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Caledonian Sleeper

Bletchleyite

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20 Oct 2014
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"Marston Vale mafia"
First trip on the sleeper for free after an over 2 hour delay! Didn't spoil the experience or the club car being shut. Was very enjoyable.

I think the absence of the club car and food is much less of an issue on the Lowlander - really, you don't want to be sitting up too long drinking and eating as you won't get enough kip, if you're going to do that you might as well go in the seats. It's the Highlander where it's a really important part of the experience.
 
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YorkshireBear

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I think the absence of the club car and food is much less of an issue on the Lowlander - really, you don't want to be sitting up too long drinking and eating as you won't get enough kip, if you're going to do that you might as well go in the seats. It's the Highlander where it's a really important part of the experience.
We were on the highlander. Southbound. But we got some warning so we brought in supplies and sat in the club car drinking them. I would like to do it northbound though and have the full experience.
 

YorkshireBear

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Ah, if you're allowed to BYO then that helps, I thought if it wasn't staffed it was out of use.
No they quite specific. Apologised and said go get your own and drink it in the club car. We ran to coop and for a much cheaper sum had two bottles of beer each and a bottle of whiskey (alot of the whiskey left in my bag for a future date too)
 

DelW

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15 Jan 2015
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Their train service’s what?
Sadly this sort of illiteracy is more widespread than it should be.

The regrettable possibility is that CS management might be just as illiterate as the people who churn out this guff.
 

trek

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30 Mar 2013
Messages
168
I think the absence of the club car and food is much less of an issue on the Lowlander - really, you don't want to be sitting up too long drinking and eating as you won't get enough kip, if you're going to do that you might as well go in the seats. It's the Highlander where it's a really important part of the experience.
Definitely, my latest trip (my first on the lowlander) taught me I should have boarded earlier so I that I was settled into bed well before the train set off instead of when I did around 23:10 - by the time I'd faffed about with my stuff, brushed teeth etc the train was setting off, and I was still awake whilst the train was joining at Carstairs. Need every minute of sleep really especially as it seems it's common to arrive 30 minutes early into Euston - I woke up around Watford so had had under 6 hours sleep. Still, when I wondered down there to get a fork there were about 15 people in there despite a reduced offering on my trip.

My last highlander trip I decided just to have a dessert & drink in the club car - it's a nice experience and I had a nice conversation with the people I was sharing my table with but it's expensive and still got issues (whiskey in a plastic cup for £10...). Glad I didn't eat a main as it would have been too late for me even from Inverness. I'll probably only do a meal in the Club Car the next time if I go Southbound from Fort William, hopefully during the summer so it's still light out and get a proper experience.
 

JonathanH

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29 May 2011
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So if the Lowlander is not routed via the ECML, and does split at Carstairs, i.e. "normal operation" then it should be this at Euston, with G at the concourse end?

[engine] [ H(seats/bike), Lounge, J, K, L, M, N, P(prm) ] [ A(seats/bike), Lounge, B, C, D, E, F, G(prm) ]
No, the seats are at the concourse end of all portions at Euston.

The Edinburgh portion is at the Euston end on 1S25 (northbound) and Country End on 1M11 (southbound).

The Inverness portion is at the Country end on 1S26 (northbound) and Euston end on 1M16 (southbound).

The portions with two PRM vehicles go to Glasgow and Fort William / Aberdeen. The portions for Edinburgh / Inverness have only one PRM sleeper coach (next to the lounge)
 
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Sm5

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21 Oct 2016
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No, the seats are at the concourse end of all portions at Euston.

The Edinburgh portion is at the Euston end on 1S25 (northbound) and Country End on 1M11 (southbound).

The Inverness portion is at the Country end on 1S26 (northbound) and Euston end on 1M16 (southbound).

The portions with two PRM vehicles go to Glasgow and Fort William / Aberdeen. The portions for Edinburgh / Inverness have only one PRM sleeper coach (next to the lounge)
That wasnt my experience, carriage P front coach from Inverness, arrived in the centre of the train at Euston.
 
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JonathanH

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That wasnt my experience, carriage P front coach from Inverness, arrived in the centre of the train at Euston.
Yes, that is what I put. Sleeper coach P is the eighth coach from the buffers at Euston (on a full set) on arrival from Scotland with the Aberdeen seats behind it.

(The Highlander portions reverse at Edinburgh (or Wembley when diverted via the ECML).
 
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tornado

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6 Apr 2010
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400
JonathanH would it be possible to copy/paste then correct my text "diagram" below?

I am finding your description slightly confusing. This is what I have now for Northbound:

[engine] [Glasgow: P(prm), N, M, L, K, J(prm), Lounge, H(seats) ] [Edin: G, F, E, D, C, B(prm), Lounge, A(seats)] [buffers]
 

JonathanH

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JonathanH would it be possible to copy/paste then correct my text "diagram" below?

I am finding your description slightly confusing. This is what I have now for Northbound:

[engine] [Glasgow: P(prm), N, M, L, K, J(prm), Lounge, H(seats) ] [Edin: G, F, E, D, C, B(prm), Lounge, A(seats)] [buffers]
Yes, that would be right for the northbound Glasgow / Edinburgh sleeper (if those are the right coach letters).
 
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superalbs

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3 Jul 2014
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Exeter
Yiiiikes, just on the Northbound to Inverness now, the three-pin sockets made a loud bang and sparked when I tried to plug my phone in.

Wtf!!!
 

6Z09

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19 Nov 2009
Messages
499
Fort William hit with disruption this week!
Surely the Scottish government can't persist with this nonsense for much longer?
 

43 302

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Rumoured that colas skips 67023 & 67027 are moving to GB for the sleeper.
 
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AberdeenBill

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21 Feb 2021
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Poole
Fort William hit with disruption this week!
Surely the Scottish government can't persist with this nonsense for much longer?
I enjoy the sleeper experience. I like to make a trip to Aberdeen about every 6-8 weeks, maybe less in winter, so i suppose that makes me a fairly regular leisure user. However i am sure others are beginning to feel like me that the uncertainty of the journey (Aberdeen cancellations and Scotrail to/from Edinburgh and now FW as well) is making me consider alternative means of travel. The staff shortages (now emphasised as safety critical staff) have been ongoing since the service reopened after lockdown. Whilst this was understandable to an extent when self isolation for close contact was a requirement and i appreciate the length of time that it would take to train safety critical staff there appears to be no end to these shortages coupled with the regular strike action which CS appear to have no appetite to resolve. Surely in the long run this will lead to less and less bookings, particularly as the overseas tourists have not really yet returned, making the service even less viable as people like me do not want the risk of a cancelled or part journey and look elsewhere as a means of travel.
 

31160

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18 Mar 2018
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Rumoured that colas skips 67023 & 67027 are moving to GB for the sleeper.
As its only the two locos would the plan be just to change the Ft Bill beds over to booked skips and moving the 73s over to the other services , or just repalce the shed on the inverness beds so its a 73/67 pair instead, at least then the wouldn't need to do anything with the couplings, or just long term lease some more skips off DB and bin off the 73s onto Dept work
 

43 302

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As its only the two locos would the plan be just to change the Ft Bill beds over to booked skips and moving the 73s over to the other services , or just repalce the shed on the inverness beds so its a 73/67 pair instead, at least then the wouldn't need to do anything with the couplings, or just long term lease some more skips off DB and bin off the 73s onto Dept work
73/67 pairs I believe.
 

tornado

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6 Apr 2010
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Has anyone ever slept in a room in the coach immediately behind the loco? Wondering if it will be noisy.
 

43 302

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I'd be disappointed if it wasn't!
This is a 92 were talking about, not a 37. I have slept in the room directly behind 92043 from Glasgow to Edinburgh once but to be honest I fell asleep straight away! I don't think it was very loud though.
 

Stathern Jc

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30 Nov 2019
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Inverness
Rumoured that colas skips 67023 & 67027 are moving to GB for the sleeper.
Am I remembering correctly it being said at the time of the last tendering exercise that the specification required that the service should be provided by locomotives no more than 10 years old; and that was the reason for the 73/9 rebuilds to replace the 67s? (Not sure where the 92s would fit in to that though, or was it just the diesel haulage??).

If that was the case, I can't help thinking that there's a touch of irony here.
 

JonathanH

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Am I remembering correctly it being said at the time of the last tendering exercise that the specification required that the service should be provided by locomotives no more than 10 years old; and that was the reason for the 73/9 rebuilds to replace the 67s? (Not sure where the 92s would fit in to that though, or was it just the diesel haulage??).
The Fife Circle specification had that provision. Did it extend to the sleeper?

The 73/9 rebuilds were because GBRf didn't operate any other suitable diesels. Were DB Cargo meant to just sell their 67s to GBRf?
 

Caleb2010

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25 Nov 2015
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Wasn’t another reason that the 67s couldn’t supply the power needed for the new stock and the 73s could with less modification and expenditure (in that area anyway)?
 

43 302

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That wouldn't have been a very long sleep....literally forty winks I should think! :lol:
69 winks to be precise! But I didn't wake up at Edinburgh thankfully. Can't remember if the 92 ran round at Waverly or not.
 

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