So when do you start planning a train? Well for NR you need to bid 12 weeks before and with freight agreements 14 weeks. Therefore, Sat 10 Aug 2019 minus 12 Saturdays is Sat 18 May, simple, sit around on Fri 17 May, have a chat, send it in and jobs a good 'un. For the Portsmouth tour this doesn't come close, but it was that sort of attitude, sitting around having a chat, that started it all.

The first VT special had 13 weeks; 'The Welsh Warrior' Sat 7 Dec 2014, the WB64 ('Pretendolino' Mk3 stock) farewell. James Dobson and Andy Grundy walked into Virgin Trains (VT) Control and said WB64 is being retired; do you want to do a farewell, and it's 13 weeks this Saturday we went into melt down.

87002 To Glasgow 37025 to Ayr then 87002 back to Euston non-stop. Job done and we pulled it off. Well not exactly; the 87 hadn't hauled a train for 12 months and 37025 wouldn't be ready. Other traction wouldn't keep to the paths and could cause issues to the booked Table 65 West Coast timetable. With possible failures and the first VT charter style train since a few private VIP hires, it was agreed that the farewell would be loco-hauled with two VT Class 57s to just North Wales. We then found it would all be too difficult with our TOC safety case and the Union agreements. So DRS would be the TOC and 'The Railway Magazine' the booking agent. Little did we know that days after agreeing this and the refusal to use 87002, it would work to York and back in place of another loco on a charter!

The loco was proven but it was too late as we had already planned and submitted the spec to NR. I didn't know that WB64 was out of gauge for everything west of Chester due to modifications to all other Mk3s except WB64! Virgin then advised that WB64 would be withdrawn earlier due to recurring Time Division Multiplexer faults. With the train advertised it was agreed by the board that on Fri 6 Dec 2014 WB64 would do its passenger farewell on the normal Birmingham diagram with VT staff and then we would have it for the Saturday. Anyway the farewell ran but what did we say farewell to, other than the end of loco hauled stock on Virgin Trains? What we knew was that after arrival at Crewe WB64 went to Wembley de-branded but none of us knew that it then went to Norwich for Anglia.

Except for the Driver Van Trailer the set was used in service. WB64 is now part of the TPE training fleet at Crewe LNWR. Ironically, we passed it on 'Type Three to the Sea'; half by the Potteries Loop on the way out and other half by the Up Fast on the return. 37682, one of the pair of 37s to Holyhead and back was dragged to Derby and cut up. We missed that one, so it was farewell to 37682. The other was 37419 'Carl Haviland' (an ex-North Wales passenger loco) with DRS 57 302 'Chad Varah' on the rear.

Following this tour Virgin Trains, DRS and The Railway Magazine jointly ran 'The Bournemouth Flyer' (22 Aug 2015) and 'The Independent Yorkshireman' (19 Jun 2016). You must be thinking he is waffling up some branch line, come on get to the point. The point is that on 'The Independent Yorkshireman' Neil Chapman MD of Hovertravel, travelling as a guest, suggested running a train to Portsmouth.

So on 3 Sep 2016 we wrote a draft Chester to Portsmouth spec with two DRS Class 37s, a Virgin Class 57 and the usual Mk2s from Riviera so 'The Solent Syphons' charity train was conceived. 'The Railway Magazine' doesn't usually do the logistics for trains but was again happy to take bookings for us. DRS had to look at dates around the Northern Belle with crew availability and dates that Riviera had stock.

By the next chain of emails at the end of Sep 2016, use of 37558 'Avro Vulcan XH558' was suggested which entered service that summer. With many following the real 'XH558 Vulcan' in its last season could we run a train with 37558 and a Newton-le-Willows (Vulcan) built 37 to give us two veteran Vulcans on the train. Suddenly we had 'The Vulcan Vectis' with 37558 and friend. We tried to plan the route so that the Vulcans could ascend the Lickey as well as crossing the East Midlands...

Crewe - Madeley - Stafford - Penkridge - Wolverhampton - Walsall - Sutton Park - Water Orton - Nuneaton - Narborough - Kettering - Luton - Hendon - Brent Curve - Acton Wells - Southall - Reading - Basingstoke - Eastleigh - Botley - Cosham - Portsmouth - Cosham - Botley - Eastleigh - Chandlers Ford - Salisbury - Westbury East Jn - Bath Spa - Dr Days - Cheltenham Spa - Bromsgrove - Kings Norton - St Andrews Jn - Park Lane Jn - Sutton Park - Walsall - Wolverhampton - Stafford - Madeley - Crewe.

This was pushing DRS route knowledge of the two drivers that signed Portsmouth to the limit and we wanted time there. So it was Crewe 02.00 back 23.00; maybe not, but you have to start somewhere.

In Dec 2016 we found out that in 2017 there were only three dates that married up but felt that none worked. Who else could we hire stock from within the politics of the railway? We looked at SRPS stock which was not on the safety case of DRS then. During 2017 VT became very busy; DRS had changes coming especially for the team that had run these trains. 'Railway Magazine' became involved in the amazing Euston to Glasgow tour with 50007 & 50049. The result: no train would be possible in 2017.

Well, I did spec Class 221 Super Voyagers to Mallaig with some Polmadie drivers. I also did the first spec of a tour to VT depots with stock and Class 08s. Wembley, Oxley and Longsight, 'Rodney's Independent Trotter'. In 2017 speaking to a long-term friend at GBRf Dale Williams, about a Class 50 and 73 tour to Portsmouth, I rewrote the Portsmouth tour (knowing GBRf would take the 50s back to Glasgow). Spring 2018 would be the first possible date but with what stock and GBRf were very busy with their own successful trains? In spring 2017 I went back to DRS at Crewe to see if we could run in Sep just before the leaf fall and bring the 20s back from overhaul at Barrow Hill via Portsmouth.

'Four to the Shore' was born; four Class 20s and a 57 on the rear, losing two 20s at Eastleigh. The Class 20 speed and mileage was against us as well as the lack of stock. WCR stock was not on the VT or DRS safety case. We have always used a booking agent because the Virgin Trains system would result in all the money going into the one big pot, then we had to prove how much was ours. However, before we could sort out a booking agent, the Class 20s were refused anyway as they would be leaf fall only!

Again, no further on, I then spoke to someone called 'Kev' at the Branch line Society. Apologies, my first thought had been the tours of many years ago, hum Branch Line, 'well they spend all day in yards going nowhere fast'. I noticed the 18 Mar 2017 'Bound for Craigy' East coast train to Edinburgh. Exactly what I had in mind but for the West Coast. I was at work in VT Control watching goings on with our then partner TOC, Virgin East Coast, on the day of that tour. The BLS definitely doesn't spend all day in a yard! The PR in the industry about 'Bound for Craigy' raising over £43,000 was amazing so I accepted an invite to the 'Pickering Paxman' to meet Kev. 'Invited' meant stewarding a coach with a gentleman from DRS Control whom I knew! I gave the plans for Portsmouth, Mallaig, Dundee and Oxley to Kev. I was surprised by the enthusiasm and enjoyment and professional way the 'Pickering Paxman' was run and have been a regular part of the Society's steward team ever since that tour.

Continued in Part 2