The Great Britain IX

And if you were wondering I haven't just aired my thoughts on here hiding behind the keyboard, I actually spoke with a number of rtc representatives during the.trip when.asked for my.opinion and also in general conversation.

I think that it what's called customer feedback.....

I won't be rushing back, and that's with a heavy heart given the enjoyment of Gb3, 4, 6 and 7

 

Well if that's what you think would work......

As I've said, forward planning would have prevented the.diesel.assistance

Afterall it wasn't failures on the day that caused it ;-)

 

A question - what locomotives should have been used on GBIX in addition to the four that were used?

 

34046 , 34067, 45407, 46115 , 46233, 70000, 70013, 60009 were all at some time proposed for legs of this tour and all became unavailable for various reasons.
The full picture of changes is in uksteam -- http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs16.htm#twk

 

The original spec when the tour was announced advertised
34046, 70000, 46100, 60009, 45407, 44871, 70013, 45690, 45699 and 46115, thus 10 locos

When the tour was confirmed as a runner in Feb, the letter gave the.list of "confirmed" locos as

34067, 34046, 46115, 46233, 70013, 46100, 45407, 44871, thus 8 locos

The initial spec is always a wish.list, but how you can have a confirmed listing when 3 of those locos haven't worked on the mainline in 2016 and still.undergoing maintenance.....

 

As a comparison for.Gb3, my first in 2010, the original spec listed

46100, 30777, 34067, 46115, 45407, 44871, 70014, 61994, 60019, D1015, 9 steam locos

In the end we had 5029, 44871, 70013, 45407, 46201, 60019, 61994 and D1015, thus 7 steam

We had to wait all the way from Gb3 until Gb9 for 46100 to appear after it had beenot advertised on a number.of.earlier years ;-)

 

With respect, that's not answering my question. Are you saying that RTC should have known that this wasn't realistic and cancelled the tour, or that they should have sent their office staff out with spanners and told them to fix the crocked locomotives?

A quick count on my records says that two years ago 27 steam locomotives ran on the main line. This year the total so far is just 9 - of which three were inoperable during GBIX, one was committed to the NRM, and one has never been run by WCRC. That only leaves four, all of which ran during the tour. Is this RTC's fault?

I completely understand you getting frustrated, I probably would be too, but I don't see how any of this is RTC's fault.

 

The loco participants for Gb3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 are shown below in number order. GB5 omitted as I didn't travel on that and Gb8 for the obvious farce reasons as it only included 70000

5029 - Gb3, 4, 7
34046 - Gb7
34067 - gb6
44871 - Gb3,4,6,7,9
44932 - gb7
45305 - gb4
45407 - Gb3, 4, 6, 7
45690 - gb9
45699 - gb9
46100 - gb9
46115 - gb6, 8
46201 - Gb3
46233 - gb7
60007 - gb4
60009 - gb6, 7
60019 - Gb3, 4, 6
61994 - Gb3, 4, 6
62005 - gb7
70013 - gb3, 4

Thus 3 Debutants on Gb9 ;-)

 

I hope you weren't inferring to me in your last bit as I have done GB 2,3,4,5, and have spoken to you and your dad on some of them.


Dave B

 

If it doesn't answer your questio, then I'm not sure exactly what you're asking

I've never said it's rtc fault. What I've.said is that it was advertised as 7 or 8 locos, but ended up with only 4, the lowest ever

If you're asking which.locos are operational and could.have been used, then what about 48151, 5043, 4936, 60009?

There are then other locos at Carnforth.which.their toc could.have advised.the.status of i.e 34067, 46115, 44932, 61306, 35018.....

What I also suggest was that they could.have asked for a.jubilee to be gauged in Scotland in the rare case that a loco was unavailable

Unfortunately this occurred with 45407 a very rare occurance given.it had appeared on all the.other.gb tours

Infact had it not been for the amazing efforts from.Mr Riley and team repairing 44871 at the last.minute then Scotland would have been.diesel hauled throughout

 

Perhaps he was pointing out the fact that although I'm not a regular visitor or poster on here I have been.a.significant supporter of steam.on the mainline with my participation on the various.gb tours and also.single.day tours ;-)

 

So which of the many locomotives you have mentioned were fit and able to run last week? I'll give you 34046 on the basis that it has been out on test, but none of the others have been. Is this some grand conspiracy to keep charter passengers unhappy? The only practical solution you have come up with is gauging a jubilee for Scotland - do you know that this hasn't been tried?

 

I have sympathy as well, and indeed I would suggest that this tour was always going to be running tight - there are just insufficient working mainline engines at the moment. They aren't hiding, they just aren't there. I completely agree on advertising which for both RTC and SD seems more of an exercise in wish fulfilment than expectation.

 

Does anyone know what happened with 45690 as she seemed to stop around the sight of the old Borwick Station for some good 4 or 5 minutes before we had the treat of the climb towards Starrick's farm ?

 

Nope,a general statement regarding the attitude of this forum in the latter part of my post.

Same old same old for this place. 10 or so years of bickering with the odd fact/nice photo/vid inbetween.

 

I'll think you'll find that when Leander went out on a test run recently it was accompanied by 48151 top and tailing a coach!!! ;-)

5043 and 4936 haven't been out on the mainline this year, but doesn't mean they are non runners, merely the fact that Vintage Trains haven't run a tour in 2016

I don't know a jubilee hasn't been tried to be gauged for Scotland, neither do I know it hasn't been tried.

I was just airing suggestion's

 

Indeed, the original spec is always taken with a pinch of salt as an act of fantasy

Hence why in an earlier post I put the comparison between original spec and confirmed from their letter

As an enthusiast I appreciate things change quickly, but good old Bert and Ada turning up for a special holiday with "confirmed" locos totalling 8 a month before then turn out to be 4 seems to indicate them not being fully confirmed and some artistic licence

As mentioned above this was mentioned to rtc representatives during the trip as sadly its not the first time or indeed the last it'll happen

Its not a rant, just a realistic perspective and review of the trip. Yes it was enjoyable, but it could have been so much more ;-)

I say this as a diesel enthusiast too, but prefer to experience steam on the mainline undiluted !

 

Re Carnforth locos. Apart from the Jubilees AFAIK only 48151 is available.

34016, 35018, 44932, 46115 and 61306 are awaiting or receiving heavy repairs. Some or all may be dismantled to a greater or lesser extent including boilers removed.

Dunno the position re Tangmere, or 45231 which is still at Carnforth though now owned by Mr Hosking.

HTH

Andrew N

 

And given that the only Vintage tour between now and July is running with a diesel, it would appear that they could not have helped anyway. As I said, the locomotives just aren't out there at the moment.