Spitfire 2012

Well if "The West Highland Way" is what I think it could be then awesome & I'll definitely book myself onto that trip.

Nice to see they are planning trips for next year already, I just hope they have better luck with them going to plan this time

Phil

 

I want more R'n'B tours please!

 

I'd like to see Spitfire step it back a notch next year.

There was stuff that they had on their website over 2011 that was totally unrealistic and never going to happen. Upselling future tours is grand, but when you have to scale them back so much or even cancel them then the wrath of many people can be expected.

For example this year they went head to head with Pathfinder on numerous dates, same traction, even same destination.

I was very disappointed with Spitfire when they cancelled the February Scotland tour, again it was too ambitious, they had it planned to run a competing Rugby train from South Wales on Friday with Pathfinder, when that fell flat on it's face it was uneconomical to run the entire weekend. Plus it clashed with the Stranraer tour on Saturday. So, when it was cancelled due to "lack of bookings", it was hardly surprising.

 

What's going on with the Tornado and touring in 2012.

 

Hopefully nothing!!

Anyway Spitfire must have heard me, I said to myself before I hope there's a deltic tour up the ECML proper near my birthday, and then one appears for the 3rd of March!!

 

Assuming it does go ahead, Saturday could be a candidate for a Rail Forums meet.

 

What stock are Spitfire using at the moment? There's a highly disturbing picture of 55022 at Oban with a rake of aircons on their website. I'm doing the 50s in a couple of weeks and will be be most distressed if that turns out to be aircons. If aircons are the future then that makes my own personal decision about which Spitfire tours to do next year very simple indeed. None!

 

To be honest I would be more concerned about whether or not the tour will do what's advertised than what stock it will be pulling...

 

It appears to have vannished from the Spitfire website !!

 

I wish Spitfire would attempt to take a pair of DRS 20s to Inverness & Kyle of Lochalsh. I do know pathing could be a problem, along with max speed of the locos & fuel range.

 

On the oban trip it was indeed aircons, we were in coach C (aircon) however coach B along with coach A were the only two "public" coaches that were old school Mark 2s.

Yes it was disappointing (I, like many enjoy having the window open) but as has been said I'd rather the tour ran on aircons than be delayed due to stock issues (which had already caused that tour to be postponed).

As for the 50s to Edinburgh, I hope it runs well as I'm on it too

Phil

 

I wouldn't. Aircons = no tour AFAIAC.

 

Probably not, no, although this is slightly different as it's not possible to have any other kind of stock.

 

Details now released on Spitfire website for the Birmingham-Fort William / Oban trip in Februay.

http://www.spitfirerailtours.co.uk/West%20Highland%20Way.htm

 

Provisional for Spitfire's annual outing to Mazey Day,

June 25th, 2x 50s, Birmingham Intl-Penzance.

The last few years have been 37s, and sold out at that. So hopefully they'll run a second tour on the same day - as per 2011 - with 37s

 

If this comes off, it would be easier in getting to Birmingham International rather than Tame Bridge or some out of the way shack!

 

Pathfinder taking 55022 from Brum Intl-Penzance on the same day too.

 

There was an Editorial in Railways Illustrated a few months ago about railtour operators (yeah, operators - not promotors) going head to head, the implication being that it was deliberate...

Is there something between the respective owners of Spitfire and Pathfinder?

 

I may be getting confused but was Pathfinder's Mazey Day outing this year the 'Curnow Irruptor'? That was around Devonian / Cornish freight branches and ran at the end of May (28th IIRC).

 

Well aside from the "Mazey Day" which has already been explained many if not all companies run tours on the same days, mostly weekends since that's when more people have free time.

That being said there were quite a few instances over the past year where two or more companies (particularly those two above) have ran tours on similar routes, which usually provides a wonderful opportunity to mock the other parties choice of traction when the tours pass

In short, I honestly don't know. I see it that they both need business and the best days are weekends due to a combination of more people off work and less trains running so less chance for pathing issues.

Though another point I would like to raise is that they tend to operate tours at opposite ends of the country most of the time, (I've not been on a Pathfinder tour since last November since they have had very few, if any picking up in my area whereas Spitfire is just into double figures since December).

Phil

 

The West Highland Way is unable to visit Oban on the return from Fort William due to the time it would take to get home on the Sunday.

 

I saw the itinerary for this in TRUK yesterday and thought that they were pushing it to get back into Crewe for a reasonable hour. The alteration isn't too surprising to me.