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A Private Train?

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chorleyjeff

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Evvy73 said:
Funnily enough, myself and a few friends joked about this earlier this week as a way to get around the Southern Strikes - our idea was to get out own little one carriage DMU and run it from Hassocks, Burgess Hill & Wivelsfield direct to London Bridge, departing around 7am and then returning around 5:45pm. We'd kit it out with proper comfortable chairs, that have plenty of leg room too. :lol:

Pure fantasy of course, but it would be nice.
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Sounds rather like the club cars that the L&Y included in some commuter trains such as Manchester Blackpool but members only by invitation.
 
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Bevan Price

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A former Duke of Sutherland used to have his own locomotive & coach that ran on the Highland Railway.

Today, if railtours can run, then it is (theoretically) feasible to run a private train, provided you can afford to get it certified, or hire charter stock & locomotive. And then try to get NR to find an acceptable path, and pay for track access, etc.
 
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MotCO

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I recall a story where Pete Waterman was in Scotland with his steam train which was being used in the filming of Harry Potter. Apparently he missed his last train home, so he used his own steam locomotive to do the honours.

Is this an urban myth, or was it true. If true, how did he get paths allocated so quickly?
 
najaB

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MotCO said:
Is this an urban myth, or was it true. If true, how did he get paths allocated so quickly?
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I have no idea if it's true, but it doesn't take that long to get a STP created if you aren't in a busy part of the network.
 
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Blindtraveler

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Nowhere near enough to a Pacer :(
As this is total fantacy then mine would be a 2 car 158 with seperate seating, sleaping and eating areas and new air con to be on call at all times.
Likely journeys would include many runs to/from Scotland and the Southeast.
 
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Taunton

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Dolive21 said:
Are officers specials allowed on freight-only lines?
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Officers' Specials are a longstanding private train arrangement, and Gerry Fiennes, in his book, wrote about how useful commercially they were to take key freight customers and politicians to relevant installations. It was at his instigation that a redundant Wickham 2-car dmu was modified to be the ER saloon, instead of the traditional single old carriage and full-sized locomotive. There was a kitchen installed which could serve - well, whatever had been ordered.
 
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yorkie

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trash80 said:
Obviously the train they owned would need to be mainline certified, but would they need to form their own TOC? How easy would it be for them to get paths? Has anyone actually done this in the past?
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You would hire in a TOC to operate the train for you, and request the paths from Network Rail.

It is not cheap, but if you have several grand spare, you can charter your own train!
 
Iskra

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Blindtraveler said:
maybe we should do this as a forum trip sometime, charter something monsterously rateable and a wrake of DB's stored MK3s and go riding!
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It would have to involve a 442, with something more exciting on the front. In fact, they're probably quite cheap at the moment...

Great idea, but an organisational nightmare.

If I had a private train, it would be a more modern version of the royal train with a nicer interior. 37 at one end and a HST power car at the other (someone will be along shortly to tell me that isn't possible, but if I can afford a private train, I can afford to pay someone to overcome compatibility issues). It would spend lots of time on the scenic lines of Northern England and Scotland, for which my HST powercar would be specially cleared or replaced with a kettle.
 
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Deerfold

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Evvy73 said:
Funnily enough, myself and a few friends joked about this earlier this week as a way to get around the Southern Strikes - our idea was to get out own little one carriage DMU and run it from Hassocks, Burgess Hill & Wivelsfield direct to London Bridge, departing around 7am and then returning around 5:45pm. We'd kit it out with proper comfortable chairs, that have plenty of leg room too. :lol:

Pure fantasy of course, but it would be nice.
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Sounds like the plot of the Hancock's Half Hour episode "The Rail Strike" set during the 1955 ASLEF strike when Hancock and chums ran a London to Brighton "train" made of pretty much anything they could find with wheels.

Last broadcast back in September:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007k1nm
 
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Evvy73

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Sounds like the plot of the Hancock's Half Hour episode "The Rail Strike" set during the 1955 ASLEF strike when Hancock and chums ran a London to Brighton "train" made of pretty much anything they could find with wheels.
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Thanks for the reminder about that episode, I'd totally forgotten about it. I have many episodes of Hancock downloaded, fortunately including this one so I've just had another listen. Funny stuff! :lol:
 
plarailfan

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I doubt if anyone in the Uk would spend the serious amount of money required, to buy a loco and some carriages, for their own personal use, when there are already suitable trains available for hire.
The cost of maintainence would be extreme, without even looking at access charges and traincrew costs and fuel costs at one mile per gallon. All the winnings would be soaked up in a matter of weeks ! It would be better to hire a rail industry expert, to manage and buy some 67's or 68's, then hire them out "power by the hour" style from an existing base such as Toton, or Midland road for example.
A lottery winner would more likely, probably simply hire a train to take friends and family to a seaside resort, or maybe, to London, for shopping and sightseeing.
The Belmond Pullman would be ideal for a luxurious dining trip, or West Coast would probably be able to come up with a pleasant journey for those, such as myself, who prefer the shake, rattle and roll of MK1 stock. Either way, I think a day trip would cost north of £20k for the day and a lot more than that, if a longer journey was involved and the guests were put up in a decent hotel for the night.
 
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AnonymousUser1

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it's Interesting tow thjese threads range from the cynical to crayon mad....

i'm suprised no one has suggested a two car turbostar type unit ... 100mph, sprinter differentials on less robust track ...
 
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randyrippley

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if the Blue Pullmans hadn't been scrapped they would have been ideal. They would have needed an engine transplant though - would a Valenta or Ventura fit?
 
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cambsy

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Just seen the Virgin red carpet service, maybe this forum could hire a Pendolino carriage for a forum meet from Euston-Glasgow return, with proper meal and some proper plonk, with time to shack bash or just bit of photting or spotting.

If going for my own private train, would be a 1st class mark 1 and a 1st class virgin Plush Tush styled mark 3, a mark 3 sleeper and a mark 3 buffet/full kitchen car, and a mk 2 kitchen car, for haulage would have 2x37-2x20, a Deltic, 2 Hst power cars with original Valenta,87001,a 90, all these would be at my disposal and would choose stock and haulage on what felt like at the time, wether wanted a fast run or a cruise overnight to some far part of the network.with lots of thrash, the consist would be 1st class mark 1 carriage,kitchen car, sleeper coach, gen coach if needed in winter. For cruising, or a mark 3 1st class coach, buffet/full kitchen coach, sleeper coach, gen van for fast running around.
 
gazthomas

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trash80 said:
I'm not saying its likely anyone would ever do this but if a rich rail enthusiast wanted to travel around the network in their own private train would this be possible?

Obviously the train they owned would need to be mainline certified, but would they need to form their own TOC? How easy would it be for them to get paths? Has anyone actually done this in the past?
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I have often thought of how nice it would be to have my own private 2/3 car train to potter around the network but then reality kicks in with both capital and operating costs being prohibitive I suspect!
 
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bradford758

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Saw something similar on the Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko website today!
 
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route:oxford

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My own Private Train? For me it would have to be an upgraded 5-car 221 Voyager.

The upgrade being:-

Removal of engines from leading power-car, and also in leading power-car...
Removal of overhead racks.
Installation of modern lavatory.
Install "airlock" doors to prevent inadvertant access by riff-raff.
Install 5 rows of 1+1 Ekornes designed "Stressless" seats that can turn so they always face the opposite direction of travel.

The rest of the train can remain the same and be available to ordinaries who happen to want to travel at the same time as me. A bit like "Victor" when travelling by private aircraft.
 
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infobleep

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TrainfanBen said:
I'd be interested to know what rolling stock people would want to run?
And where to?

I guess steam services, retired stock and places with stunning scenery would be the answers for most.
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I don't know what steam engine I'd want but I'd definitely want it steam hauled and part of the journey would be through the night. I'd be on some early sleeping cars from around 1900. I'd want a first class carriage and dinning car too. Again similar era.
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plarailfan said:
Either way, I think a day trip would cost north of £20k for the day and a lot more than that, if a longer journey was involved and the guests were put up in a decent hotel for the night.
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Who needs a descent hotel. Just attach some sleeping cars. Job done.
 
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BTU

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trash80 said:
I'm not saying its likely anyone would ever do this but if a rich rail enthusiast wanted to travel around the network in their own private train would this be possible?

Obviously the train they owned would need to be mainline certified, but would they need to form their own TOC? How easy would it be for them to get paths? Has anyone actually done this in the past?[/QUOTE

I guess you'd encounter some serious red tape from the DFT and all sorts of people, not sure how fesable it would be for you to go out on a jolly up at will while TOCS are trying to run a serious service for paying public. I can imagine you flying trough East Croydon while all those people are waiting for a Southern train while you playing cards in and lashing it up with your mates. Nice idea though.
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