VT - Whistling Ghost - DH 7F's on WSR - 18/06/16

Yeah keep it up boys, you have nearly seen another person with actually real knowledge of what's happening off the forum......

 

Ive seen the reply and no, I will not be booking.. It would have been a good day out but I will try and get out to see the 50s to Swanage now..
I can understand,but not like at all, that on main lines the ban is enforced but on 25 mph preserved lines????? And if the VT stewards are still stewarding on WSR then it WILL be enforced.....

 

I had reached a similar conclusion, from Birmingham it's probably a pleasant day out, but from Bristol it's not worth it, especially with the VT stewards policing things.

 

I used to live in Bristol & on two occasions when a direct train to the WSR was on offer - a Pathfinder tour for Dunster by Candlelight & a XC Voyager to BL I was quite happy to take it just for the novelty.

Why though does everyone have to be so negative? VT have organised what they hope will be a profitable trip. We have the opportunity to ask questions which might at least mean that future trips may benefit from customer feedback or allow us to decide if we want to go or not.

If VT an=rnt offering what we want we don't go, if they do then we go

 

Crazy ruling on a 25mph preserved line. I'll stick to buying a ticket on WSR when I can stand in the vestibule and hear/see the locomotive working thank you and without the VT stewards as WV suggested above!

 

I think the confusion stems from normal preserved trains, be it NYMR, West Somerset, Bluebell, Watercress etc. where virtually every vestuble window is occupied someone or other filming or just enjoying the smell and sound of a steam locomotive. So there are many who might ask, if it is okay for a preserved train why not one off the mainline transversing the private lines. I think that is a very fair and reasonable question and should certainly not be pounced on by Vintage Trains in such an aggressive manner. The question was clearly raised in a calm, non confrontational way.

 

Come on now. Ben will never be off this forum. He takes the good and the bad on the chin but sometimes goes over the top as per my previous posting about standing at windows on a private railway. Clearly this tour is selling well and is good news for VT. For us diehard steam fans this tour holds no magic. Yes, double headed S&D 7F's sounds good, albeit not prototypical (can't ever recall seeing photos from back in the 50's or 60's) and only 4o-odd miles. That said, I suggest that as the likes of me and those of a similar vintage get even older, the attraction of diesel haulage from and to Birmingham is not an obstacle to booking on the train. For me, it is. But then it is only me.

 

Nobody is thinking they are above the rules for "normals" as plenty of "normals" will be looking out of vestibule windows on the WSR's own trains as well as those of umpteen other heritage lines that day and don't tell me you've never done it.

 

I wonder how it's managed on lines with open top carriages - such as the Ratty?

 

Its up north, the enthusiasts up here just get on with it and manage ourselves, not spending hours moaning about it on internet forums!

 

Your assertion that "every vestibule window is occupied..." is far from the usual situation & hanging out of windows (galas aside) is not that regular when the main clientele is "normals".

 

Indeed - on a typical day on a steam railway most trains will have at most one or two vestibules occupied.

 

Are Heritage Railways as private concerns not outside their reach ?, even then there is less risk at 25MPH, hence why wooden stock, no CDL, AWS etc flies.

 

Here’s my video taken on the WSR:

 

0:38 - Standing by an open droplight in the support coach. Tut, tut. Don't let the staff see you… oh hang on a minute.