COULD KING EDWARD I GROUP PROMOTE ITS OWN TRAINS?

6024 Preservation Society treasurer Richard Corser has raised an intriguing thought – that the group should think about backing its own trains.

Specifically, he suggests a series of Bristol-Kingswear trips, taking advantage of King Edward I ’s likely basing in the South West (see pages 32-39).

“We should consider the society actually promoting it. It won’t be 2020, it may not be 2021, but 2022 onwards – why don’t we actually run this train? If we need to do marketing… we’re focusing on one product rather than a multitude of one-offs. We have to do something more for these regular itineraries.”

Were No. 6024’s keeper to run trips via the South Devon sea wall, it would be unlikely to be alone. Both the Railway Touring Company and Saphos Trains of ‘KEI’s’ Crewe owning group have such trips in their diaries, although previous regular, the ‘Torbay Express’, would not have run this year even without coronavirus (SR501).

More generally, such a thing would be quite a step – or perhaps a step back given that societies running their own specials was once much more the norm. In making such a move, Richard continues, “we’d need to be very careful”.

However, he adds, “if we could take on a season of trains where we know the costs, we know there’s a market – if we can get to that market, and we’re doing it so we’re yielding what we would expect the engine to yield as a normal hire plus a bit more, then why not?”

“I do think it is something the society should consider. The society needs to have its own purpose; that purpose is to look after the engine, of course, but if it’s also promoting its own trains it then becomes a bit more of a force to be reckoned with.”

How likely is such a thing to become official policy? Spokesman Dave Fuszard says “it is too early to consider possible future runs.” He adds: “The board will probably be in a position to consider this when test running has commenced and the signs are good that the locomotive is ready to resume its main line duties.”

Dave reckons though that the society “would be keen to consider” trips to Kingswear. However, whether that would be through the society or another promoter, remains to be seen…