You should be fine. Just make sure that her expectations are set appropriately about the size of bed and that she is not expecting 5 star luxury.Well reading this has certainly dampened my excitement about using this from Inverness to London in Jan.
I even persuaded the mrs that it would be much more fun than flying... 'hotel on wheels' may even have been mentioned.
How much trouble am i gonna be in??!
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Caledonian Sleeper
- Thread starter Essexman
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Don't know about evenings, but I'd the pleasure of a mornings experience very recently - superb hostess with whom I'd a great conversation, while others (from the train) continued their conversations from the previous evening, in the lounge that provides warm beverages and a selection of snacks. Great showers too.
Walk out from Inverness station, cross the street. It's right there on your left - junction of Academy St and Union St, if memory serves.
If I book a "luxury" offering I do not expect a lack of hot water and no en suite.
It would appear some people are content with delivery below the standard promised as long as they get a substantial refund after the event - not my idea of a good deal at all.
And a lot of "graphics artists" cheered loudly...
If you want pleasant places to hang around. Pub on the concourse - usual licensing hours, Costa next door. Just out the door - the Highland Hotel - and the city centre and all it has to offer is at your convenience. I would suggest departure form Inverness is rarely delayed - I would think the stats back that up.
If delayed on the way North - then again - the city is immediately outside the station doors - "what services do you require (sir)"
Ian Wallbank
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I will try the new Highland sleeper in the spring when the day-light is greater. I have been on the old one a few times. Hopefully, punctuality would have improved and other problems sorted. The impression I get from this forum is that things are gradually improving. To measure progress on punctuality, is there any site that measures the operator's performance over time? It would be nice to compare the old with the new and recent progress. Also, it would be nice to know the reasons for the delays. Is it the coaches, locos, track, etc,?
John Bishop
Member
Solo 73 dumped in the motor-rail sidings at Inverness. Was that taken off yesterday’s Up Highlander?
Sleeperwaking
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The ORR has started publishing detailed statistics on their website. You can filter by TOC. The delay minutes tables can be filtered by cause of delay - it probably won't differentiate between loco & coaches, but it will tell you what was attributed to rolling stock or infrastructure.
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/
Yes taken off yesterday, last nights southbound worked by 73971 on its own.
Think they’re trying to get 968 back to Craigentinny tonight so could be 3 73’s on tonight’s 1m16
John Bishop
Member
Seemed to do okay to Perth/ Edinburgh only losing about 15-20 minutes, but arrived 112L at Euston this morning.
There was single line working in Lockerbie area, caused delays with northbound service as well
JohnMcL7
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968 was left in Inverness tonight, why was it left last night since it needs to go south at some point to be repaired. Is it simply that it's a dead weight and better to have two powered locomotives rather than one or something else? I also noticed tonight the lead 73 seemed very quiet compared to the second one on leaving Inverness.
TimboM
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It was 73967 that worked 1M16 solo. Other relatively minor (non-loco) issues contributed towards the 15-20 min delay, so it was a very respectable performance by a single 73/9 with Load 8 + full ETH, in freezing temperatures and in the middle of leaf-fall season.
No doubt there'll still be those who think 73/9s are weak, not up to it etc...
Not withstanding the above, it is supposed to be 2x (working) 73/9s on the Inverness portion. 73/9 solo + 73/9 DIT + Load 8 wouldn't be feasible. I'm not sure having three 73/9s on the front with the one DIT would work either.
As for the louder second loco - this may be because that loco is providing the ETH to the stock? Or just because some locos (of the same class) are noisier than others for whatever reason.
flitwickbeds
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www.trainclaimer.com/stats/companies
Filter to just Caledonian Sleeper and then choose the stag variable you're interested in for the date range you need (goes back to January).
Click "Show reasons" or "Show Data" for a full breakdown
You can also compare individual trains at www.trainclaimer.com/stats/trains and individual stations at www.trainclaimer.com/stats/stations
JohnMcL7
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It was 73967 that worked 1M16 solo. Other relatively minor (non-loco) issues contributed towards the 15-20 min delay, so it was a very respectable performance by a single 73/9 with Load 8 + full ETH, in freezing temperatures and in the middle of leaf-fall season.
No doubt there'll still be those who think 73/9s are weak, not up to it etc...
Not withstanding the above, it is supposed to be 2x (working) 73/9s on the Inverness portion. 73/9 solo + 73/9 DIT + Load 8 wouldn't be feasible. I'm not sure having three 73/9s on the front with the one DIT would work either.
As for the louder second loco - this may be because that loco is providing the ETH to the stock? Or just because some locos (of the same class) are noisier than others for whatever reason.
Definitely props to the little 73's managing the trip on their own, it's good they have that redundancy.
I can post comparison videos with the audio, the first time I saw both 73's leaving you could hear both engines revving higher as the sleeper pulled away but last night I almost missed it leaving initially as there didn't seem to be a change in the leading engine.
tigerroar
Member
why delay boarding? Surely you can get on and go to bed?
TimboM
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92043 is your new loco - just emerging from Wembley depot on the diagrams. There's a possession on the slows so will need to do a bit of a "zig zag" to get onto the fasts, so will be a little longer than usual getting in from Wembley.
Quite... seems a bit of an excuse. The ECS loco (92018) should be able to provide ETS until the train loco arrives. I think there is a bit of a challenge with the Mk5s that once you switch it over to the train loco everything needs setting up again on the TCMS ('computer') - but I'd think most passengers would prefer getting on then a few flickers of the lights whilst things were swapped over?
Don’t know. Chap said we’d be boarding in a few minutes 15 minutes ago and that they’d attached the new loco once we are on board. But a long queue of passengers are still standing in the cold.
TimboM
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92043 done its "zig zags" and now heading in - ETA approx. 10 mins.
xc170
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- 9 Feb 2008
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- 815
I posted this question in trip reports but haven't had any response so I'll try here since it's a dedicated CS thread...
What are the loadings likley to be on either the Fort William or Inverness in January? Is one cheaper than the other?
Thinking of doing the sleeper in January and just fishing for ideas, I'll be paying for a cabin as the new seated sleeper car looks horrific compared to the previous Mk2 stock.
What are the loadings likley to be on either the Fort William or Inverness in January? Is one cheaper than the other?
Thinking of doing the sleeper in January and just fishing for ideas, I'll be paying for a cabin as the new seated sleeper car looks horrific compared to the previous Mk2 stock.
TimboM
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The website shows the current prices for each depending on the loadings at that point and how many of the lower priced berths have already been taken.
So if you know (roughly) when you want to book, the best thing to do is go on Sleeper.Scot and see what the room prices are for either of the options on the date(s) you want to travel.
I'm pretty sure the price bands are the same on each, so will really come down to the specific day you're travelling and how many berths have been booked so far by the time you book.
I travelled on the Fort William portion (northbound) in Jan 2018 - it was empty!
Kite159
Veteran Member
I was surprised on Friday's lowlander that the temperature control seems to have gotten better in the seats, the AC wasn't on "height of Spanish Summer" mode so it was easier to get sleep.
xc170
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Are the lights dimmed in the seated coach?
I've used the Mk2 seated coach and only got a couple of hours sleep at the most, at least it was relatively dark and the seats were large and comfortable, the new seated coach doesn't look like it was actually designed with sleeping in mind...
BRX
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- 20 Oct 2008
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Fort William is the more interesing journey. I'd do that one if the prices were similar.
There is a lot less capacity on the FW train, so perhaps that means a greater risk of cheaper tickets selling out quickly... But I expect the demand is higher on the inverness train in January.