That’s fine, people like different things, but whenever lots of loco’s are involved that requires a lot of time so usually means little in the way of time spent anywhere. I’m sure something of a more traditional day-trip nature will come along in time
If you take the term 'Long Drag' in it's literal sense as being the climb from Settle Junction to Blea Moor, then you're correct....but the blurb is referring to the slightly longer and equally-steep Southbound climb from Ormside to Ais Gill, as well as the longer and more gradual climb from Petteril Bridge Junction to Appleby.
The only opportunity they missed was to throw a load of money away. As much as some enthusiasts like to see the AC electrics on the Mk 3 set, myself included, it has been shown time and time again there is very little interest in booking on such tours as the majority of the ones advertised have been cancelled due to low bookings.
It was mainly the tours aimed purely at the day out market that didn’t sell, I don’t think it was necessarily the presence of electrics that was the issue.
Indeed, they do cater for different tastes across their annual programme.That’s fine, people like different things, but whenever lots of loco’s are involved that requires a lot of time so usually means little in the way of time spent anywhere. I’m sure something of a more traditional day-trip nature will come along in time
The sentence describes the long drag as being the section between Ais Gill and Ribblehead. I can't see any ambiguity in their description there, and as far as I'm aware the southbound climb from Ormside has never been so named.
It does....and that's fairly typical of some railtour operators' publicity departments' lack of knowledge. The Ais Gill-Ribblehead section is of course a gently-undulating section of high-level (by UK standards) route, which will only require gentle alternating application of power and brake to keep the train moving at line speed....with the exception of the 30 mph foot crossing sighting restriction at Dent and the similar restriction on the single line from Blea Moor to Ribblehead including crossing the viaduct. There is no way that section could be described as 'The Long Drag'....but we're drifting off-topic here.
Yeah, that's a good point to be fair.
No tour operator has shown any such thing. UKR has used electric traction on occasions but UKR has a loyal customer base built up over decades who just go for the day out. The fact those tours have still booked well is because most of UKR's core market really couldn't care less what is on the front. InterCity, being a relative newcomer, doesn't have the same customer base.
The Railway Touring Company/WCRC frequently use an 86 from London to Carnforth with steam onwards from there, so I would strongly disagree.
That is a good point because it's all first class you do forget to compare like with like, if you compare the first class fare with UKR or especially chingfinder it's a bit of a bargain
That haulage feast reminds me of the (I think) "Spin 'n' Win" tours in the 1980s. I'd have jumped at the chance of that but a) I'm at the wrong end of the country, b) with existing family commitments that weekend, c) I suspect, no longer allowed to hang out the vestibule windows...
Exactly right! I was originally booked onto the UKR tour to Sims on the same date but have cancelled that and booked onto this LSL tour. I'm not a track basher but entry into Sims was unique enough to tempt me onto that. However, 7 heritage locos (2 of which will be new classes on the mainline for me and 4 of which are required locos) along some gorgeous routes was enough to sway me to suck up the cancellation fee!
There are plenty of operators offering these sort of tours to a single destination with a few hours break. I've just done 2 myself behind the Western to Paignton and Whistler to Scarborough (although the breaks at both locations included trains for me). You just have to pick and choose the tours that suit you, but it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the tours that aren't for you.
And yet 86101 and 87002 to Glasgow/nearly to Ayr at the start of the year sold out. The Intercity arm of LSL seems to struggle more when it tries to move the start point away from Crewe. It really feels that most tours out of Crewe are well loaded and maybe they should focus on building a core passenger base around the West Midlands and North West regions
Don't book it then! I can assure you though, the dining on LSL is remarkable having experienced it on the 40 tour to Inverness. Worth every penny if you ask me - just a shame I don't often have enough pennies to book the dining though and am left with my WH Smith meal deal
Isn't that £90 in itself these daysDon't book it then! I can assure you though, the dining on LSL is remarkable having experienced it on the 40 tour to Inverness. Worth every penny if you ask me - just a shame I don't often have enough pennies to book the dining though and am left with my WH Smith meal deal
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Isn't that £90 in itself these days
won't be long until it is. I happened to pick up one of their "luxury" sandwiches once - my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head when the price appeared on the scanner. On a plus point, I quickly self-taught myself how to cancel a purchase on one of the self-serve machines
inter-city.co.uk
Post #108 and mentioned in #137 that it has already sold out in non-dining.I havent seen any mention of the 'THE NORTH WEST WANDERER' railtour on Sat 10 August 2024
Includes traction from: Class 50, Class 45, Class 40, Class 37 x2, Class 20 x2Intercity | Discover the very best of Britain by rail
Unmissable days out in First Class comfort on our modern air-conditioned InterCity train, hauled by celebrity diesel and electric locomotives.
I did really think hard about booking it myself tbh but I was only interested in the 45 leg and I couldn't justify the total cost of the day, so I'm hoping the 45 does a S&C tour eventually
I normally only book rare track tours, but when this appeared it was a no brainer to book. How long is it since there was such a variety of heritage locomotives on one tour? I traveled on the East Anglian 2 day tour and I have to say it was one of the friendliest and best organised Railtours I have been on in years!Exactly right! I was originally booked onto the UKR tour to Sims on the same date but have cancelled that and booked onto this LSL tour. I'm not a track basher but entry into Sims was unique enough to tempt me onto that. However, 7 heritage locos (2 of which will be new classes on the mainline for me and 4 of which are required locos) along some gorgeous routes was enough to sway me to suck up the cancellation fee!
There are plenty of operators offering these sort of tours to a single destination with a few hours break. I've just done 2 myself behind the Western to Paignton and Whistler to Scarborough (although the breaks at both locations included trains for me). You just have to pick and choose the tours that suit you, but it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the tours that aren't for you.
And yet 86101 and 87002 to Glasgow/nearly to Ayr at the start of the year sold out. The Intercity arm of LSL seems to struggle more when it tries to move the start point away from Crewe. It really feels that most tours out of Crewe are well loaded and maybe they should focus on building a core passenger base around the West Midlands and North West regions
Don't book it then! I can assure you though, the dining on LSL is remarkable having experienced it on the 40 tour to Inverness. Worth every penny if you ask me - just a shame I don't often have enough pennies to book the dining though and am left with my WH Smith meal deal
That’s not new, been out at least a month, hopefully the opposite 37’s to the ones on the August spin and win tour.
Oh looking through the thread couldn't see any mention of it
For those interested, the timings for this have (mostly) already been released:
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