LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
Brora to Helmsdale is a firm favourite. The line is strung out into the bays that bite into the coastline, and, when you look down, you honestly expect see sand at your feet rather than train carpet.
Wildlife on the beach too, and in the glens...
I enjoyed that run (Inverness-Wick) in a quiet 158 more than the packed 156 on the West Highland (Glasgow-Oban) the previous day, mostly staring at pine trees.
Industrially, the mile from Edge Hill down to Lime St in the deep sandstone cutting is special, especially now it has been modernised and cleaned up.
Joseph Locke's northern WCML is special too, all that way over the fells without tunnels (so good long views).
I always look out for the 125mph through Rugby, at maximum left hand tilt both south and north of the station.
There are about a dozen similar "double-tilt" (sometimes triple) locations on the WCML, but none of these are through major stations.
Linslade, Wolverton, Weedon, Lichfield, Whitmore, Tebay and the upper Clyde Valley around Abington come close.