185143-Trip Publishing Expected?

In all the trips I've done on the sleeper I could never fault the staff, they've always been exemplary.
Tough on losing the whole days bashing though.

Harsh on losing the purpose of the trip there, but you made the most of it all by the looks of it. I haven't done the Kyle line in well over a decade (May 2006 I think it was!) so I'm well overdue a revisit. Good excuse to tick off Inverness airport. Hello again, Trip Planning Process Mode!

Interesting choice of usual beverage, I got back into beer logging yesterday for the first time in nearly 3 months, spent a fair bit but it was good fun! Wasn't clever to drink on an empty stomach though!

Oot an' aboot! 23rd September 2019

Welp. Been a while since I've done one of these! Sure this thread will have been a long way down the list when it comes to transferring this report from a Word file onto the forum! [Page 15!] I'm only doing this now as I've got a lot of time to fill on the last train back home, so I apologise in advance if it ends up as more of a late night ramble than a proper report.

I've been busy with work lately, so I've not been on a proper trip out for a while. Therefore whilst the opportunity presented itself, it was time to book some tickets! This morning eventually came and I headed out of the house, with the usual lack of sleep bound for 1S30, the 05:00 Manchester-Glasgow. 350402 and another arrived into platform 14 bang on time. This service was busier than expected, however I settled into a table seat no problem and soon took advantage of the at-seat catering service. The sun began to rise as we crossed the border into Scotland, picking up a decent amount of commuters at Lockerbie. One point of interest on this service is the once a day (for now!) TPE passenger call at Carstairs. So where does the forum think I was bailing out this morning?
Yup, Carstairs! Not because I belong in the loony bin (well...), but because 1S30 connects nicely into a ScotRail service to Edinburgh. The platform was much busier than I'd thought it'd be before a significant amount of passengers bailed off the 350 as well. An already busy dud 380114 rolled in, resulting in me having to walk the full length of the train to find a seat I liked. It felt wierd calling at the likes of Kingsknowe and Wester Hailes on a 380, that's for sure! However, we arrived into Haymarket on time after what felt like a long slog after all the stops. I'd used the forum favourite, Trainsplit, to book my advances and had forced a change at Edinburgh Park in the hope of scoring a required 334. Sadly I wasn't so lucky, however I took double duds 334003+334026 to Edinburgh Park anyway.

My next move was to Stirling, on required 385123 after a short wait. With this being a 4 car unit on a Standard Class only service, I took a seat in the declassified First Class. I quite like these 385s, but the announcements can rattle on a wee bit. Arrival into Stirling was a few minutes delayed, but not sufficiently so that I'd miss my connection. It still seems wrong seeing OHLE this far North really! I had just enough time to grab a drink from the vending machine before boarding my next move which, as expected, produced a Flymo. Dud 170425 rolled in for the hour or so journey to Invergowrie. Much like the last service, I took a seat in the declassified First Class compartment which I had to myself for the duration of my journey. I couldn't help but note that the curtains seem to really restrict the view from the windows in First Class, so took the opportunity to research what to do in the 2 hour fester I was about to have.

I'd located a Cafe and a Co-Op around 10 minutes from the station, so headed there for a very nice (albeit expensive) breakfast roll. The station has little in the way of facilities so I took my time in getting back there. The same Flymo returned to form my service to Gleneagles, which I was half expecting to happen. The platforms at Invergowrie seem quite short which meant a 3 car 170 was a fairly tight fit. Unsurprisingly as it was a mid day stopper from Dundee to Glasgow, it was rather empty. As such I took the same seat in “First Class" for the journey back to Gleneagles. I hadn't been here before so was pleasantly surprised to see how lovely the station is, though was a little surprised to see it was unmanned.

The PIS on the Northbound platform was displaying a message with the calling points to “remember to close doors and windows behind you" which left me expecting a Classic HST, however I was graced with a refurbished one instead. The refurb looks very good indeed, though I couldn't help but giggle when I noticed the GWR green grab handles by the doors! This Aberdeen train was quite busy, so I opted to stand for the short journey to Perth. I had a few hours to kill before the main event for today, so it'd have been rude not to visit a couple of required Wetherspoon pubs wouldn't it! I therefore left the station at Perth to make the 10 minute or so walk down to the riverside ‘Spoons, The Capital Asset. That cold pint of Tennent's went down rather well before heading back to the station for my next move to Dundee.

I was a bit surprised to be boarding an Inverness service, and even more surprised when a 170 rolled in! Yuck! It wasn't all bad though, I required 170413 which thankfully wasn't too busy though the plug sockets didn't work. Dundee was reached on time, so I wonder where I may have headed next...
Yup! Time for another cold pint of Tennent's in The Counting House, Dundee. Upon returning to the station, I settled into the fancy waiting room and at this point the tiredness began to hit. Boo! (Albeit not as bad as the last time I was in Dundee, having just staggered off the Sleeper at 6AM still intoxicated from doing the Trans-Pennine Ale Trail the previous day...)

I wasn't waiting for too long before dud 170428 rolled in to take me to Monifieth. I didn't *need* to tick off Monifieth as I'll be going there when I return to board at Balmossie, but it's nice to get it out of the way. It was only a 20 minute fester here due to late running before boarding 158712 to the former least used station in GB, Barry Links. Boarding an Inverness based 158 instantly gave me flashbacks to August when I cleared the Far North and Kyle lines, I spent 2 days on the things. Yep. TWO DAYS. FORTY EIGHT HOURS. IN A WEEK.

Amazingly, I wasn't the only person alighting! And even more amazingly, ScotRail have very helpfully doubled the service to the Tayside halts. Barry Links and Golf Street are only a mile or so apart, so it didn't take long to walk between them. A pleasant walk it was too between the famous golf course and the railway line, a couple of photos snapped en route. I arrived at Golf Street to find a fellow enthusiast on the footbridge. We got chatting and he was trying to get a photo of a train at every station, so was rather pleased when I said a stopper was due shortly! Said stopper was formed of 158705+158738 which I took to Arbroath. I could have boarded an LNER service back South, but had booked the later ScotRail service to allow for a trip to a required ‘Spoons.

I was hoping for a HST, however an empty 170414 rolled in. No reservations were applied, so I took a wander down to a table I liked. By sheer coincidence I'd managed to end up sat in my reserved seat! It had already gone dark so there was little to see outside, but I find the run along the Fife Coast quite pleasant at any time. That said, I was glad to arrive into Edinburgh and head over to platform 10 for the last Manchester train. Debranded 350403 was waiting to take me back down South, a very quiet service as usual on that train. It was a largely uneventful journey, I got talking to a passenger nearby who was heading to the Airport, so I directed him to the bus stops when we would arrive at Piccadilly. He told me he was heading to France to walk the Pyrenees-just a bit more of a journey than I was making! (Hope it went/is going well if you happen to be reading!)

Arrival into Manchester Piccadilly was around 10 minutes early, as is often the case on that particular service. A good end to a long, but very productive day. A week of work followed and I'm finishing this report during a delay on my next trip. A report shall follow, as it's a good one.

Interesting Scottish wanderings there, so if understand correctly you did that using various tickets rather than a rover?

Andy Pacer said:

Interesting Scottish wanderings there, so if understand correctly you did that using various tickets rather than a rover?

Click to expand...

Yeah, was just popping up for the day so had an advance to Invergowrie, return from Arbroath to Gleneagles and an advance from Arbroath to Edinburgh.

A good wee trip to Scotland there Jamie

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.
Well then. I have most of this month off work in order to play trains. I'll be travelling far and wide, so will be posting the reports here. To The Trains!

Day 1-1st October.
The day didn't start as originally planned, as I was intending to head across to Peterborough and scratch the shacks on the GTR Great Northern route, but Caledonian Sleeper decided not to bother running their Fort William service this week which changed things a bit! I'd spent just shy of £100 on a ticket on a Classic Solo room to Fort William back in July, funnily enough after doing the sleeper from Bridge of Orchy-albeit in the seats. Two weeks prior to travel I was informed that I'd be on the old stock and receiving a £20 refund, no issue there though I was looking forward to trying the Mk5s on what would quite possibly be my last sleeper trip. But on Friday, just 4 days prior to travel, I learnt that due to “Logistical reasons" the Fort William sleeper wouldn't be running. The alternative was a pre-6AM bail out at Dundee for a bus, and not clearing the West Highland Line. F*** THAT! Full refund please!

I therefore had to head North immediately, abandoning the GTR shacks. This didn't go to plan though as my train into Manchester was cancelled due to an incident at Widnes. I got a lift to Manchester Oxford Road fully expecting to miss my train, but by some miracle Manchester ROC decided to hold my train at Slade Lane to let a late Northern service in front, so I made it no problem. Yay! 350410 rolled in, approximately 10 minutes late and busier than usual. I opted to stand as there were few seats available, after Lancaster I managed to get a table seat. We passed through lots of flooded fields and I was watching the situation nervously as the Coast line was flooded and there had been a landslide in the Tyne Valley. We had no issues though, but we were around 20 minutes late arriving into Glasgow. I had lots of time to spare, so I wasn't bothered in the slightest.

I opted to be a bus wan... umm, passenger, for the trip over to Queen Street. Obviously a ‘Spoons Breakfast was in order! I was going to walk to The Hengler's Circus but couldn't be bothered, so settled on a revisit to The Counting House instead. A large Scottish breakfast and a pint of Tennent's was the order of the day, and very good it was too. I swung by the local Tesco for some supplies [Ok, tinnies] for the journey to the West Highlands. A trio of 156s were waiting in platform 2 forming the lunchtime Oban+Mallaig service, 156499+156457 and one on the front I forgot to ID. 156457 was a winner, so an ironing board seat [seriously, which C—t signed these off on units doing 6 hour journeys full of tourists??] Was taken for the thrashy run into the Highlands.

The WHL was as beautiful as ever, a stark contrast to the weather down South. Upon arrival into Crianlarich, the units split with the unidentified 156 heading off to Oban. It was now time to head West across Rannoch Moor. Ever since I discovered the existence of Corrour, I'd been longing to visit. That'd have to wait a few days yet, but I'd at least be passing through. Passing Bridge of Orchy meant I was now on required track. I'd visited Bridge of Orchy back in July after clearing the Oban line to get the Sleeper down to London, meeting everyone's two favourite train people in the lounge car! The scenery began to get ridiculously remote and you could feel the line climbing. It seems a bit Cliché to call this my favourite railway line... but I think it is. And deservedly so.

Arriving into Fort William nearly 4 hours(!) after leaving Glasgow, it was time to split again. 156457 would be staying behind, with 156499 working forward. This of course meant I had to move units, which I was glad of the leg stretch for sure! (Wonders how many other services split twice en route? Not even sure I'd count the Highlander Sleeper shunt at Edinburgh as that's in the same place)

Rattling alongside Loch Eil, I was soon alighting the train at Loch Eil Outward Bound. I had just over half an hour on this small gravel platform to admire the view and and ponder where Loch Eil Inward Bound was...

I boarded 156477+156474 one stop back down the line to Corpach, where I had a fester of around two hours. That didn't half drag! I was getting rather tired by this point and it started to go dark after an hour or so. Whilst at Corpach station I noticed a ship was moored opposite. I had wondered if it was a floating restaurant, as several people alighted my train and boarded it, but seemingly not as I never saw it again over the course of the week. I also couldn't help but notice just how quickly the temperature dropped at twilight. Wow it was cold all of a sudden! After what felt like days, 156499 arrived to take me another stop down the line to Banavie. A quick PNB was had onboard before alighting. I had a several hour fester here, thanks to Caledonian Sleeper-for I was intending to alight off the last Mallaig-Fort William each night and connect with the sleeper.

Due to this long fester, it was time to head off to the pub. I had a rather mediocre fish and chips and a pint before heading back off to the station. I managed to break one of the wheels on my suitcase on a gravel path in the station car park (GRR!), where I had just over an hour's wait under the watchful eye of the Banavie Signalling Centre. I nodded off a few times, but was thankfully awake as my train arrived. 156453 was my last move of this very long day taking me on to Glenfinnan. I must say, and I thought so later on in the week too when I met her again, the guard on this service was one of the happiest and most enthusiastic railway staff I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She took time to speak to everyone in person (ok, there were only about 10 of us on the train but still). She gave me some good tips for the week which I took onboard, she wondered if I was staying in the Sleeper car in Glenfinnan when I said I was alighting there, which of course I am.

I soon alighted at Glenfinnan and after initially going the wrong way, managed to find the entrance to the sleeper car. The compartment was, much like the real (mk3) sleeper, rather compact and cosy but perfectly fine. Needless to say, after such a long day and a poor sleep the night before, I slept very well indeed!

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 2-2nd October 2019

I awoke in the beautiful surroundings of Glenfinnan. It's always a treat arriving at a scenic overnight halt in the dark, it's a lovely surprise to wake up to! It was a tad cool in my compartment, so a quick blast of the heater was in order whilst I got ready and checked my plan for the day. My first move was the 09:05 to Mallaig, formed of 156499+156457. Hello again you two! I've definitely saved the best until (almost) last here, the journey between Glenfinnan and Mallaig was simply jaw dropping. So much so that I started to get a stiff neck from gazing out of the same window for so long. Seriously, if you haven't been on this line. Get. Up. Here. Right. Now.

Arrival into Mallaig was on time, with the guard reminding passengers that the service departed Mallaig towards Fort William and Glasgow at 10:10. Just enough time to do a supply raid in the local Co-Op and get a decent seat for my onward journey then. A window table seat was taken on the right hand side of the train for the journey to Rannoch. All I can say is wow. What a stunning experience that was. It was of course the first time I’d seen West of Loch Eil Outward Bound in daylight, and also the first time I'd seen the Glenfinnan viaduct in daylight. I'm told that the film crew for Harry Potter stayed in the very sleeper car I'm in right now at Glenfinnan. I suppose it makes sense really! The guard on the last Mallaig service the previous evening had spoken highly of the cakes in the Rannoch station tea room, so it'd have been rude not to indulge in one wouldn't it! We passed The Jacobite at Glenfinnan, which looked well loaded and plenty of people were stood underneath the viaduct waiting to take pictures of our train passing over.

We were delayed at Spean Bridge by around 20 minutes to let a late running Westbound train pass us. On a single track line this means only one thing; the effect of this would be replicated down the line. Rannoch is a lovely little station, one of the rooms has posters telling you the history of the station, the line and the unique Cruach snowshed just North of station. The Tea room is worth a visit, the cakes are indeed very nice. There's no phone signal at Rannoch, but the Caledonian Sleeper totem has wifi, so you can get online that way but it has limited range so stand next to it! Disappointingly the services for that evening were still being advertised, despite no Sleeper services running, and no replacement at Rannoch. Around 45 minutes before my train should have been due, a WCRC Northern Belle charter arrived to run round and head back down South. I had to laugh at the fitter who alighted and asked in a thick Lancashire accent if there was a shop nearby, only to be told by a Fort William local that the nearest shop was around 18 miles away!

As my train had headed towards Glasgow late, this meant that the Mallaig bound train would be around half an hour late too, as would the WCRC charter. But nobody seemed to mind and 156453+156445 eventually arrived, just over the Delay Repay threshold too. I requested to get off at Locheilside, however the guard made a comment which concerned me. We may be so late that we get held at the Fort [William] to let the Glasgow train pass us on time. He promised to let me know if he was informed that was happening, which I was grateful of. No word from the guard came, so I assumed all was good. As did the guard for that matter! He'd been instructed NOT to split the units and proceed as a 4 car set, presumably to allow us to leave Fort William ASAP. He even announced we would be leaving Fort William ASAP to continue to Mallaig.

Somebody, however, had different ideas. After a couple of minutes there was an announcement for passengers connecting with ferries to come to the back of the train as we wouldn't be leaving until approximately 17:30, in around 45 minutes time. No one onboard the train seemed to mind the delay, whilst I just sat and tried to imagine everyone being so calm and accepting of it down South... not a chance! And I speak from first hand experience of being on the receiving end of a platform full of people when a train gets delayed or cancelled...

Due to the delay I had to adjust my plans. I now needed to bail out at Lochailort rather than Locheilside. I went and spoke to the conductor to amend my request. On arrival at Lochailort the conductor apologised for the delay and mentioned the ScotRail Delay Repay scheme and told me to make sure I claimed. I'd already done it en route, so no issues there. I had around 80 minutes to wait at Lochailort, so off to the Lochailort Inn I went. A couple of beverages were enjoyed in there, and a couple of bottles taken away for the train back to Fort William. 156453 returned forming the Fort William bound service, the connection to the sleeper bus replacement of course long gone had anybody wanted it. The guard announced delay repay on arrival into Fort William.

As I had around 2 hours until my train back to Glenfinnan, I wonder which establishment in Fort William I may have visited for an evening meal and some refreshments...? Yup, like you even needed to guess, a trip to The Great Glen was in order. A rather nice Haggis+Pepperoni pizza was consumed along with an excess of lager before returning to the station for the last train of the night back to Glenfinnan. This was formed of 156499, which was rapidly becoming my Highland stalker! I went straight to sleep after I got back as I had an early start the next morning and was already rather tired.

Sounds like a good trip

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 3. 3rd October 2019

Yawn. Daylight hadn't broken yet. I knew from the off that this was going to be a very long day, and I'd just had one of the worst night's sleep I'd ever had. I seriously considered rolling over and going back to sleep, but resisted and headed to the trains! I'd changed my plan quite a bit for today, but my first move was 156499. I was expecting this though as it'd stabled at Mallaig overnight. I was on this train for around two and a half hours to Upper Tyndrum. I got as comfy as I could at a table and enjoyed the lovely sunrise. I was expecting that we'd be gaining at least 2 more coaches at Fort William, but much to my surprise we didn't.

After Fort William I began to notice just how cold it had become. I had to put my coat back on, which of course meant I wouldn't feel the benefit when I got outside! I also took the opportunity of indulging in a hot drink off the trolley, something I very rarely do. Last time I had a hot drink was probably when I was working nights in February! The journey over Rannoch Moor was as stunning as ever, and I was dropped off at Upper Tyndrum on time. I'm sure it was colder there than at Glenfinnan pre-7AM! The Hospitality Steward heard me comment on the temperature and mentioned it was the first time this year he'd had to defrost his car. Winter is coming... Still, we both agreed, the cold is FAR easier to deal with than the swarms of Highland midges that pollute the place in the summer. I had just over an hour to wrap up and try not to freeze. After around half an hour a couple of other people arrived on the platform, a couple on holiday from Bristol. We sat chatting for around half an hour until we thought we heard a train approaching. Turned out it was the Oban bound train rattling along the jointed track at the bottom of the hill.

156446+156477 arrived forming the Mallaig train, which I was originally going to bail off at Roy Bridge. However as this would have meant a very long fester at Tulloch the same evening, I decided to alight this service at Tulloch instead. I'd already been told that there is nothing there, so I simply took a seat on the opposite platform for around 40 minutes. My next stop was to be a special one. Ever since I'd heard of the existence of Corrour, I'd wanted to visit. Well, this was it. 156453+156445 arrived to take me one stop back down the line to Corrour. I had a real sense of excitement and anticipation for this one so was really looking forward to it.

I alighted with a few walkers, with another group boarding. Unsurprisingly it was rather cold up here! I took a few pictures before heading into the Corrour station house. I had around 3 hours to waste, so best get comfy! Immediately a few sofas round a coffee table by a log fire caught my eye, so I instantly decided I was sitting there. I headed over to the counter, pondering at the choice of beer. I chose a bottle and handed over Five Pounds for it(!!!) I had a little nosey at the visitor book, something I often like doing and noticed an entry that caught my eye. “Third visit this year, we PROMISE not to come back! Until next year... Geoff and Vicki, ATS" I wonder who that might be...

I settled into the sofa with my drink simply admiring the view out of the window. It was every bit as nice as I'd hoped it would be and I was already making mental plans to come back and stay at the Signal Box B&B. When I went for another drink, I noticed the bookcase next to the counter stocked up with various books for sale including The Railway Adventures. I picked one up and noticed a sign saying these had been signed by the authors. They had been signed specifically for sale at Corrour too, so I couldn't not buy one could I! I had a look at the cakes and decided to indulge in a very nice looking chocolate brownie with my adult beverage. This was starting to get rather expensive! But given the unique surroundings of where I was, and more importantly the warmth provided by that nice log fire, I couldn't care less.

Eventually the time came for me to use the ‘First Class Toilet' and return back to the platform. Unlike Geoff however, I don't think I'd go as far as calling Corrour my favourite station. Most impressive and striking view from a station, certainly. But I think my favourite station would have to be Okehampton, though I'm not sure if I should count that due to it being on a preserved railway. I'd have to think long and hard about my favourite station maintained by a TOC. 156476 and an unidentified colleague rolled in to take me up to Spean Bridge. Spean Bridge was a pleasant station with a restaurant on the platform, though unfortunately it was closed. I had around two hours here, so took a seat on the bench on the Fort William bound platform and carried on reading the book I'd purchased at Corrour. It wasn't the shortest of distances between platforms here, so don't attempt too tight of a connection here unless you're a good runner and/or something's late.

156477+156446 took me one stop down the line back to Roy Bridge. Thanks to the Sleepers being cancelled (have I mentioned that...) I had my longest fester of the week by far here. I had planned to alight and wait around 2 hours for the sleeper but due to the cancellation I was here for almost 4 hours. Such fun! I had a bit of a laugh at the “ZZ” Sleeper stop sign before heading off to the pub. I indulged in some nice, but fairly expensive food before returning to the station. This killed around an hour and a half quite nicely. I was sat on the seats at the end of the platform, which I'm fairly sure I nodded off in as it was nearly dark when I'd got back to the station. I ended up moving into the shelter as a deluge of heavy rain arrived, noticing that the Caledonian Sleeper totem still didn't work-not that it was much use at the moment... thankfully the wifi still worked, so I spent the next hour watching YouTube videos.

156456 arrived around 15 minutes late, taking my fester over the 4 hour mark. Thankfully that's almost certainly the last time I'll have a fester that long! It was around an hour back to Glenfinnan which honestly couldn't come soon enough. I'd sleep well tonight, that's for sure!

Hardcore festers on the West Highland

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 4. 4th October 2019

I did indeed sleep well last night! I started my day on the 09:05 to Arisaig, formed of 156476+156499. This is one of the most spectacular parts of the line, and also where most of the shacks I still had left were located. It was looking like a very sunny and beautiful day, not bad for early October and certainly not bad for my last full day in the Highlands (Boo!) As I alighted at Arisaig, a couple of other passengers joined me on the Southbound platform. I had around 40 minutes, so took advantage of the sunlight by charging my solar power bank until the train arrived.

It was a short(ish) ride back to Locheilside on a fairly busy train, the return working of the 156s I'd arrived on. The guard was astounded to have had to stop at all 3 of the request stops too! I had around an hour and a half here at Locheilside but thankfully the shelter had a proper bench in it. I've still not worked out what Locheilside station is actually meant to serve, it's right next to a main road with no evidence of civilisation in sight. I suppose that's why trains only stop on request!

I eventually saw the Mallaig bound train approaching, so made my intent clear and boarded 156458+156446. An extra bonus being that 156458 was required! It was the same conductor who dropped me off at Glenfinnan the night I'd started my adventure, she'd said she was wondering if it'd be me stopping the train at Locheilside [which probably says a lot about the station's useage!] and was very keen to know how I was getting on. She hurried to the cab and ordered passengers not to miss the approaching sight of the Glenfinnan viaduct, to get on the left hand side of the train and have cameras at the ready. Everyone duly complied, which was easier said than done! There were quite a few people stood down below taking pictures of the train crossing over too. I thought I was here “Off Season" so was amazed to see so many tourists! The amount of foreign languages I'd heard being spoken on the trains too was quite something.

We were greeted into Mallaig by the sight of The Jacobite waiting for it’s departure, unfortunately with the loco off the platform preventing a picture of the loco+units side by side. I had around 2.5 hours until the return working of the ScotRail service, it would have been nice to have gone on the steam but it wouldn't get me to the stations I still had left-but more importantly, it was fully booked. I looked into catching a ferry over to Skye as this was the third time I'd been in sight of Skye but had never been. There was plenty of availability going over there, but nothing back until after the last train had departed. Ah well, there were two good reasons to come back!

After a PNB I visited the excellent chip shop by the station for a haggis supper, noticing an explanation on the menu for the tourists what the difference between “Single" and “Supper" was. (No one told me, I had to work it out!) Once I'd finished my excellent lunch, off to the pub I went. Obviously. After a few pints of Scotland’s favourite beer, I went for a supply raid in the Co-Op before returning to the station and requested to alight at Beasdale before boarding the same busy pair of 156s I'd arrived on.

I managed to get a table on the left side of the train, and it was a good job I did. As we arrived into Arisaig, I noticed an object on the armrest of the bench on the platform which intrigued me as I thought it looked a bit like my solar power bank. Curiosity soon turned into horror when I realised “Oh S*it, that IS my power bank!” I dashed to the doors and had a word with the guard, who allowed my to go and get it. Neither of us could believe that after nearly 7 hours it was still there. At least it was fully charged!

I alighted at Beasdale for a fester of around 50 minutes. There was no phone signal here, and judging by a walk to exit from the platform, not much else here either. The PIS wasn't functioning, presumably due to it having no signal. The shelter here was a nice wooden hut which was actually a surprisingly pleasant little place to wait for a train. The fester passed quite quickly before I flagged down 156477 to take me most of the way back to Mallaig. I had originally planned to stay on this service to Mallaig for a supply raid, but that would have meant spending 3.5 hours in Morar earlier, which I wasn't keen on. As such by doing it now, I only had about 40 minutes to wait.

Around 5 other passengers alighted at Morar which I wasn't really expecting. This was a big moment now, for Morar was the last station on the West Highland Line I still needed to visit. So therefore, “WHL, Tick!” But this felt different to the North Highlands. If I'm honest, when I was stood at Beauly that Monday morning back in August to clear everything North of Inverness, I felt a sense of relief. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, but it was starting to feel like a bit of a chore heading out of Inverness at 7AM on 4 consecutive days to sit (ok... sleep) on a 158 for several hours before having another day of long rural festers. I felt a sense of sadness actually, I wasn't ready to head back home the following morning. I could have quite happily stayed up there for another few days if it weren't for the engineering works the following week or so.

Ah well, I think a little celebration is in order! 156477 returned on the last Fort William service, however I didn't bail out at Glenfinnan. So where was I going I wonder...? Yes. Of course. ‘Spoons! It went dark outside during this journey to Fort William, so there is little to comment on except mentally saying “Been there" at every station we called at. Once at Fort William, I noticed around 15-20 people sat in the Caledonian Sleeper Guest Lounge which, if I'm honest was more than I was expecting given the lengthy bus replacement being provided. A decent couple of hours were had in Fort William’s ‘Spoons featuring several celebratory adult beverages before the stagger back to the station. 156476 was my chariot back to Glenfinnan, and I seemed to have built up a reputation with the Mallaig guards. The guard on this one walked through and simply asked me “Glenfinnan, aye?”. Not bad for 300 miles from home!

Once back in the hostel, not feeling the desire to sleep just yet, I took a seat in the lounge area of the Sleeper carriage which was simply some Mk2 seating around tables, all original of course! The TV didn't seem to work so I put my phone on charge in the kitchen area and continued typing up these reports. A couple of ladies arrived, having just travelled up from Edinburgh together. They made a brew (I was still on the adult beverages! I offered but they politely declined.) and we sat chatting for a while. That's one of the things I love most about travelling, the people you can meet and the stories you can both tell and hear. After the people I was talking to had gone, I noticed the wifi password on the noticeboard. Could have done with that earlier in the week! I sat there for a while messing about with my tablet, until I noticed the time. 01:31. Oops! So much for staying up “for a bit”...

Certainly, and clearly, an enjoyable time in the West Highlands! Tennents, ah yes I have memories of that stuff from years back, couldn't drink that now though

A lovely report Mr.143, long testers aside it reads as a fantastic part of the country and I can't wait to get started up there myself.

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 5. 5th October 2019

I woke up later than intended, probably not surprisingly given I didn't get to sleep until nearly 2AM. I was leaving later this morning, as today was mostly about going home. The dining car had opened, so I headed over there for breakfast. Would've been rude not to really wouldn't it! It wasn't the cheapest bacon, egg and black pudding barm I've ever had but it was very nice. I returned to my compartment to collect my luggage and headed over to the Fort William bound platform. A busy 156476 rolled in with the same excellent guard I'd had to Mallaig the day before. I've since learnt she was featured in the TV programme, The World’s Most Beautiful Railway on Channel 4. Having seen the programme since, I can safely say she is exactly the same when the cameras aren't present.

We were talking until we left the platform, before she disappeared into the cab to tell us not to miss the viaduct. We also, unusually, had a catering trolley onboard too who seemed to be doing a decent trade. The atmosphere onboard was fantastic, most of which had been created by our excellent conductor. Sadly it was a bus replacement from Fort William, though we were assured we would be reunited with the railway at Crianlarich. Upon arrival into Fort William after one of the best journeys I've ever had, I took the opportunity to share some positive feedback I'd sent into ScotRail the previous day with the conductor herself. She was almost jumping with joy on the platform at Fort William! I said goodbye and headed out to the buses, boarding the first one to arrive.

The bus ride started off... meh. The bus was full and I’d sat on the wrong side for most of the Lochs, when we weren't too surrounded by trees to be able to see them. I carried on reading my book until we crossed the bridge into South Ballachulish, where Loch Leven was now on my side of the coach. The scenery suddenly became a lot more spectacular, and very different than from the train. The railway line is quite elevated, however the road was in the bottom of the valley. Heading towards Bridge of Orchy, the main worksite at the Horseshoe curve came into view. A short time later, we arrived into Crianlarich. The station was a trek up the “wee hill" and was unsurprisingly very busy. Bet the Tearoom are loving this blockade!

The train from Oban arrived, thankfully a 4 car formed of 156458+156500. The train was fairly busy already, though I couldn't see anyone having to stand. Had it been a 2 car, I think we'd have been lucky to all get onboard. The journey back to Glasgow was as stunning as ever especially now that it had stopped raining. We arrived into the building site of Glasgow Queen Street around 2 hours later. I had about 90 minutes to kill until the Manchester train, so that meant one thing. To the Subway!

I needed 7 Subway cars, which can be a pain to get as they're all numbered individually. The clock is ticking too, the first of the new stock is at Broomloan (sp?) Depot already. I reckoned there were 5 trains on each line, so it should take half an hour to see all the trains on one line. They are parallel lines though, and mostly island platforms. The first train I saw at Buchanan Street was dud, so was flagged. I noticed a winner drop in opposite, but this isn't an island platform so I had to flag it, noting the time of departure. They're easy enough to track with 2 minutes between stops and a 30 minute round trip. The next Outer Circle train has a required car so onboard I go. I took 107+118+110 round to Bridge Street for an island platform, and realised that 110 was required as well as 107. 2 out of 7 on my second train, and the gen that at least one more winner was out there. This was going well! A dud train passed on the Inner Circle before I boarded duds 126+208+111 on a fill in move to West Street, IDing another train as we arrived. 3 of 3 dud. At West Street, I'd ballsed up and let winner 105 go. Shortly afterwards though, I was given winner 104 along with duds 205+102 to make up for it. I took this to Bridge Street for an easy change onto an Outer Circle train. Duds 124+103+127 took me up to Cessnock in order to intercept the one I missed. I felt that was cutting it a bit tight to get my train home, but didn't care. I'd simply retire to ‘Spoons if I missed it. I had an 8 minute fester as Cessnock; I could have gone to Ibrox but I don't think that's an island platform and, y'know, effort. I got my reward for sticking it out, required 105+duds 204 and 113 back to St. Enoch.

I headed over to Glasgow Central with more time than I'd thought. 350406 dropped in to take me back down South. In traditional TPE fashion we were left on the platform stood outside our train until 9 minutes before departure. I boarded and took a seat at an unreserved table. The journey was pleasant enough, though the sight of an LNER HST passing near Beattock made me do a double take. I'd forgotten about the ECML diverts! It was starting to go dark as we crossed the border, after all it is early October now. (Where on earth has this year gone...) A Satsuma/Azuma/IET/Plastic Jap Crap/Whatever you want to call them arrived on the opposite platform which I managed to get a fairly decent photo of.

One thing I did notice was how less civilised the journey became the further South we got. In Cumbria we started to pick up people obviously going for a night out, the platform at Lancaster was rammed too. Most got off at Preston but that was when we picked up a group of football fans heading back to the wrong side of the Pennines, vocally discussing with each other that they didn't care about first class as “they shouldn't keep cancelling our F--- trains then" (though they clearly did care as none of them entered...) It appeared that 2 consecutive trains to Leeds had been cancelled, so they kinda had good reason to be unimpressed to be fair. On arrival at Piccadilly, I found out that the next York train had been cancelled. I'd be lying if I said I didn't giggle a bit.

Karma came to bite though, my train home was formed of 195120. We came to a stop on the viaduct, with Traksy suggesting we were tieing up to another unit at Occy Road. We coupled up and the doors were released. And now the problems started. Multiple alarms started ringing, which I'd mentally attributed to inebriated passengers being unable to use the bog controls properly. It turned out this was not the case. The guard came through the train with the driver visually checking all the passcoms. All was fine. The driver had to uncouple and recouple the trains and suddenly all was fine! This delayed us by around 20 minutes, which wasn't particularly welcome at the end of a long days travelling. What an amazing week that was. Granted I had excellent weather for it, but still. Onwards to the next week!

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 6. 6th October 2019

It was Sunday today. A day of rest, right? As Jim Royle would say, “Rest My Arse!” [actually, I did spend quite a bit of the day doing just that!]
Northern were having a day of rest on the Cheshire Lines however, so after a car move to Newton-le-Willows I boarded a busy 175113 for the journey to Manchester Piccadilly. I had one objection for today: Nova 3. I had the choice between taking the Hull train to Leeds for a quick change, or Huddersfield for a ‘Spoons move. Any guesses for where I bailed off 185142 this afternoon?

Yep. Of course. Huddersfield! It had been a lovely run over the hills and felt quite quick despite stopping twice en route. It wasn't particularly busy either, which has anyone who has ever seen a 185 will know, is rather unususl! One short walk down to The Lord Wilson later, I had a cold pint in my hand and a panini on order. My food came quicker than expected, a surprise as the pub was fairly busy. Once I'd ate and supped up I returned to the station. The Crime Street train was running a few minutes late, which was good as it gave me a few minutes to collect some advances. Required 68027 dropped in for the move to Liverpool. The train was busier than I expected given it's twice the size of everything else, but I got a pair of airline seats in Coach D for the run to Scouseland.

PHWOAR! You could hear the 68 clearly through Stanedge tunnel two coaches back! Though TPE drivers seem to love creating maximum tunnel thrash on the 185s, so I suppose it wasn't unexpected. This is the future. The future is good. Loco hauled trains over the Pennines, that finished years ago, right? Nope! One thing I will comment on though is the window/seat alignment in Standard Class. It's an absolute disgrace. There's around 2 tables per coach perfectly aligned and the panels between windows are quite big. Bigger than on Pendos I'd say. We were held outside Manchester Victoria for a few minutes before arriving into a very busy platform. Turned out the train before this had been cancelled, which explained things. There was standing room only leaving Manchester, but plenty of it. I dread to think how full a 185 would have been.

We arrived into Liverpool after a truly Superb run over the hills where, as expected, we were all kicked off the train whilst it was litter picked on reserved. Doing this meant the train left 3 minutes late. I noticed the reservation screens did not match the paper reservations in some cases. My seat was available according to paper and pixels, so all was good. An unexpected and, if I'm honest, unwelcome surprise came after passing Newton-le-Willows. Another 68 set passed! It turned out it was in service so I had to try and work out how to intercept it on it's way back from Liverpool. My planned ‘Spoons move in York was hastily abandoned in favour of getting the 68 from Leeds to York. This was a gamble though as I didn't know which set it was.

It was a fairly busy (as in, most pairs of seats had at least one person in them) run across the Pennines. I was sat up front in the Driving Trailer as the platform had looked busy at Crime Street. The ride was fairly quiet, though you could hear the 68 whilst in a tunnel. Much like the new Northern units, the ride was noticeably rougher over the bogies with the same ‘knocking' sound from underneath as heard on the 195 fleet. I'd decided to bail at Leeds to simply wait for the one an hour behind. I headed off to pass that hour in the station ‘Spoons, which is imaginatively called “Wetherspoons". This was a special one for me though as my first legal drink was in there. Needless to say, I've had many since! (He says, swigging a can of Kronenbourg as he types)

The hour soon passed before I returned to the platforms via the refurbished concourse. The gateline seems to be in a better place and it feels a lot more open. But all those seats have gone! I'm assuming it's still a work in progress though as one end is completely open. My gamble paid off. I was talking to a conductor on the footbridge before heading down to board the Scarborough service, so had to rush to see required 68030 roll in. I'd have liked more mileage from it, but that would have meant a very late night. Not something I was keen on doing for no real reason. Let's face it, these 68s aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I bailed at York and admired it leave along with an off duty dispatcher, both of us almost missing our train due to standing about chatting!
The island platforms of 10/11 were quite busy, however most people were heading North. A fairly lightly loaded 185105 rolled in to take us back west, settling into a table seat for the 90 minute journey back to Manchester Oxford Road. We picked up quite a few passengers at Leeds, but it wasn't nearly as busy as it looked like it was going to be. We had a good run across the hills, arriving into Occy Road on time. Amazingly, Northern hadn't cancelled my train home! So after a 20 minute wait, it was time to board 156440+156475 back home. Not a bad little trip out for a Sunday!

Glad to hear the 68 sets are actually working at long last! I really will have to get up north and do one of them. Still got to find my last 185 so, umm, yeah I must get organised!

Nice reports ... it's been a joy to read them.

I like the comment : "I'd have liked more mileage from it, but that would have meant a very late night. Not something I was keen on doing for no real reason."

'No real reason' ! ... coming off the back of 5 days pootling around on trains in the back of beyond of Scotland.

Sir, you have far more commitment and stamina than I - I salute you.

433N said:

Nice reports ... it's been a joy to read them.

I like the comment : "I'd have liked more mileage from it, but that would have meant a very late night. Not something I was keen on doing for no real reason."

'No real reason' ! ... coming off the back of 5 days pootling around on trains in the back of beyond of Scotland.

Sir, you have far more commitment and stamina than I - I salute you.

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Oh I'm not nearly done yet!

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 7. 7th October 2019

I was now into the second week of my holiday however I had no plans at all for this week, so I decided to stay at home and do nothing all week.
And... then I woke up. I was looking at the tantalisingly few stations I need North of the border. Wouldn't it be great if... No. Surely not. I decided to go and get a couple in today however, so headed to the station for 195117 to Manchester Piccadilly. The train was fairly busy as usual as it's the first off peak express service from Warrington. I opted to stand by the door as it's only a 15 minute or so journey.

As I alighted at Piccadilly, I noticed a P-Way gang looking at the mid platform signal on platform 14, with Traksy showing a block. That could be fun! Services weren't held for long though, my 10:26 to Edinburgh was only 6 late. 350408 looked like it could be quite busy, though it was fine. I got a table seat in the front carriage which was reserved from Carlisle. I like this service as after leaving Oxford Road it only calls at Preston and Carlisle before arriving into Haymarket. It was a cracking run up through Cumbria this morning and I believe most of our lost time was made up by Haymarket where I bailed out.

I had a fair bit of time to kill, so had a couple of services to ID before leaving. The Aberdeen and Inverness both produced dud Flymos, so I boarded the Glenrothes stopper. I took a seat in the declassified first class section on dud 170411 for the slow run along the coast to Kirkcaldy. The scenery alongside the coast is lovely, well worth a trip if you haven't done it. I bailed off at Kirkcaldy for a quick ‘Spoons move. That haggis pizza was washed down very well with a pint of Tennent's (how Scottish!) Before quickly heading back to the station. Required 170419 formed my next move up to Ladybank, a required shack. Ladybank was a pleasant enough shack to spend 20 minutes at before boarding dud 170433 up to Broughty Ferry. It was a nice day, so the view over the Tay bridge was particularly striking. I didn't need Broughty Ferry, but it formed a convenient bail out point.

I crossed the road and boarded Stagecoach’s route 73 with bus 13055 providing the traction. I'm fairly sure this route is unique in having a conductor onboard for ticket, despite a ticket machine being fitted in the driver's cab. The conductor came and charged me £1.60 for a single to Balmossie, which seemed quite reasonable. I bailed out and walked down to the station. I've actually been here before, but had to be rescued by a taxi as ScotRail had cancelled the train. As such, I needed to return in order to board a train here. I had around an hour to fester which passed quickly. Balmossie is a lovely little station with an impressive view across the water. I noticed the PIS changed to “Delayed". Don't you dare. Don't even THINK about it.

It seemed that all was ok though as winner 170417 droned in approximately 10 minutes late. I took this 170 just one stop up the line to Monifieth. A quick walk to Tesco was undertaken for a supply raid before heading back home. On my return journey I had an 11 minute connection at Haymarket and an 8 minute connection at Manchester Oxford Road onto the last train home. What could possibly go wrong? Time to get started at least as required 170404 droned in to take me back to the capital. We seemed to be losing time after Dundee and at one point was running 7 minutes late. Nail biting time! I had to giggle at the passenger across the aisle who asked for a “half to Kirkcaldy” to immediately receive the answer “Do you really think I'm going to do you a half when I can see your driving licence in your wallet ?”

We clawed back most of the delay, so I was easily able to make the connection onto 350409 back to Manchester. The train was pretty empty as expected, so I secured an unreserved table seat no issue at all. Predictably it soon went Tango Uniform as some clown decided to let a freight out infront of us. By Carstairs we were 15 late. That was my connection long gone. I wondered if we'd make up a bit of time, but didn't for a second expect that we may make up much. I kept an eye on things on Realtime Trains-by Preston we were only about 9 late. A glimmer of hope maybe...

Our fate was now solely in the hands of the signallers, so I still had little confidence of making the connection. But... never say never. And indeed I was lucky. Arrival into Oxford Road was only 3 minutes behind schedule! I headed over to platform 5 to board a busy 156423 back home.

Nice little day trip to Tayside

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 8. 8th October 2019

Yawn. I unsurprisingly was in no rush to wake up this morning after such a long trip the previous day, so I decided to dedicate today to my other hobby; Wetherspoon’s! I was only staying locally as it was early afternoon now, but I knew I could get some ticks anyway. I headed to the station to board 156423 (hello again you!) To Manchester Oxford Road. I was talking to the conductor who outed himself as a fellow ‘Spoons fan. He asked where I was going, but I was having a very rare day out with no plan whatsoever. I was simply seeing where the rails took me! I bailed at Occy Road and boarded the Hazel Grove service, formed of 319364. I'd boarded with the intention of going to Piccadilly, but couldn't be bothered getting off. Stockport it is then!

I was a little surprised that this one was still required, but it was. The walk from the station took around 8 minutes, though it felt longer to be honest. A pint of Kronenbourg was had in the Calverts Court, not my favourite ‘Spoons if I'm honest! I had been told at work that this one wasn't the best so wasn't expecting much. I decided to head back to the station and decide on my next move when I arrived. 323226 pulled in working a Stoke stopper, so I decided to jump on that. It's been far too long since my last 323 trip! I looked at the map and saw a ‘Spoons in Poynton so opted to bail out there. Poynton is a very quaint little station with a traditional black+white sign of “To The Village". I followed this and after a pleasant walk of around 15 minutes, arrived at The Kingfisher.

Despite being a fairly modern pub, it was very pleasant inside. There was a fair wait to be served due to a couple of elderly ladies in front of me taking their time ordering and not having checked their table number. Never mind, it'll be us one day! I got my pint and found a table. I had a look on Realtime Trains and saw that the next Stoke service was a few minutes delayed, so wasn't in a rush. I made the trek back to the station in time to see 323234 drop in to take me to Macclesfield. I was tempted by the ‘Spoons in Buxton, however I wouldn't have been able to visit the Macclesfield establishment and catch the bus I needed. Ah well. The 323 was quite busy and didn't really empty out at any point. Sure, a lot got off at Macclesfield, but plenty more got on.

It wasn't a long walk down to the Society Rooms, a very pleasant drinking establishment. I had a look on Google Maps to find another ‘Spoons to visit this evening. I supped up and returned to the station with the intention of heading to The Unicorn in Altrincham. As you might expect, things didn't quite go to plan. I boarded a rammed 220005 to Stockport, though we lost time waiting for a platform. This delay was sufficient enough to make me miss my connection. I had an early start the following morning, so I decided to board 158810+158846 on the Liverpool service and head off home.

185143 said:

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 8. 8th October 2019

Yawn. I unsurprisingly was in no rush to wake up this morning after such a long trip the previous day, so I decided to dedicate today to my other hobby; Wetherspoon’s! I was only staying locally as it was early afternoon now, but I knew I could get some ticks anyway. I headed to the station to board 156423 (hello again you!) To Manchester Oxford Road. I was talking to the conductor who outed himself as a fellow ‘Spoons fan. He asked where I was going, but I was having a very rare day out with no plan whatsoever. I was simply seeing where the rails took me! I bailed at Occy Road and boarded the Hazel Grove service, formed of 319364. I'd boarded with the intention of going to Piccadilly, but couldn't be bothered getting off. Stockport it is then!

I was a little surprised that this one was still required, but it was. The walk from the station took around 8 minutes, though it felt longer to be honest. A pint of Kronenbourg was had in the Calverts Court, not my favourite ‘Spoons if I'm honest! I had been told at work that this one wasn't the best so wasn't expecting much. I decided to head back to the station and decide on my next move when I arrived. 323226 pulled in working a Stoke stopper, so I decided to jump on that. It's been far too long since my last 323 trip! I looked at the map and saw a ‘Spoons in Poynton so opted to bail out there. Poynton is a very quaint little station with a traditional black+white sign of “To The Village". I followed this and after a pleasant walk of around 15 minutes, arrived at The Kingfisher.

Despite being a fairly modern pub, it was very pleasant inside. There was a fair wait to be served due to a couple of elderly ladies in front of me taking their time ordering and not having checked their table number. Never mind, it'll be us one day! I got my pint and found a table. I had a look on Realtime Trains and saw that the next Stoke service was a few minutes delayed, so wasn't in a rush. I made the trek back to the station in time to see 323234 drop in to take me to Macclesfield. I was tempted by the ‘Spoons in Buxton, however I wouldn't have been able to visit the Macclesfield establishment and catch the bus I needed. Ah well. The 323 was quite busy and didn't really empty out at any point. Sure, a lot got off at Macclesfield, but plenty more got on.

It wasn't a long walk down to the Society Rooms, a very pleasant drinking establishment. I had a look on Google Maps to find another ‘Spoons to visit this evening. I supped up and returned to the station with the intention of heading to The Unicorn in Altrincham. As you might expect, things didn't quite go to plan. I boarded a rammed 220005 to Stockport, though we lost time waiting for a platform. This delay was sufficient enough to make me miss my connection. I had an early start the following morning, so I decided to board 158810+158846 on the Liverpool service and head off home.

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Always good to get a few ticks when doing 'other things', sometimes we can dedicate too much time solely to this hobby! Were you on a particular ticket to pull in that area?

Andy Pacer said:

Always good to get a few ticks when doing 'other things', sometimes we can dedicate too much time solely to this hobby! Were you on a particular ticket to pull in that area?

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The GM Wayfarer is great for that sort of thing. Includes the tram and buses too in a much bigger area than just Greater Manchester. (Warrington, Buxton, Macclesfield, Chorley, Glossop and into North Staffordshire by bus!)

Nice report 143. I can now add you to my book of sights when you alighted at Tyndrum Upper.

I thought that the person who got off there might be a member of this group; now I know.

I had been on the same line for a couple of days but doing pub crawls in Fort William and Mallaig. I'll go into any pub that has cask beer including Spoons but you wouldn't find me with Tennants or any other industrial fizz.

I was hoping to catch the sleeper up there but as they couldn't be a*sed after the strike and before the line closure, I spent overnight in Glasgow. I went up the WHL on the same day as you but started on the morning ex Queen St - again 3x156 (156474/7/500) with the front one (500) going to Oban and the remaining two for Mallaig which operated almost RT. I bailed at Banavie for the two pubs there and a look at Neptune's Staircase; the locks at the start of the Caledonian Canal. The PA in my unit wasn't working so I missed the announcement about local door only in the middle of the train and has to sprint through from the back unit to alight.

This was followed by a 3 mile walk back into Ft William in the blazing sun - what an excellent period of weather whilst as you say it was bucketing down further south. Saw the Jacobite arrive and then your train arrive and depart before continuing down the High St pubs. The Travelodge there is above the Spoons and a brand new bar from Black Isle Brewery opened in the square there on the Wednesday evening

On the Wednesday, I tried to buy a walk up ticket for the Jacobite behind 45407 but it was full so I caught the lunchtime Mallaig (156474/7 again) and your working and mine passed at Ft William. After visiting all 4 cask ale pubs in Mallaig, I boarded the same units for the 1605 back to Fort William; luckily the Jacobite departed just after we arrived so the village wasn't too busy. On the way back I noticed your train was late, so I expected a long stop at Glenfinnan awaiting your train to cross. However we set off straight away, so it looks like someone took the decision to delay your departure. I guess the rationale was that once we were clear you had an unimpeded run to Mallaig whereas if my train was delayed it would impact further down the line.

The problem on the Wednesday was a set of sticking points just north of Ardlui and not helped by running an extra ECS off the Jacobite and a southbound freight that morning. After you got off at Tyndrum next day we got held at Ardlui as the points were being temperamental again, so causing more delays.

I finished back in Glasgow for the night after riding the Subway (now all seen for sight and 3 to go for haulage) and visiting more pubs. There's a Spoons next to Anniesland station (The Esquire House) if you have not been.

Anyway congratulations for doing all the shacks and I would echo your comments that everyone should have a ride on the West Highland Line with its spectacular and ever changing scenery. And how lucky we were to do it in good weather.

Cheers.

185143 said:

The GM Wayfarer is great for that sort of thing. Includes the tram and buses too in a much bigger area than just Greater Manchester. (Warrington, Buxton, Macclesfield, Chorley, Glossop and into North Staffordshire by bus!)

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Excellent to know thanks

CHAPS2034 said:

Nice report 143. I can now add you to my book of sights when you alighted at Tyndrum Upper.

I thought that the person who got off there might be a member of this group; now I know.

I had been on the same line for a couple of days but doing pub crawls in Fort William and Mallaig. I'll go into any pub that has cask beer including Spoons but you wouldn't find me with Tennants or any other industrial fizz.

I was hoping to catch the sleeper up there but as they couldn't be a*sed after the strike and before the line closure, I spent overnight in Glasgow. I went up the WHL on the same day as you but started on the morning ex Queen St - again 3x156 (156474/7/500) with the front one (500) going to Oban and the remaining two for Mallaig which operated almost RT. I bailed at Banavie for the two pubs there and a look at Neptune's Staircase; the locks at the start of the Caledonian Canal. The PA in my unit wasn't working so I missed the announcement about local door only in the middle of the train and has to sprint through from the back unit to alight.

This was followed by a 3 mile walk back into Ft William in the blazing sun - what an excellent period of weather whilst as you say it was bucketing down further south. Saw the Jacobite arrive and then your train arrive and depart before continuing down the High St pubs. The Travelodge there is above the Spoons and a brand new bar from Black Isle Brewery opened in the square there on the Wednesday evening

On the Wednesday, I tried to buy a walk up ticket for the Jacobite behind 45407 but it was full so I caught the lunchtime Mallaig (156474/7 again) and your working and mine passed at Ft William. After visiting all 4 cask ale pubs in Mallaig, I boarded the same units for the 1605 back to Fort William; luckily the Jacobite departed just after we arrived so the village wasn't too busy. On the way back I noticed your train was late, so I expected a long stop at Glenfinnan awaiting your train to cross. However we set off straight away, so it looks like someone took the decision to delay your departure. I guess the rationale was that once we were clear you had an unimpeded run to Mallaig whereas if my train was delayed it would impact further down the line.

The problem on the Wednesday was a set of sticking points just north of Ardlui and not helped by running an extra ECS off the Jacobite and a southbound freight that morning. After you got off at Tyndrum next day we got held at Ardlui as the points were being temperamental again, so causing more delays.

I finished back in Glasgow for the night after riding the Subway (now all seen for sight and 3 to go for haulage) and visiting more pubs. There's a Spoons next to Anniesland station (The Esquire House) if you have not been.

Anyway congratulations for doing all the shacks and I would echo your comments that everyone should have a ride on the West Highland Line with its spectacular and ever changing scenery. And how lucky we were to do it in good weather.

Cheers.

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A post for the "Seeing Forum Members unexpectedly" thread?

I did notice a delay reason given as signalling issues, so I guess that explains it. I too only need 3 Subway cars for haulage which I really need to crack on with getting. The Esquire House was my first Scottish 'Spoons actually!

I've done the Oban line in the howling wind and rain, again in snow and again on a sunny day. It's very different each time, but just as lovely.

Thanks for posting, small world eh?

“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.

Day 9. 9th October 2019

Early starts after a poor night sleep are never fun. However, this was for something special and meant I wouldn't be seeing home again for 2 days. It was that early that it necessitated an early morning car move into Manchester, this was starting to feel like I was on my way to work! I parked in my usual car park on Sheffield Street, just round the back of Piccadilly station, £3.50 for 24 hours. I headed up to platform 14 via Sainbury's and awaited arrival of the Edinburgh train. Yup, I was off to Scotland again! I looked up at the PIS and my heart sank. The train was 6 late, not a concern at all. But the next thing was. “Formed of 3 coaches".

Sadly the board was correct. 185149 was my chariot to Scotland this morning. If all goes to plan, and that was a big “IF”, this would be my last shack scratching trip to Scotland until Robroyston opens in (allegedly) December. I remember my first trip North of the border back in First ScotRail days, just a wee run up to Dumfries on a North West Rover. Of course, to a 14 year old, that felt so adventurous at the time! I vivdly remember boarding this freshly liveried Saltire 156 with the old low back SPT seats inside. I didn't know what they were at the time, but I recall being taken aback at how much better these were than the Northern units I pretty much lived on. Anyway, enough of the reminiscing and back to the future.

I managed to get a seat, albeit a tip down one. It'd do for now I suppose. The Customer Host offered to keep an eye out for a better seat, which I was very grateful for. The host onboard today had worked quite a few of the trains I've been on for a random jaunt to Scotland, so he had a good idea where I was travelling to! He found me a seat after Preston, the view was a bit restricted but there aren't really many seats on a 185 you can't see outside from so it was fine really. I'd expected the train to be busier than it was really, we only seemed to have standing passengers after Lockerbie and even then they were comfortably stood in the vestibule with plenty of space. I was ready for FAR worse than that!

We arrived into Edinburgh around 5 minutes late into platform 7. One thing I hate about Edinburgh Waverley is the platform layout and allocations. I'd thought platform 7 was one of the bays. It isn't. Platform 7 is halfway to Dunbar! You watch the retail area of the station, ticket barriers and half of an LNER Azuma parked in a bay platform go past before eventually coming to a stand. I went up to Subway for breakfast, a very nice Mega Melt sub. One thing I like about Subway, especially whilst bashing, is the soft drinks are unlimited. So if festering for a while, it's rather handy. Certainly beats buying an expensive first class ticket to use the posh lounge!

As it was now past 10AM before heading back to the platforms I popped into Sainbury's for some refreshments, something slightly stronger than Subway's drinks machine can dispense. I'd intended to get some of Scotland's favourite beer, however there was none left! I had to make do with my usual tipple instead then-I didn't really mind, I've put rather a lot of Tennent's away this month!

I'd just crossed the border on a train that is widely regarded as being too short. My next move could have been on another train which is also too short however I'd booked myself onto an LNER HST. Oh how unfortunate(!) A very lightly loaded 43319+43296 dropped in working the Aberdeen service. We were very “Q Word" on departure as well but picked up far more passengers than I'd expected at Haymarket. There was also a change of crew at Haymarket, which surprised me. This was the first time I'd been North of Haymarket on LNER so I was looking forward to it-though part of me thought doing a Scottish Intercity journey on a TOC with “London" in the name felt wrong. At least I was heading to the North East though! I thought I'd sat on right side for the views across the Fife Coast but I hadn't. Moving now would have meant giving up my table... no thanks. I've travelled the route many times now so wasn't too fussed really.
The ride over the Tay Bridge was as impressive as ever-much more so than the Forth Bridge if you ask me. Yes, the Forth Bridge is an icon and is far more appealing to look at than the Tay Bridge, but the Tay bridge is MUCH longer. I remember one of my first trips across it seeing a full length LNER HST in the distance before the curve seemingly totally dwarfed by the size of the structure it was crossing. You can also see some of the foundations of the original bridge as well if you know where to look. Predictably a lot of people got off at Dundee so I shifted across to a table with a sea view. Once again the sun was out so it was a stunning ride along the Tayside Coast and into Angus. Arrival into Aberdeen was about 5 minutes early too.

No rest for me here, no even a ‘Spoons move. As I alighted I remembered I hadn't ID'd the rear power car. One of the First Class hosts on the platform kindly checked on his phone to save me the walk back from Coach C. As I walked towards the barriers, a ScotRail HST arrived. This meant there were now four HSTs in a line! This was starting to feel like London Paddington, especially as the ScotRail HSTs are all former Western sets! I got a picture just before one was dispatched which was lucky. I'd hoped for a HST on my next move, alas it wasn't to be. The boards apologised that this train only has 2 carriages today. A required 158723 dropped in which turned out to be quite busy. I'd not covered this bit of line before, so here was a nice wee treat. It's pleasant enough, though the journey into Aberdeen from Edinburgh is much more impressive. I was surprised at how many people boarded at Dyce having obviously come from the Airport. Don't get me wrong, not massive numbers, but a decent crowd got off and were replaced by other passengers boarding.

Huntly is a nice little station and is one of the passing points on the line. As such it isn't as clear as it could be which platform you need to be on. They seem to use the same platform at all times unless something is passing, but this is not mentioned. Unlike Dalwhinnie where a sign mentions that “During normal working, all trains depart from this platform. In the event of out of course workings, please see departure screens or use the [predictably not working] help point” a couple of passengers who were sat comfortably on the other side nearly missed the train as a result. I noticed the PIS mention that this service was formed of 4 coaches which led to me expecting a HST. This... didn't happen.

Duds 158709+158714 rolled in to take me back to Insch, which again is a pleasant station to wait at. There is a little museum in the station building which is mostly about the history of the town, in particular the Fire service, but there is a small railway section too which is worthy of a look if you're in the area. The volunteers on site were very knowledgeable and friendly, we got chatting and they were very keen to hear of my station adventures and shared a few tales of their own travels too-which can often be interesting to hear. Apparently one of, if not the busiest day in the museum's recent history was when a train broke down at Insch station and had to detrain with the following service 2 hours behind. This was before the pub across the road had reopened, so the only way for people to really pass the time was to visit the museum. Bet that was cosy!

It was time to say goodbye and return to the platform for required 158703 down to Dyce. “But what about Inverurie?” I hear you say. Well, there's a method to this madness! (Stop laughing. I'm serious...) and I bet some people could already guess what I had in mind too. Obviously I knew Dyce was the station for Aberdeen Airport, but I hadn't quite realised how close to the runway the station was! We crawled through the construction site of Kintore station, which looks to be some way off being finished yet. I had a fun half an hour at Dyce watching the planes fly past including a flight from Manchester.

An empty dud 158701 dropped in working the Inverurie service. It was only a short hop back up to Inverurie but a very significant one. The announcement came on that “The next stop is Inverurie, where this train terminates” It wasn't just the train that terminated here, it was also my Scottish adventure. Inverurie was my last station in Scotland to tick off! I'd looked at what I had left earlier in the week and decided that Inverurie should be my last station, solely due to the presence of a nearby ‘Spoons. It turned out I'd picked a railway themed ‘Spoons! What a lovely surprise. The name “The Gordon Highlander" bore no significance to me whatsoever, it turned out to be an F Class steam loco built in Inverurie! After a very generous portion of haggis on a panini and plenty of celebratory liquid refreshment, I headed back to the station. 158701 had returned from Stonehaven now and formed a shuttle to Aberdeen. I think I had the carriage to myself on that service, it was dead.

I'd had another surprise for this evening. I was heading down to London on the Caledonian Sleeper and since booking had found out that this would be the last ever trip being ran by the old stock. Nice! As I arrived into Aberdeen with around 90 minutes to kill, I noticed an email which made my heart drop. “CALEDONIAN SLEEPER SERVICE DISRUPTION” I opened it mentally muttering swear words and braced for the worst however they were simply informing me that the lounge car facility was unavailable due to a power failure, so no food/drink would be available. This wasn't really an issue for me as I was a peasant in the seated coach, though I would have liked to have partaken in a drink or 5.

Ah well, time to head for ‘Spoons! The Justice Mill was my pub of choice this evening, a nice enough walk down Union Street which was far busier than I was expecting! The pub was rammed as well and as I'd spent time en route charging my phone at a BT wifi point, I only had time for the one beverage before needing to return to the station as I wanted pop into Sainsbury's and board early. I was surprised to see a full half set in the platform though, I suppose the passengers booked on the Fort William portion need accommodating somewhere.

The staff operating the check in were stood by Coach B, so I headed past the currently empty seated coach noticing the lounge car in total darkness. I was asked which coach I was booked in, then passed over to another member of staff. He had to deliver the devastating news that the seated coach was out of use and I had to be upgraded to a room. How devastating! I was directed to room 7 with a warning that they couldn't guarantee solo occupancy, but it was looking good and he'd do his best. The duff that was hauling earlier in the week had predictably jacked at Ladybank so had been replaced by 73968+73971. I got some pictures of the compartment for history’s sake before messing it up. I heard the whistle go outside and we started to move. I plugged in my phone for some much needed charge before sitting up in the bed with my tablet out working on these reports, consuming several tins whilst doing so, of course.

What a sendoff to both the old sleeper stock and to Scotland itself!

CHAPS2034 said:

I finished back in Glasgow for the night after riding the Subway (now all seen for sight and 3 to go for haulage) and visiting more pub

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Does that include the long term Christmas Tree 122?

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Congrats on clearing Scotland Jamie

Kite159 said:

Does that include the long term Christmas Tree 122?

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Certainly does, so I suspect that's one that won't be had then!