The Royal Oke to London Paddington 18th March 2017
This was our first special train. None of us had hired a train before, so it was a steep learning curve! The publicity was amazing, helped by local press and tickets sold out in days.
Ticket of the Trip
Excited Passengers Waiting for the Royal Oke to London
The excitement on the day was amazing. People cheered the train when it came in.
The poor weather didn’t put people off, although it was going to have an impact on the day.
As the HST approached Bow, unfortunately the wheels slipped on the track and damaged the wheels, causing flat spots. The damage was bad, meaning that the set could only travel at slow speed.
The Original Royal Oke Arrives at Okehampton - Photo by Philip Wagstaff
Replacement Royal Oke Passes Hungerford - Photo by Tony Barlett
Although the wheel flats presented a problem, GWR acted quickly and transferred a HST that had been diagrammed for a Paignton train, onto our service. As a result we all de-camped at Exeter St Davids and joined the new stock.
There was a bonus though, we got national press coverage which enabled us to get our message out to a much wider audience.
We eventually got to Paddington just some 30 minutes late, halving the initial delay.
When we arrived at Paddington, the Rail Minister at the time, Paul Maynard, met with representatives of OkeRail. The discussion was about what a restored railway would mean to Okehampton, the surrounding Hinterland and further afield.
Royal Oke special to London Paddington. L-R: Dr Cllr Michael Ireland, Rail Minister (at that time) Paul Maynard, Mel Stride MP, Cllr Kevin Ball, Chris Bligh, Cllr Mike Davies
The passengers had a great time in London, and the return journey was uneventful!
Below are a number of photos from the day. If we have used one that you took and you want a credit, please contact us here.
