WCRC loses judicial review in High Court

[Spekejunction]

Vintage Trains will be in for a busy winter …fitting the promised door locks…

 

[LowLevel]

Vintage Trains will be in for a busy winter …fitting the promised door locks…

They're fitted to most vehicles and more or less ready to go I believe, once staff training is complete. If you go on one of their tours you can see the control panels and locking systems fitted to the coaches.

 

[renegademaster]

And that depends on whether the Jacobite service is being sold as a Harry Potter / Hogwarts product or not. It is a bit like the InterCity Pullman brand from the late 1980s and 1990s. If you turned up at Piccadilly to catch the Manchester Pullman to London - was it a Pullman service as you would interpret a Pullman service ? In my view I would expect a Harry Potter / Hogwarts experience to be maroon Mk1 coaches with varnished wood compartments. An InterCity style air conditioned Mk2, albeit in maroon would not cut it for me.

I think that depends whether the owners of WCR want to fit CDL to the Mk1s. They have survived the 2024 season without having to, even though ORR delivered their verdict in late 2023.

Most of the Mark 1 Jacobite coaches where hardly Hogwarts express, they must have been refurbished sometime in the 70s

 

[Wyrleybart]

Most of the Mark 1 Jacobite coaches where hardly Hogwarts express, they must have been refurbished sometime in the 70s

I agree that the TSOs were probably ex NSE vehicles which were possibly delivered to BR in the early 1960s with plastic melamine panelling instead of varnished ply. But as preserved railways have demonstrated, scumble graining can easily achieve the period look.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Isn't one of the ones used in the film now at Warner Brothers Studios?

Yes, 18756. It's positioned behind 5972.

 

[Meerkat]

For most Jacobite visitors they would not mind Mk2s as long as they get a comfortable seat and views, but for those who expect a Hogwarts Express it can only be Mk1s.

It’s the Jacobite, as far as I have seen they only mention the viaduct as being anything to do with Harry Potter (presumably linking the train itself would invoke licence fees). Anyone who expects the inside to be the same can’t really blame the railway.

 

[BlueLeanie]

It’s the Jacobite, as far as I have seen they only mention the viaduct as being anything to do with Harry Potter (presumably linking the train itself would invoke licence fees). Anyone who expects the inside to be the same can’t really blame the railway.

Important to remember that "The Jacobite" has been operating for much longer than Harry Potter had been with us.

 

[Mollman]

Important to remember that "The Jacobite" has been operating for much longer than Harry Potter had been with us.

Indeed I would much rather they brought back the observation car than a 'Harry Potter' interior

 

[trainswitheddy]

Out of interest, do WCRC operate many compartment vehicles? Whenever Im paying attention to rakes they always seem to be open carriages rather than corridor.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Important to remember that "The Jacobite" has been operating for much longer than Harry Potter had been with us.

Oh yes. I remember three of us making our way to Fort William for 44932 to Mallaig. One of the three decided to bale at one of the intermediate stations to do a class 37 going the other way - before the 156s had been built !!!

 

[sprinterguy]

Out of interest, do WCRC operate many compartment vehicles? Whenever Im paying attention to rakes they always seem to be open carriages rather than corridor.

Not many; excluding locomotive support coaches which aren't available to the public, they have one Mark 2A Corridor First and a handful of Brake Corridors of mark 1 and 2 varieties available for mainline service.

 

[trainswitheddy]

Not many; excluding locomotive support coaches which aren't available to the public, they have one Mark 2A Corridor First and a handful of Brake Corridors of mark 1 and 2 varieties available for mainline service.

Thanks for that
Assuming some kind of capacity issue is the reason theyre less favorable?

 

[The exile]

Thanks for that
Assuming some kind of capacity issue is the reason theyre less favorable?

They’re also less good for views.

 

[12LDA28C]

Thanks for that
Assuming some kind of capacity issue is the reason theyre less favorable?

Not less favourable from a passenger point of view (in my opinion) - if a small group is travelling together I'd rather have a 'compo' to ourselves than sit in an open coach.

 

[bleeder4]

Thanks for that
Assuming some kind of capacity issue is the reason theyre less favorable?

The compartments all usually get filled, but not necessarily by customers who requested one. The last RTC tour I did, my seat was in a compartment with five other individual travellers. None of us had requested compartment seating, it's just that as no groups had booked the one we were in then RTC had used it to provide six extra tickets, rather than run the train with the compartment empty.

 

[3RDGEN]

Thanks for that
Assuming some kind of capacity issue is the reason theyre less favorable?

The Jacobite did have a few MkI compartments in the past which you could book for sole occupancy at £398, seating up to six people.

"https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/fare-prices"

 

[Meerkat]

Not less favourable from a passenger point of view (in my opinion) - if a small group is travelling together I'd rather have a 'compo' to ourselves than sit in an open coach.

If you are up against the corridor you won’t get much of a view!

 

[Struner]

If you are up against the corridor you won’t get much of a view!

time for a nap…

 

[StephenHunter]

Not less favourable from a passenger point of view (in my opinion) - if a small group is travelling together I'd rather have a 'compo' to ourselves than sit in an open coach.

The seats are nicer though.

 

[AM9]

The seats are nicer though.

Not necessarily.

 

[alexl92]

Indeed I would much rather they brought back the observation car than a 'Harry Potter' interior

Given the number of first-gen DMU vehicles sitting dormant on heritage railways I'm really surprised that none of the main line operators has converted one into an observation vehicle as per the green & cream highland stock of the 80s(?)

 

[43096]

Given the number of first-gen DMU vehicles sitting dormant on heritage railways I'm really surprised that none of the main line operators has converted one into an observation vehicle as per the green & cream highland stock of the 80s(?)

Don’t underestimate what would need to be done to make a 70mph, vacuum braked, non-CDL, non-CET vehicle into something useful on the main line.

 

[D6130]

Don’t underestimate what would need to be done to make a 70mph, vacuum braked, non-CDL, non-CET vehicle into something useful on the main line.

....or is the OP actually talking about using such a vehicle on a scenic 25 mph heritage railway?

 

[43096]

....or is the OP actually talking about using such a vehicle on a scenic 25 mph heritage railway?

I was going by the phrase “main line operators” that the OP used.

 

[12LDA28C]

....or is the OP actually talking about using such a vehicle on a scenic 25 mph heritage railway?

The phrase 'main line operators' as quoted would appear to suggest not.

 

[D6130]

The phrase 'main line operators' as quoted would appear to suggest not.

Indeed....I had forgotten that due it being late at night and not having slept well recently. Form 1 issued for inattention to thread!

 

[paul1609]

Don’t underestimate what would need to be done to make a 70mph, vacuum braked, non-CDL, non-CET vehicle into something useful on the main line.

Unless it's already registered I cant imagine it being approved for passenger use on crash worthiness alone.

 

[StephenHunter]

Don’t underestimate what would need to be done to make a 70mph, vacuum braked, non-CDL, non-CET vehicle into something useful on the main line.

Including asbestos removal, which is what led to a lot of them being scrapped in the first place.

 

[Wolfie]

Unless it's already registered I cant imagine it being approved for passenger use on crash worthiness alone.

Indeed. Grandfather rights certainly wouldn't apply

 

[12LDA28C]

Unless it's already registered I cant imagine it being approved for passenger use on crash worthiness alone.

There’s one charter TOC that would have the funds necessary to facilitate that…