SRPs Railtours-situation 2024 and possible future

[Blindtraveler]

can't find any other threads discussing this in any detail but my attention was caught in the WCRC monster discussion by a little dialogue between

@d1630

And

@paul1609


About the ongoing and potential future situation at SRPS railtours, I have rather cac handedly quoted the two posts in question below


"As i understand it (there may be SRPS members who can correct me) the SRPS approached various bodies including Transport Scotland to help fund the fitting of CDL as long ago as 2019 but so far this has not been achieved, as a consequence the mainline set has been withdrawn for overhaul.


This is more-or-less what my SRPS contact told me on the phone last night5 Full stop unfortunately with the additional information that the work on the main line stock has revealed futher unexpected problems which will take much more time and money to rectify . Apparently there are elements within the SRPS who wish to abandon the mainline railtours and confine the stock to the Bo'ness branch4 Full stopwhich resulted in their last AGM being rather stormy"


Have we anyone in here who can give more details on any or all of the above? The most that the general public seemed to be told that the moment is that the set is off the rails for overhaul and more details about any use of it will be posted in due course, this from the rail tours section of the srps site. Obviously central door locking fitment is presumably in the mix somewhere, and maybe overhauls of other equipment and interiors but anyone got further enlightenment on what other issues they found and indeed the scope of work, timescales etc plus any other interesting or useful info, would be keen to hear from anybody




We could also allow ourselves a little speculation as to what may happen if they do indeed decide to withdraw from the Scottish tour and charter market and who if anyone might feel their place and with what

 

[12LDA28C]

Since the SRPS use WCRC crews and locos, I can't see why they wouldn't be able to hire a rake of WCRC CDL-fitted stock to run their tours if it was economically viable. If they insist on using their own rake of stock then the fitment of CDL is rather dependent on whether they can afford it. They only run around half a dozen tours each year anyway so it would surely take many years of tour revenue to recoup the costs involved with fitting CDL let alone any further work required on the stock.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Since the SRPS use WCRC crews and locos, I can't see why they wouldn't be able to hire a rake of WCRC CDL-fitted stock to run their tours if it was economically viable. If they insist on using their own rake of stock then the fitment of CDL is rather dependent on whether they can afford it. They only run around half a dozen tours each year anyway so it would surely take many years of tour revenue to recoup the costs involved with fitting CDL let alone any further work required on the stock.

This was certainly the thought process that I went through when this came up


I did find myself on a bus about 18 months ago with an srps member who said something about vacuum retention toilet fitment also being looked at but again this isn't cheap and I somehow can't imagine the electrical system on the stock would be up to it so presumably this would require upgrades or a self-contained battery based power supply for each compartment

 

[12LDA28C]

This was certainly the thought process that I went through when this came up


I did find myself on a bus about 18 months ago with an srps member who said something about vacuum retention toilet fitment also being looked at but again this isn't cheap and I somehow can't imagine the electrical system on the stock would be up to it so presumably this would require upgrades or a self-contained battery based power supply for each compartment

CET (controlled emission toilets) are a requirement for all stock that runs on the railway today so yes, this would also need to be fitted if it isn't already.

 

[paul1609]

CET (controlled emission toilets) are a requirement for all stock that runs on the railway today so yes, this would also need to be fitted if it isn't already.

I believe that Networkrail were giving grants towards/ meeting the cost of CET and that there was already a new parts system that had engineering certification for MK1 stock https://www.leesan.com/marine/rail-industry-sanitation-services.aspx
As far as CDL goes I dont think there is still any certification for MK1 stock that are vacuum braked/ steam heat. There is however at least one operator who is working on a system for Vacuum Braked/ ETH/Dual Heat. not sure how far theyve got. I think a major problem is that there is insufficient main line parts left to fit whole rakes with even existing components. So you are then in to the rhelms of seeking approval for individual items like door solenoids.
As I understand it this has to be wholly funded by the operators.

 

[BigB]

I believe that Networkrail were giving grants towards/ meeting the cost of CET and that there was already a new parts system that had engineering certification for MK1 stock https://www.leesan.com/marine/rail-industry-sanitation-services.aspx
As far as CDL goes I dont think there is still any certification for MK1 stock that are vacuum braked/ steam heat. There is however at least one operator who is working on a system for Vacuum Braked/ ETH/Dual Heat. not sure how far theyve got. I think a major problem is that there is insufficient main line parts left to fit whole rakes with even existing components. So you are then in to the rhelms of seeking approval for individual items like door solenoids.
As I understand it this has to be wholly funded by the operators.

As previously mentioned, the SPS railtour fleet have retention toilets (non-vacuum) funded by NR.
Additional work is ongoing to overhaul the chassis and crash pillars together with CDL figment, but to date there are not enough coaches overhauled to make up a rake...
A lot of money is being spent on these coaches, so they should be back out on the main line in due course, whereas they will let people know.

 

[Bill57p9]

The SRPS rake wasn't just used on SRPS Railtours, though I can't recall names of other regular users.

 

[Kite159]

The SRPS rake wasn't just used on SRPS Railtours, though I can't recall names of other regular users.

Branch Line Society has made use of the SRPS set in the past couple of years on a handful of multi day tours

 

[Blindtraveler]

And North East railtors have used it in the past as well, usually in the autumn

 

[31160]

I can definitely remember WCRC using some SRPS coaches in mixed rakes on DPS and Spitfire tours

 

[Gunslinger]

SRPS stock was used on the A1 Tornado 'Aberdonian' tours when these were running. If and when the Tornado trips are up and running again, wonder what stock will be available for the them to use?