Caledonian sleeper - drivers

[VideozVideoz]

Hi. Is there a driver changeover at all between EDB and EUS? 7 hours is a long time if not! Or does the sleeper convey 2 drivers in the cab?

 

[4SRKT]

Carlisle I think.

The FW portion swaps drivers at Rannoch. Going south the second driver rides north as a passenger from Glasgow on the 18:21 ex-Queen St, and the Fort William man rides on from Rannoch on the same train. Something similar happens the other way round. This makes leaping at Rannoch failsafe

 

[VideozVideoz]

Interesting! Thanks for the info

 

[driver9000]

There is a driver change at Preston.

 

[gavinjustice]

the edinburgh sleeper joins up with the glasgow sleeper at carstairs so they might swap there

 

[junglejames]

Carlisle I think.

The FW portion swaps drivers at Rannoch. Going south the second driver rides north as a passenger from Glasgow on the 18:21 ex-Queen St, and the Fort William man rides on from Rannoch on the same train. Something similar happens the other way round. This makes leaping at Rannoch failsafe

On the FW portion, I think the second driver is a Glasgow man, and only works as far as Dalmuir. Certainly thats the case with the guards. You then have an Edinburgh driver/ guard work from Dalmuir to Edinburgh.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

What about the Crewe stopover; is there a driver change there as well?

 

[4SRKT]

On the FW portion, I think the second driver is a Glasgow man, and only works as far as Dalmuir. Certainly thats the case with the guards. You then have an Edinburgh driver/ guard work from Dalmuir to Edinburgh.

Does the Glasgow man then ride on the sleeper (or in the cab) to Westerton and take the unit into Queen Street?

 

[156499]

On the Fort William - London Sleeper Monday-Friday the driver and guard go from Fort William - Rannoch then they go passenger back to Fort William on the Sprinter and the Glasgow crew come up passenger off the Sprinter. The Glasgow driver then takes the train as far as Dalmuir along with the guard which then travels passenger to Westerton where he waits for the Sprinter/Turbo that comes ECS for a connection to Glasgow, the driver which gets off at Dalmuir then gets a taxi home. The Driver/guard which join at Dalmuir take the Sleeper through to Edinburgh and wait for the Northbound sleeper where they both take it as far as Westerton then another Glasgow crew will take the service to Rannoch before travelling passenger south on the Sprinter, the Fort crew come off the Sprinter and take the Sleeper to Fort William.

On a Sunday the Southbound Sleeper is worked by Fort crew as far as Bridge of Orchy as it leaves 50 minutes earlier. The Fort William Sleeper appears to be the only one that is worked soley by Scotrail drivers

 

[Liam]

On the Highland there is definately a driver swap at Preston. Not sure about Crewe.

On the Inverness and Aberdeen portions does one driver take each portion to Edinburgh, have a break then take it back North?

In fact now I think about it I am almost certain I have seen drivers swapping at Crewe.

 

[VideozVideoz]

Great, thanks guys for your knowledge. So for the actual journey into Euston are we saying that these drivers/crews are not Scottish? In other words they are employed by Scotrail but actually live in England?

 

[Liam]

Great, thanks guys for your knowledge. So for the actual journey into Euston are we saying that these drivers/crews are not Scottish? In other words they are employed by Scotrail but actually live in England?

They are DBS drivers. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I believe they do Royal Mail trains to Shieldmuir and Sleepers South from Carstairs or vice versa.

The onboard staff are locally based to the terminuses of the service. So Sunday night Northbound guard/host/hostesses are London based, Southbound are Scottish based alternating each night so they are all at home on Saturday morning. They stay with their portion of the train for the entire journey. So whoever checks your tickets and points you towards your berth when you board in FW will serve you tea on approach to Euston.

 

[sprinterguy]

They are DBS drivers. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I believe they do Royal Mail trains to Shieldmuir and Sleepers South from Carstairs or vice versa.

Yep, that's quite right.

 

[VideozVideoz]

So with all these crew changeovers there's quite a high chance that the sleeper may be cancelled due to crew unavailability...?

 

[dk1]

So with all these crew changeovers there's quite a high chance that the sleeper may be cancelled due to crew unavailability...?

Not usually. Crews would just be sent passenger or in a taxi from another depot.

 

[junglejames]

The Driver/guard which join at Dalmuir take the Sleeper through to Edinburgh and wait for the Northbound sleeper where they both take it as far as Westerton

Ah cool, it must be another Glasgow based driver/ guard from Dalmuir then. I had that wrong. Assumed it was Edinburgh.
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This makes leaping at Rannoch failsafe

Another failsafe, although not as tight as the Rannoch one anyway, if you have time on your hands in FW, is catching the final return to Mallaig before getting the sleeper.
1619 off FW, and 1815 off Mallaig. Gets back only about 10mins or so before the sleeper departs. However its the driver and guard off this return to Mallaig, which then do the sleeper down to Rannoch.
Unfortunately never realised that last time, so didnt want to chance it just in case sprinter was late.

 

[Blindtraveler]

have done the Ranoch move this week, have never chanced the Malaig but may try it sometie now I know its same crewe that do the Caly. the move at ranoch is tight and particularly so this week on Tuesday but thankfully me and my friend wernt the only bashers

 

[4SRKT]

The Rannoch move simply cannot fail despite appearing to be tight. The island platform helps, as it only takes seconds to get across. It's a fantastic way to spend the evening in the summer, and I fully plan to do it again next year (twice this year ) as close to midsummer as possible.

 

[Blindtraveler]

you should have been there Tuesday as the other basher was noticeably panicking!
I new0it wouldnt go tits up as youve done it and blogged about it and I trust you! My mate wasnt convinced but had shown him the relivant entrys on the thread and he trusted your judgement too!

We only did it as he'd heard that it was the only 67 for Scotrail he hadnt done for haulage working the FW and hes been after it for 6 months or more!


We had a man of steal move to catch the unit too as via0Falkirk was disrupted due to fludding, canseling our intended EDB GLQ service and the next 1 was all stations and rammed solid so we took a gamble on the A to B semi fast, reaching GLQ with04 minutes, 2 by the time we were through the low level gateline!

 

[4SRKT]

I was panicking myself the first time I did it, especially as we were running seriously late going north on the unit. It was a total man of steel move really seeing as at the time I had no idea about the driver swap thing!

If you were only after the skip for haulage a less hair-raising (and cheaper) way to do it would surely be to just go to Dalmuir and pick it up there.

 

[Blindtraveler]

wel that was his plan but as I'd already got them all and wanted to try the move I suggested it!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
worth doing too so it was!

 

[4SRKT]

Fair play! I'm sure it won't be the last time you do it.

 

[Blindtraveler]

no, got a west highland bash planned out for next year some time as its now the only scottish track iv not done having completed the kyle line and cathcart circle last month and wil Im sure be included as part of that, just because I can!