‘Mayflower’ Highlands tour postponed to next year
THE GLOBAL pandemic has forced Steam Dreams to delay its multi-day ‘Highlands and Islands Explorer’ holiday tour until the spring of 2022.
“The programme we have for this year is very busy, and we don’t have the space to move it back,” chairman David Buck told Steam Railway in February.
“So we’re just lifting the whole thing up, lock, stock and barrel”.
The ‘Explorer’ had been planned to leave London on May 6, and take Buck’s Thompson ‘B1’ No. 61306 ‘Mayflower’ north for a spin that would have included bringing the North British 4-6-0 to Kyle of Lochalsh. Instead, the new dates are to be May 5-13 2022.
With uncertainty over exactly when and how lockdown restrictions will be lifted, Steam Dreams has so far announced no further cancellations beyond March 14 – as detailed earlier this year (SR514).
“We’re not making any other decisions until Boris [Johnson] makes his announcement on February 22”, Buck said.
However, there is good news from the Surrey-based promoter on another aspect of its intended programme, with “better than expected bookings” for this season’s planned series of London-Windsor shuttles (Tuesdays June 1-September 21, except September 7) and the associated Surrey circular sunset dining trains. As a result, Buck said, “we’re likely to add some extra dates for this year and to start earlier in the season next year.”
Meanwhile, Buck’s 1948-built
No. 61306 is “absolutely 100% ready to go and sitting at Southall. All it requires is filling up with water.”