UKRailtours Tour Programme 2022

[43 302]

Any ideas what's likely to be on the Powerful Pieman?? 67 out of Ealing then a 66 added on at Toton??

Also how much of the stored locos would it be possible to see from the train at Toton??

It will be TnT 67s with a 66 assisting from Toton.

 

[Iskra]

Using the code WB15 gives a 15% discount when booking this weekends Settle and Carlisle tour if anyone is interested.

UKR seem to be doing a lot of these codes recently.

 

[Kite159]

Using the code WB15 gives a 15% discount when booking this weekends Settle and Carlisle tour if anyone is interested.

UKR seem to be doing a lot of these codes recently.

Seems to be aimed towards those passengers who haven't booked a tour with them. Still makes a nice little discount for short notice bookings.

Better to get 85% of a fare for a seat than 0%

 

[47827]

Using the code WB15 gives a 15% discount when booking this weekends Settle and Carlisle tour if anyone is interested.

UKR seem to be doing a lot of these codes recently.

Unfortunately with rising costs and above inflation fare rises necessary I'd expect to see more of it. Good for solving the problem short term but bash goodwill with those already booked.

 

[Kite159]

Unfortunately with rising costs and above inflation fare rises necessary I'd expect to see more of it. Good for solving the problem short term but bash goodwill with those already booked.

Agreed there. The tour in May towards Lincolnshire (Pieman) is one I'm interested in but I'm holding off booking in case they email me a 15% discount code.

I overheard a couple people on the Pathfinder on Saturday who were saying about the higher costs of railtours, along with the costs of hotels & travel costs if required. In a climate where everything else is going up in price, spending on railtours I can see some people dropping in order to save money to pay the electric bill etc.

 

[Iskra]

Agreed there. The tour in May towards Lincolnshire (Pieman) is one I'm interested in but I'm holding off booking in case they email me a 15% discount code.

I overheard a couple people on the Pathfinder on Saturday who were saying about the higher costs of railtours, along with the costs of hotels & travel costs if required. In a climate where everything else is going up in price, spending on railtours I can see some people dropping in order to save money to pay the electric bill etc.

The Pieman is the only one that interests me too, but it’s still marginal when I factor in the effort of getting to East Midlands Parkway

 

[31160]

Heard about a mid June tour Kings Cross to Cleethorpes and the Boulby branch something London to Doncaster then 50s forward

 

[Iskra]

An interesting one from UK Railtours

The Fighting Cocks Flyer – UK Railtours

www.ukrailtours.com

Saturday 23rd July 2022

We are delighted to offer this very special charter train designed by our friend Ian Loveday, which is the very essence of a classic Forgotten Tracks trip. We start the day by racing north along the East Coast Mainline at high speed, and with good reason, as we want to spend as much time as possible exploring the forgotten tracks of God’s Own Country.


Within a few miles of our last pick-up point of Doncaster we leave the beaten track to traverse the diversionary route via Asken before taking the non-passenger curve at Ferrybridge, and further north we will catch a glimpse of York Minster as we diverge left onto the station avoiding line.
After passing over Yarm’s splendid viaduct we soon find our views change completely as we reach industrial Teesside where our high-speed loco will be replaced by freight locos, hopefully including a DBC Class 60 if one is available.

We continue East via some of the area’s Goods Lines towards the very sought after Boulby Potash Mine freight branch and as we climb towards the North Sea coast spectacular views are almost guaranteed in mid-summer. These views through the windows of a passenger train are an incredible privilege on this very rarely visited line. Whilst negotiations with ICL Boulby continue, our reversal point should be assumed to be at the Network Rail limit.

After our visit to the Boulby freight line we return to Teesside where a leg stretch break of around an hour in Middlesbrough is offered whilst our train is serviced. Middlesbrough has many eateries and watering holes less than 10 minutes easy walk from the station.


Whilst the Boulby Branch is undoubtedly the highlight of the day’s itinerary, our Forgotten Tracks trip is far from over because with everyone back onboard we do our utmost to follow the route of the World’s oldest passenger line; the Stockton to Darlington Railway, running close to the location of the long-forgotten Fighting Cocks Halt.

At Darlington we re-engine to fast traction, but this must be diesel as we maintain the rare track interest by running via further diversionary routes such as the freight only Selby Canal curve as we head for home.

With everything that this train has to offer, demand for tickets will undoubtedly be high so please book now to ensure you do not miss out!

First Class Dining includes The Great British Breakfast, light lunch and a four course dinner. A buffet car is available.

We regret that First Class Dining is not available from or back to Doncaster due to timing constraints.

Class	Price	Availability
Standard Adult	£119	Good
Standard Junior	£109	Good
First Class Non Dining	£169	Good
First Class Dining	£269	Good
First Class Dining Party of Four	£1056	Good

All timings are provisional and intended only as a guide.

Station	Depart	Arrive
London Finsbury Park	07.10	22.25
Potters Bar	07.30	22.05
Stevenage	07.50	21.45
Peterborough	08.30	21.05
Doncaster	10.05	19.35

 

[Kite159]

Looks very good, I'm waiting to Friday to book on it (payday), but I've provisionally managed to get the Premier Inn outside Croydon station for a semi reasonable £92 for the Friday/Saturday (which considering how much other hotel chains wanted is good).

 

[D6130]

Looking at that wonderful ariel photo of the line curving round the top of Hunt Cliff, I seriously wonder how long this line will be able to remain open given the current rate of coastal erosion. Will it be viable to construct a new inland deviation?

 

[Iskra]

Looks very good, I'm waiting to Friday to book on it (payday), but I've provisionally managed to get the Premier Inn outside Croydon station for a semi reasonable £92 for the Friday/Saturday (which considering how much other hotel chains wanted is good).

I've booked on from Doncaster, so quite an easy tour to do for me for a change, plus the prospect of an hour in Middlesbrough was frankly unmissable

Looking at that wonderful ariel photo of the line curving round the top of Hunt Cliff, I seriously wonder how long this line will be able to remain open given the current rate of coastal erosion. Will it be viable to construct a new inland deviation?

That is an excellent point

- - - - -

Loco's for this are supposed to be: Class 67, 60 and a 66, with Mk2's as coaching stock.

 

[xotGD]

the prospect of an hour in Middlesbrough was frankly unmissable

I recommend the cafe on the station. Excellent coffee.

 

[ainsworth74]

I recommend the cafe on the station. Excellent coffee.

Cracking bacon and sausage sandwich as well. Though possibly a little late in the day I suspect for that!

 

[3973EXL]

https://www.ukrailtours.com/product/the-solent-searcher/

​ !! NEW FORGOTTEN TRACKS TOUR !!

​

​ Freight locos, freight lines and warm summer days – the good times are back!

​ This special charter train, designed by our friend Ian Loveday and with the great help and support of GB Railfreight, will take us along two very sought after freight branches in the south of England. Departing from London at a very sociable hour we head towards the Solent taking in an unusual goods loop or two along the way. Our train will be hauled out of London by one of GB Railfreight’s ‘new’ Class 69 locomotives and some fast running will certainly put the locomotive through its paces, whilst the top and tail locomotive for this tour is expected to be a GB Railfreight Class 66.

 

[50002Superb]

Wish I knew which 69 it was having already had 001 and 002 for haulage

 

[43 302]

Wish I knew which 69 it was having already had 001 and 002 for haulage

I'd say there is a 100% chance Ian has requested a winning 69.

 

[Kite159]

I might wait to see if that tour goes further than the Network Rail limit at Ludgershall before booking as the main bits I've done on the re-run of the Southampton Fisk [Fawley branch & Ludgershall to the old station]

Even though I can catch it from starting at home, it does seem a lot of money for a 69 (and a 66)

 

[Iskra]

It seems UKRailtours are pivoting towards GBRF supplied loco’s, which makes some sense since they seem to use the ECML through Peterborough quite frequently as the basis for many tours.

https://twitter.com/gbrailfreight/status/1536302442060853249?s=21&t=6GmMJcKMOlL-cCHJoYD2kg

 

[JonathanH]

It seems UKRailtours are pivoting towards GBRF supplied loco’s, which makes some sense since they seem to use the ECML through Peterborough quite frequently as the basis for many tours.

https://twitter.com/gbrailfreight/status/1536302442060853249?s=21&t=6GmMJcKMOlL-cCHJoYD2kg

I think you may be reading a bit too much into the content in that tweet.

It was great to welcome UK Railtours to our Peterborough office earlier this month as they tried out our Class 66 simulator. We're looking forward to an exiting future working together! #railfreight

GBRf doesn't necessarily have the right traction (eg for 100mph running) for some of the tours UK Railtours run but it makes sense to keep them onside in a customer / supplier relationship.

 

[1Q18]

GBRf doesn't necessarily have the right traction (eg for 100mph running) for some of the tours UK Railtours run but it makes sense to keep them onside in a customer / supplier relationship.

The ex-Colas 67s may prove to be of some use for charter work.

 

[JonathanH]

The ex-Colas 67s may prove to be of some use for charter work.

Didn't we think they would be tied up on sleeper work? They can't do both.

 

[1Q18]

I think it’s fair to say that GBRf’s eventual intentions for them have yet to be revealed. I believe at least one of the pair has operated sleeper services but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that will be their exclusive purpose. You might be right, and of course if they get the sleeper ETS mods their usability for charters will be somewhat diminished.

 

[fgwrich]

I think you may be reading a bit too much into the content in that tweet.


GBRf doesn't necessarily have the right traction (eg for 100mph running) for some of the tours UK Railtours run but it makes sense to keep them onside in a customer / supplier relationship.

I can see them working together more in the future, GBRf has had a tendency to lean towards the passenger side of the railway on more than one occasion, DB seem to be struggling to supply staff and locos for tours (with the Riviera Alliance now seemingly long gone), DRS seems to be scaling back and concentrating more on it's core Nuclear work, Freightliner and Colas both don't have the right kind of locos and aren't interested, and West Coast are busy with their own / other Tour Companies work. Even if GB's main fleet aren't fully geared up for Charter work, they seem to have the contacts to at least hire in, eg the Class 50 alliance, Swanage 33 etc.

 

[Iskra]

I think you may be reading a bit too much into the content in that tweet.


GBRf doesn't necessarily have the right traction (eg for 100mph running) for some of the tours UK Railtours run but it makes sense to keep them onside in a customer / supplier relationship.

Rumours elsewhere that the UKRT Norfolk tour is GBRF 66’s…

 

[Iskra]

67007 on The Fighting Cocks Flyer to Boulby today at Doncaster

 

[Techniquest]

No I'm not jealous, that's one of my last two 67s to claim for haulage!

 

[Iskra]

Sadly it’s dud for me, but 60066 and 66103 are winners, plus some new line has been covered.

 

[Kite159]

It was a good tour, shame about the late running on the return leg but it kept up good timing otherwise.

66103 was quite smokey at times!

 

[D6130]

66103 was quite smokey at times!

66 103 has been working the Knowsley-Wilton bin liners all week and must have found itself at a loose end on Teesside over the weekend. Maybe the smokiness was a protest at being given such a comparatively light load as the railtour!