Extra costs a concern for main line steam customers

Tony Streeter commented on the cancellation of the New Year’s Eve ‘A1’ re-run between York and Newcastle, saying that the A1 Trust has learned to not rely too heavily on the enthusiast market (SR449). If this is what the operators believe, it’s a dangerous generalisation. My wife and I are both enthusiasts and cover many thousands of steam-hauled miles in both Germany and the UK. As my wife is a covenanter for No. 60163 Tornado, we were seriously thinking of going on the New Year’s Eve trip. I am sure that the thought process we go through in deciding whether to go on a steam hauled trip is not unique. The departure time can alter dramatically from what is first advertised, and if you are not allowed to cancel, you may need to arrange alternative transport or a hotel, possibly doubling the cost of the trip. Network Rail’s practice of not releasing times, pick-up stations and route gauging until a few days before the trip causes a nightmare for tour operators and passengers alike. Then there is the current hot potato of diesels on the back, on the front and sometimes replacing steam altogether. Sometimes, a trip switches to diesel four or five days before departure. With no option to cancel, you then face the misery of having spent money on a charter service you no longer wish to be on. There may be a presumption among tour operators that only enthusiasts are concerned about the traction. Trust me - from what I hear in Standard Class, from what I assume to be the general public - this is not the case. Passengers - enthusiasts or not - are very upset about the change of traction and will possibly give it one more try before voting with their feet. The recent ruling not to allow passengers to have any part of their body out of the window doesn’t affect us personally, but it can lead you to feeling like a caged animal for the day, not helped by Tannoy announcements about the consequences of hanging out of the window and, in some cases, telling passengers that you cannot even stand in the vestibule. Strange that I could, if I wanted to, lean out of the open window of a more modern High Speed Train at a speed of 125mph. I realise that these rules are not the making of the tour operators, but they are one more thing to take into account when considering whether to part with a few hundred pounds. As enthusiasts, we try harder than most to support main line steam, but perhaps it’s no surprise that patronage for charters such as ‘The Peppercorn Phoenix’ did not materialise.