Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 21:34:32 on Mon, 24
Jun 2019, Marland remarked:

as people assembled for the 1st departure of the District line
tour a class 33 passed through on the main line with some MK1s and a Steam
Loco on the back presumably ECS heading somewhere for a tour.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/trai...06/22/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/trai...06/22/advanced

Thanks, I had not got around to checking where it was heading apart from a
cursory glance at the steam tours site which as mentioned elsewhere isn’t
fully active at the moment.

most Steam tours pass unnoticed nowdays as they are no longer that rare
compared with the situation a couple of decades ago when a local
newspaper would consider a steam train passing worth a mention.

https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/n...train-to-come-
through-sussex-this-weekend-full-list-of-times-for-each-station-
1-8971673


I did say most not none, that report is unusually detailed compared to
many.

At locations like Salisbury they come through so regularly that nobody
bats an eyelid, you do sometimes get a few photographers hanging around as
it is often a water stop .
In contrast when steam was rare hundreds would turn out, I recall it was
Clan line back in Spring 1974
that was one of the first around here to break the the so called steam ban.
So many people turned out that the SR got the jitters about allowing any to
enter 3rd rail territory for many a year,eventually that got eased
initially by timing them to run late so the lack of light put off
photographers.
One was the infamous quadruple header from Eastleigh to Clapham after an
event at Eastleigh,initially it was going to be a steam double header but
the powers that be decided the two class 50’s in attendance should be
attached as well. At least one person because I watched him do it ripped
up his ticket in disgust.
Others like myself travelled as planned and were treated to a very lively
trip up the line.

Soon after a trip was allowed to Bournemouth and 1000’s turned out at that
town as the return of steam had been well publicised, that just doesn’t
happen any more unless it’s the Scotsman.
It happened for a while with Tornado but that new loco is now old news.


GH