Pathfinder and not Torbay Express Ltd and people needed to book afresh via Pathfinder if they wished to go on this train. There was no transfer of bookings. Those already booked on Past-times "The Armada" would need to recover their booking via the credit card system as part of winding up process of Past Time rail as that train was now cancelled. Should anyone receive any different advice I would be intersted to know.

 

The last trip I had with Past Time Rail was the January 24 'Golden Arrow'. I feel that that was a fitting end for the first company I ever did a 'one-off' with, and I am deeply saddened by the situation. Luckily, I haven't got any future bookings with them, although I feel sorry for those who stand to lose money in the winding up process. I was interested in the October 3 'Welsh Marches', but suffice to say apart from the odd RTC trip in the summer, mainline steam in south Wales will sustain a deep blow after this.

 

Looks like very bad cash flow management or perhaps over-trading.

The suppliers are taking quite a hit, and I hope that it doesn't damage their business operations to the extent that they too are brought down.