avonside1563 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Snowdon's GM on Radio 2 this morning talking to Chris Evans about the railway and mentioned the fact it has been a commercial operation since opening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 The SMR was never a part of the "Great Little Trains of Wales" branded promotion always preferrintg to go their own way. That doesn't appear to be the case as they are listed on the website: http://www.greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk/ and shown on this 1975 poster: http://www.travellingartgallery.com/landscape/print/merchdetail/S450.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 We recently enjoyed a trip on the Heritage Steam train. The carriage is much more spacious than the normal coaches - three abreast seating and a central aisle- and you get a full hour at the summit. For 'only' £8 extra, I thought it was worth it but you have to book in advance, so watch the weather forecast!. In the recent hot spell, we enjoyed cloudless sunshine but some haze at the horizon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Meanwhile, a slightly unwelcome development gets the SMR into the news.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Meanwhile, a slightly unwelcome development gets the SMR into the news.... image.jpeg It just goes to show that Brunel was a far sighted visionary, preparing for something few people could have imagined in the poverty of the 19th century. Shame the broad gauge isn't still with us! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I went up SMR for the first, and only time two or three years ago. I rather enjoyed it, was quite intrigued by the new diesels, wasn't much surprised by the summit weather (I've walked up Snowdon in the past) and generally reckoned it was a good trip. Personally, I'd rather have ridden up and walked down, but that wasn't how things turned out as my companion wasn't dressed or equipped for mountain weather and the forecast wasn't great. I like the look of the new coach, the old ones are pretty ropey. I was dressed in outdoor clothes and didn't care, but most weren't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Meanwhile, a slightly unwelcome development gets the SMR into the news.... image.jpeg I wonder if Mr Poppel had sat in his seat first the fat family would have squashed him into a corner? He may have had a lucky escape. In the article there was no mention of him receiving a refund or offer of a ride on a later train, one or the other must have happened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted September 23, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2016 I was dressed in outdoor clothes and didn't care, but most weren't. Therein lies one of the reasons advanced (to me at least) by the SMR people when pressed on why it is essential to go straight up and down with barely time for a coffee at the summit. They have a duty of care once people pay for the trip yet many turn up, particularly on a decent sunny day, dressed for the beach rather than a trip to the often cold, usually misty, peak of Wales' highest mountain. In addition to managing the loads and not having more people hoping to catch the last train down than space available they try to ensure no-one spends too much time at the summit under-dressed for the conditions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 A spokesman for the SMR said, "Our carriages accommodate ten people", it should have added "in each compartment". I too have up and down the SMR in a packed compartment, five per side facing each other. At departure time the door was opened and an SMR employee tried to put another two people in our packed compartment. Fortunately we had an American couple on board who told him forcefully that the compartment was full and to look elsewhere. I said a silent thank you. I don't know why we put up with crap service or why we British of an older generation feel embarrassed at going against authority figures. It was how we were brought up I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonB Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 On the subject of FR "closure", it certainly ceased running trains, such that there were people who boasted of traversing lengths of the track on some sort of trolley by gravity. The Narrow Gauge Society Magazine had a note that there was to be a visit to Boston Lodge by the (IIRC) preservation society, so I decided to go. I joined a band of enthusiasts at the gates only to be told that the keys to the padlocks could not be found ! Magically a crowbar appeared, and we were in ! 60 years on, my memory is of desolation, with one of the Double-Fairlies ( Merthyn Emrys....spelling?) standing in the yard, and being able to bend down to see day-light through a hole below the smoke-box door. I was surprised by the size of the machinery in the work shop, particularly the lathe capable of turning the loco wheels. I opened carriage shed door to find the funeral van with it's urns on each corner, ..... Spooky ! Sadly, I didn't own a camera being near-Pennyless due to having bought the Motor Bike which had carried me from the Black Country for the occasion. I have never seen any photographs of that day, there must be some around, but where ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted September 23, 2016 Administrators Share Posted September 23, 2016 A spokesman for the SMR said, "Our carriages accommodate ten people", it should have added "in each compartment". I too have up and down the SMR in a packed compartment, five per side facing each other. At departure time the door was opened and an SMR employee tried to put another two people in our packed compartment. Fortunately we had an American couple on board who told him forcefully that the compartment was full and to look elsewhere. I said a silent thank you. I don't know why we put up with crap service or why we British of an older generation feel embarrassed at going against authority figures. It was how we were brought up I suppose. The two people who didn't get to board the train could also say the same - "Why can't we get on?" In the middle there is someone getting shouted at for trying to put people on the train AND by people who can't get on. I must admit to listening to the Jeremy Vine radio show covering the "fat people on a train" story with frustration. It's always a poorly researched show (In the plug half an hour earlier, Ken Bruce always knows more about every story than Vine) but this was special. They hadn't been able to speak to Mr Poppel, didn't bother getting a spokesman from the railway on. Talked about "too many heavy people might make the train roll back" and then acted as though the SMR was the same sort of TOC as seen on the mainline network. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 The two people who didn't get to board the train could also say the same - "Why can't we get on?" In the middle there is someone getting shouted at for trying to put people on the train AND by people who can't get on. They couldn't get on because the compartment was full. The passengers may not have known that but the SMR staff certainly should. The days of cramming as many people as would fit into a wagon on a preserved line were well and truly over by then. I had a ride in a brake van at Steamtown when it opened and it was like a "How many people can cram into a phone box?" competition. The fact is we were all "enthusiasts" and were prepared to tolerate it. Perhaps it was remiss of me not to mention that they found seats in two separate compartments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted September 23, 2016 Administrators Share Posted September 23, 2016 They couldn't get on because the compartment was full. The passengers may not have known that but the SMR staff certainly should. The days of cramming as many people as would fit into a wagon on a preserved line were well and truly over by then. I had a ride in a brake van at Steamtown when it opened and it was like a "How many people can cram into a phone box?" competition. The fact is we were all "enthusiasts" and were prepared to tolerate it. Perhaps it was remiss of me not to mention that they found seats in two separate compartments. But why is it OK for the Americans "going against authority figures" but not the people trying to get on? All I'm saying is that whatever happens, someone in our "customer is always right" world is going to complain and the staff will get it in the neck. I'd like them to say "It's full you should have turned up earlier" but I suspect the staff member was trying to be helpful - as shown by him/her finding them seperate seats elsewhere. Sadly, if you point out overfilling the carriage is unsafe (it is) all the anti-H&S nuts will appear out of the woodwork and describe how they were packed 22 to a seat in the old days and had to eat grit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Therein lies one of the reasons advanced (to me at least) by the SMR people when pressed on why it is essential to go straight up and down with barely time for a coffee at the summit. They have a duty of care once people pay for the trip yet many turn up, particularly on a decent sunny day, dressed for the beach rather than a trip to the often cold, usually misty, peak of Wales' highest mountain. In addition to managing the loads and not having more people hoping to catch the last train down than space available they try to ensure no-one spends too much time at the summit under-dressed for the conditions. That makes a little bit more sense then of the reason I was given in May for trains terminating at Clogwyn - "Because the cafe's shut!" Perhaps they didn't want people standing around outdoors at the summit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 That doesn't appear to be the case as they are listed on the website: http://www.greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk/ and shown on this 1975 poster: http://www.travellingartgallery.com/landscape/print/merchdetail/S450.html And the GLTW Discount Card is valid there.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted December 29, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 29, 2016 We recently enjoyed a trip on the Heritage Steam train. The carriage is much more spacious than the normal coaches - three abreast seating and a central aisle- and you get a full hour at the summit. For 'only' £8 extra, I thought it was worth it but you have to book in advance, so watch the weather forecast!. In the recent hot spell, we enjoyed cloudless sunshine but some haze at the horizon. SnowdonSummitStation.JPG SnowdonHeritageCoach.JPG Is it true that the windows on the normal coaches open up (on the diesel service)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 If I was going up Snowdon in summer clothes, I'd want to know the cafe was open! Then again, I've seen what can happen up there, even in summer, which most people haven't. The British are in large part, an urban people who know next to nothing about dressing for the weather. You can see it at football matches, where a lot if the crowd are clearly cold, and feeling it. I went to Peterborough United recently, for possibly the third time in as many decades and it was obvious that a lot of people were feeling the cold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.