Finding out about 'special' services

[cb00]

I live near the Cotswold Line and have a couple of times now found out belatedly about steam trains (the most recent being yesterday).

There are crowds of people at stations and at various points where the line can be seen, but how do people find out about these?

I visited the West Coast Railways site but the service they operated yesterday, the Cotswold Venturer I believe, is not listed anywhere. So how did all the passengers on board find out and book seats? I checked RTT on Friday and could not see the service listed, but when checking again on Saturday after it had run past, it was there.

What ways are there to find out about these services in advance?

 

[Sm5]

this site lists railtours..

Railway Herald :: Railtours

www.railwayherald.com

it isupdated weekly

 

[TrainTrackJack]

I checked RTT on Friday and could not see the service listed, but when checking again on Saturday after it had run past

Sometimes the schedule isn't released until early in the morning (usually around 2am) onto RTT, it's always worth checking in the morning it's due to come through on.

 

[JonathanH]

There are crowds of people at stations and at various points where the line can be seen, but how do people find out about these?

Quite often, local news websites carry stories about steam railtours due to pass through an area.

West Coast Railway Company don't tend to run their own tours in the south of the country. Instead they run tours such as the Cotswold Venturer on behalf of the Railway Touring Company.

https://www.railwaytouring.net/uk-day-trips-2022

 

[StephenHunter]

Sometimes the schedule isn't released until early in the morning (usually around 2am) onto RTT, it's always worth checking in the morning it's due to come through on.

Flying Scotsman trips don't have them released at all because of trespassing problems.

 

[MiNi]

I've always used Real Time train's and have always found that this site + the Train operator website have always helped me. Sometimes the times are released late on Friday or early Saturday morning,you have to be persistent. Normally they are released in advance though. I expect the Cotswold adventurer disappeared off their website on Saturday as that was the day it ran.

 

[bleeder4]

Bahamas on Saturday didn't actually go via the Cotswold Line, she went via the Golden Valley Line both ways. Most of them do that now, steam on the Cotswold Line is quite rare these days. The times for that one were on RTT on 10/11 August, that's when I first saw them. They were also still there on Friday night and Saturday morning as I checked them to see if she was running on time before heading over to Shrub Hill.

To make it easy for you, these are all the steam trains visiting the Worcester area for the rest of this year. I'll link you to the tour promoter website where you can see approximate times, but actual times won't be available until nearer the dates:

Tuesday 13th Sept "The Bristol Forty" - https://saphostrains.com/journey/the-bristol-forty-13-09-22
Saturday 15th October "The Cotswold Express" - https://vintagetrains.co.uk/train-rides/cotswold-express/
Thursday 1st December "The Worcester Christmas Fayre" - https://www.railwaytouring.net/the-worcester-christmas-fayre
Wednesday 14th December "The Worcester Christmas Express" - https://www.railwaytouring.net/the-worcester-christmas-express

 

[Cowley]

I live near the Cotswold Line and have a couple of times now found out belatedly about steam trains (the most recent being yesterday).

There are crowds of people at stations and at various points where the line can be seen, but how do people find out about these?

I visited the West Coast Railways site but the service they operated yesterday, the Cotswold Venturer I believe, is not listed anywhere. So how did all the passengers on board find out and book seats? I checked RTT on Friday and could not see the service listed, but when checking again on Saturday after it had run past, it was there.

What ways are there to find out about these services in advance?

We’ve actually had a very recent thread that you might find useful here:

Information about specials

Forgive me if I have used the term incorrectly, but where would I find out about the running of non scheduled locomotives on the mainline? Steam engines and unique locos I would be interested in but I dont seem to know about them untill after the event. Is this information limited to those in...

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