Memories of diesels in the Highlands

Wyrleybart · 30 Aug 2026

SuspectUsual said:
Bit more info on the northbound highlander arrival into Fort William. Over the last 100 operating days:

Early 68
On time 3
Late, but still able to make the morning Jacobite 2
Late, and miss the morning Jacobite 24
Cancelled 3

So, a 70% chance of making the morning Jacobite.

By comparison, the southbound sleeper has been cancelled 6 times over the same period, and while it has run late quite a lot the late running almost always happens south of Edinburgh, so for a trip from Glasgow the afternoon Jacobite and back on the sleeper seems the safer bet

mods note - split from this thread

That is really useful info. Thanks for sharing.
I am guessing that part of the decision making process is - how importqnt iw it to you ? My first two trips over the West Highland and the Mallaig Extension were with class 27s - fortunately mostly in daylight to see the scenery. So if you are riding the line for the first time you really need to experience the scenic splendour in daylight. especially the palm trees on the beach at the silver sands of Morar.

The railways of the West Highlands are the most stunning in my opinion.

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marshlinker · 30 Aug 2026

Wyrleybart said:
That is really useful info. Thanks for sharing.
I am guessing that part of the decision making process is - how importqnt iw it to you ? My first two trips over the West Highland and the Mallaig Extension were with class 27s - fortunately mostly in daylight to see the scenery. So if you are riding the line for the first time you really need to experience the scenic splendour in daylight. especially the palm trees on the beach at the silver sands of Morar.

The railways of the West Highlands are the most stunning in my opinion.

Unfortunately on parts of the West Highland Line Lineside trees and shrubs have been allowed to block the scenery. I recently found a series of videos from the 1960s of the line. Particularly south of Crianlarich the line was stunning then.

Wyrleybart · Monday at 12:09

marshlinker said:
Unfortunately on parts of the West Highland Line Lineside trees and shrubs have been allowed to block the scenery. I recently found a series of videos from the 1960s of the line. Particularly south of Crianlarich the line was stunning then.

I guess so. My late 1970s and 1980s memories are very dear to me. won't bore you with it all but a steam heated class 40 from Glagow Queen St to Inverness, then a 26 to Kyle for the most amazing journey to Mallaig. We rolled into Kyle at 2045 on Thursday evening and I knew the ferry was the next morning, but I asked a fisherman on the platform when the next ferry was to Mallaig. He said they would be leaving in a couple of hours and I could hitch a ride !! I was 16 or 17 then and had no fear, so we walked to the end of the platform then onto the quay to this fishing boat. I clambered onboard and he took me up to the wheelhouse.

All the crew were jabbering away in Gaillic and couldn't understand a word but felt safe in the subdued light and glow from the instruments. The cast off and headed out into the sound and everything was great. but barely ten minute later there was almighty noise and the front of the vessel lifted into the air. We had run aground !!! all sorts of things were going through my mind like being eaten by sharks, drowning and my parents not nortincing me missing until at least Tuesday back in Wales !!

To cut a long story short another fishing boat appeared and the crew shot a line over to us, which then allowed the crew to pull a rope over, andwith us applying full reverse, and the other boat pulling we were free, and continued on our way. We eventually arrived Mallaig about 0430 but tied up to about five or six vessels away from tbe jetty do I had to "leapfrog". Walked to the station and climbed into a coach but it was cold. So I walked up to the class 27 and the cab was a bit warmer os I ended up in the engine room sitting on the framing of the Sulzer to get the last vestiges of heat out of the block. After about 20 minutes I had warmed a little and went back into a Mk1. Not too long after that the 2nd man or driver turned up started the engine and fired up the boiler - bliss !!! The journey was stunning anyway, but the highlight for mew was the climb through Monessie gorge in the snow.

I fell in love with the West Highland lines but sadly 27004 was the last type two I had up there. The 37/0s were pretty awesome, very vocal, particularly on a slippy rail, but I was never so fond of the ETH 37/4s. Maybe I am particularly lucky to have enjoyed steam heated Mk1s up there.

The Chimaera · Monday at 21:28

Wyrleybart said:
I guess so. My late 1970s and 1980s memories are very dear to me. won't bore you with it all but a steam heated class 40 from Glagow Queen St to Inverness, then a 26 to Kyle for the most amazing journey to Mallaig. We rolled into Kyle at 2045 on Thursday evening and I knew the ferry was the next morning, but I asked a fisherman on the platform when the next ferry was to Mallaig. He said they would be leaving in a couple of hours and I could hitch a ride !! I was 16 or 17 then and had no fear, so we walked to the end of the platform then onto the quay to this fishing boat. I clambered onboard and he took me up to the wheelhouse.

All the crew were jabbering away in Gaillic and couldn't understand a word but felt safe in the subdued light and glow from the instruments. The cast off and headed out into the sound and everything was great. but barely ten minute later there was almighty noise and the front of the vessel lifted into the air. We had run aground !!! all sorts of things were going through my mind like being eaten by sharks, drowning and my parents not nortincing me missing until at least Tuesday back in Wales !!

To cut a long story short another fishing boat appeared and the crew shot a line over to us, which then allowed the crew to pull a rope over, andwith us applying full reverse, and the other boat pulling we were free, and continued on our way. We eventually arrived Mallaig about 0430 but tied up to about five or six vessels away from tbe jetty do I had to "leapfrog". Walked to the station and climbed into a coach but it was cold. So I walked up to the class 27 and the cab was a bit warmer os I ended up in the engine room sitting on the framing of the Sulzer to get the last vestiges of heat out of the block. After about 20 minutes I had warmed a little and went back into a Mk1. Not too long after that the 2nd man or driver turned up started the engine and fired up the boiler - bliss !!! The journey was stunning anyway, but the highlight for mew was the climb through Monessie gorge in the snow.

I fell in love with the West Highland lines but sadly 27004 was the last type two I had up there. The 37/0s were pretty awesome, very vocal, particularly on a slippy rail, but I was never so fond of the ETH 37/4s. Maybe I am particularly lucky to have enjoyed steam heated Mk1s up there.

Great story, thanks for recounting it. It brings back memories of my own trip to Ft Bill/Mallaig in the winter of 83 with 27’s. A perfect little loco for those lines. I suppose I am biased though being a huge fan of the Type 2’s we used to have at BS at the time.

D6130 · Monday at 22:09

The Chimaera said:
Great story, thanks for recounting it. It brings back memories of my own trip to Ft Bill/Mallaig in the winter of 83 with 27’s. A perfect little loco for those lines. I suppose I am biased though being a huge fan of the Type 2’s we used to have at BS at the time.

You were lucky to get a 27 on the WHL by the winter of 83. It was pretty much solid 37s by then.

xotGD · Tuesday at 10:03

I had a 26 to Kyle and a 27 to Stranraer, but never a Type 2 on the West Highland.

D6130 · Tuesday at 11:05

xotGD said:
I had a 26 to Kyle and a 27 to Stranraer, but never a Type 2 on the West Highland.

Born too late!

Wyrleybart · Tuesday at 14:03

xotGD said:
I had a 26 to Kyle and a 27 to Stranraer, but never a Type 2 on the West Highland.

As D6130 says "born too late" as indeed was I !!!
Born 1962 in Coventry but moved to rural North Wales in 1971. Went to school in Tywyn 1973-1978 so I remember seeing a Sulzer 2 shunting the goods yard at Tywyn on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so the odds are I saw some 24s joined BR in 1978 and always looked out for 24s, and saw the odd one at Crewe including 24081 at Gresty Lane, but never ever managed a ride behind one. The best I could do was to have a few runs behind D5032 on the NYMR, so yes, I was also born too late.

But where could you stop. Would jhave loved a 24 down to Kyle and would have loved to experience NBL action in the GNoS area, but then Claytons south of the Central belt !!! s

xotGD · Tuesday at 14:10

But most people born early enough to sample the early diesels also missed out, as they were focused on bashing steam before it vanished.

D6130 · Tuesday at 14:21

xotGD said:
But most people born early enough to sample the early diesels also missed out, as they were focused on bashing steam before it vanished.

I was lucky....born 1957 and lived alongside the West Highland line 1966-73. Hauled by classes 20, 24, 25, one class 26, 27, one class 29 and 37s. Also had classes 24 & 26 on the Kyle and Far North and Highland Main Lines and classes 25 & 27 on the Stranraer line.

Spaceship323 · Tuesday at 14:25

D6130 said:
I was lucky....born 1957 and lived alongside the West Highland line 1966-73. Hauled by classes 20, 24, 25, one class 26, 27, one class 29 and 37s. Also had classes 24 & 26 on the Kyle and Far North and Highland Main Lines and classes 25 & 27 on the Stranraer line.

Ah, but did you see the 01's at Holyhead - I did

D6130 · Tuesday at 14:41

Spaceship323 said:
Ah, but did you see the 01's at Holyhead - I did

Yes....in the distance from a Sealink ferry heading for Dún Laoghaire!

Harvester · Tuesday at 20:01

Spaceship323 said:
Ah, but did you see the 01's at Holyhead - I did

Yes, as late as April 1978. It was a Saturday and they were both in a shed/building. By then 001 had been withdrawn!

Did anyone see the two panniers 1646 and 1649 allocated to Helmsdale?

Rover · Tuesday at 21:49

D6130 said:
I was lucky....born 1957 and lived alongside the West Highland line 1966-73. Hauled by classes 20, 24, 25, one class 26, 27, one class 29 and 37s. Also had classes 24 & 26 on the Kyle and Far North and Highland Main Lines and classes 25 & 27 on the Stranraer line.

Stop it! I can't take much more of this - sounds like absolute heaven!

GRALISTAIR · Tuesday at 21:58

xotGD said:
I had a 26 to Kyle and a 27 to Stranraer, but never a Type 2 on the West Highland.

Me neither. Class 37s in my era

Spaceship323 said:
Ah, but did you see the 01's at Holyhead - I did

Yes and have photos which I must post.

Harpo · Tuesday at 22:00

xotGD said:
But most people born early enough to sample the early diesels also missed out, as they were focused on bashing steam before it vanished.

There were rare characters who did both, one of whom recounted the barrage he got for getting off of a black five (?) on the Cumbrian coast to have a MetroVick.

GRALISTAIR · Tuesday at 22:02

Harpo said:
There were rare characters who did both, one of whom recounted the barrage he got for getting off of a black five (?) on the Cumbrian coast to have a MetroVick.

Now in my opinion, that really is seriously impressive.

Harlequinuk · Tuesday at 23:18

Maybe of interest?

Class 27 and Class 20 in 1964 on the WHL sleeper

xotGD · Wednesday at 08:04

Harpo said:
There were rare characters who did both, one of whom recounted the barrage he got for getting off of a black five (?) on the Cumbrian coast to have a MetroVick.

And in 2026 it is much easier to have a bash behind a Black 5 than a MetroVick!

Merle Haggard · Wednesday at 08:38

xotGD said:
But most people born early enough to sample the early diesels also missed out, as they were focused on bashing steam before it vanished.

Guilty as charged, to an extent.

Although I had been on a Scottish shed bash (although only the Lowlands) in steam days the Freedom of Scotland one - in a small group - was in diesel days, 1968.

On that bash, we went to Mallaig behind NBL/Paxman type 2s and I was disappointed that I had just missed the days of double headed K2s with names. Similarly, on the Highland main line it was boring, underpowered Derby Type 2s in pairs, instead of Black Fives. Applied to shunters, as well; tracking down out-stationed D2700s when a few years before there would have been an ex CR or NBR 'pug' 0-4-0ST.

But I suppose those for whom those steam locos I missed were everyday hankered after NBR or Caledonian ones. Everyone wishes they'd been born earlier, when it cpomes to locos., it seems. I remember an old spotter in town who called 'Jubilees' "Claughton-killers", hated them.

ac6000cw · Wednesday at 09:02

I did several Scottish railrover holidays in the early 1980s, and usually managed to travel over most of the Highland/West Highland branches each time - all loco hauled by 37s. Particularly remember the climb out of Dingwall on the Kyle line, through a rocky cutting which reflected back the sound of a 12CSVT on full power... (standing by an open vestibule window, of course

), and the fabulous scenery on the Kyle line and Fort William - Mallaig.

From memory, the Highland Main Line was mostly 47s on the heavier trains at least e.g. the sleepers. Also went loco-hauled to Stranraer once or twice - I think they were 47s as well (I'd probably remember if it was something more charismatic, rather than - at the time - the boringly familiar).

Some great wind-in-the-hair train riding (when it wasn't raining hard!) - and it wasn't just rail enthusiasts like me who were enjoying the breeze and the sounds of a 37 squealing round the curves alongside a beautiful loch.

Gloster · Wednesday at 09:36

Just managed a trip on the Kyle line behind a 24 when I was about eleven. We had gone camping near Torridon but had been driven away by the midges: on the way back east my parents were going to drop in on one of my mother’s numerous ‘distant relatives‘ who lived between Garve and Dingwall and was known to detest children. (I reckon that my mother used to scout out relatives to see if they might leave her some money.) I was put on the train at Achnasheen and told to wait in the station at Inverness after I got there: I didn’t have to wait too long as the relative effectively told them to shove off.

Later I did both West Highland and Far North lines on a Scotland Rover in 1977, and then a couple of years of fully and imaginatively using my free passes once I joined BR in 1978. There were still plenty of Class 26 and 27; those are memories that have stuck.

Harpo · Wednesday at 10:11

Merle Haggard said:
I remember an old spotter in town who called 'Jubilees' "Claughton-killers", hated them.

I’ve heard 80000 tanks called ‘vultures’ as they turned up on dying railways.

Rescars · Wednesday at 11:29

Merle Haggard said:
Guilty as charged, to an extent.

But I suppose those for whom those steam locos I missed were everyday hankered after NBR or Caledonian ones. Everyone wishes they'd been born earlier, when it cpomes to locos., it seems. I remember an old spotter in town who called 'Jubilees' "Claughton-killers", hated them.

This is a very fair point. Trips to Scotland can never have felt the same after the Races to the North came to an end!

Spaceship323 · Wednesday at 14:20

1981 I had a 26 from Kyle to Inverness, then 50 years later a 156 to Wick and back...All day on a unit..Thank goodness for the Scotrail trolley!

matchmaker · Wednesday at 14:42

Early 1970s. A school railway club trip which started at Queen Street behind a 40 on the Inverness sleeper, although we were in a Mk 1 TSO. It was late on in the year and I remember ice forming on the inside of the windows at one point...We arrived at Inverness at some ungodly hour in the morning to get the first Kyle train with a 26 on the front. On arrival at Kyle we got the ferry to Mallaig, then a 27 to Fort William and then back to Glasgow. All in under 24 hours!

The exile · Wednesday at 15:15

matchmaker said:
On arrival at Kyle we got the ferry to Mallaig,

That ferry (assuming it was the usual “Loch Arkaig”) ended its service at the bottom of Mallaig Harbour in 1979.

62484GlenLyon · Wednesday at 18:25

Some great memories on this thread. I made some visits to enjoy 24/25/26/27 haulage mainly between 1970 and 1974 and the sounds of pairs of these locos battling up the gradients of the Highland main line or a single 27 climbing from Tulloch to Corrour still stay with me. Two highlights in particular stand out.
Sunday 5th September 1971 5337 (26037) + 5114 (24114) working the 16.30 from Inverness to Glasgow and Edinburgh. This was the only daytime train southbound over the line in those days apart from the London sleepers, so it was a huge train of 16 coaches. The schedule allowed 56 minutes to Carrbridge and they were needed - all 56 minutes of them! The thrash was as awesome as can be imagined.

The second highlight was with a class 40, as others have already mentioned were used on the Highland. 368 (40168), working a special, took 13 coaches over Slochd at little more than walking pace in a blizzard.

The Railtour Files

Oh for a time machine!

WesternLancer · Wednesday at 19:23

Harlequinuk said:
Maybe of interest?

Class 27 and Class 20 in 1964 on the WHL sleeper

great bit of home movie there - lots of fascinating stuff to be seen beside the lines and at stations! Really good.

Sometimes the subtitle voice recognition goes a bit off beam tho - unless there actually is a Glen Phallic :lol:

Merle Haggard · Wednesday at 19:47

Rescars said:
This is a very fair point. Trips to Scotland can never have felt the same after the Races to the North came to an end!

My transpotting mate recently recalled a conversation he had years ago with someone much older, who saw the stuff that had gone long before our time. He told him how lucky he was to see it,

His (the older spotter) response was, 'But you'll see stuff I'll miss - because I'll be dead!".

Rather direct but a valid point.

Memories of diesels in the Highlands

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