Caledonian Sleeper

[Scotrail344Lad]

1S26 Sleeper has failed at Beattock this morning, awaiting a thunderbird rescue

Turning into the tesco train!

 

[norbitonflyer]

1S26 Sleeper has failed at Beattock this morning, awaiting a thunderbird rescue

What happened next? I cant see anything about it on RTT after it reached Beattock.
Did it get towed to Glasgow and/or Edinburgh?

 

[voyagerdude220]

What happened next? I cant see anything about it on RTT after it reached Beattock.
Did it get towed to Glasgow and/or Edinburgh?

Trust says it passed Carstairs at 08:06, reaching Edinburgh 08:46, so I'm guessing the entire train went to Edinburgh.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Trust says it passed Carstairs at 08:06, reaching Edinburgh 08:46, so I'm guessing the entire train went to Edinburgh.

That would make sense. Presumably the loco that was to have taken over the Edinburgh portion took the whole train, and it had to go to Edinburgh because Glasgow cant take 16 coaches

 

[Cails27]

That would make sense. Presumably the loco that was to have taken over the Edinburgh portion took the whole train, and it had to go to Edinburgh because Glasgow cant take 16 coaches

Trust says it passed Carstairs at 08:06, reaching Edinburgh 08:46, so I'm guessing the entire train went to Edinburgh.

Correct. 2x92s on the front and all 16 coaches came to Edinburgh, arrived just after 0900. Rescue loco was the one off the Edinburgh portion that was waiting at Carstairs. Then ran empties to Polmadie.

 

[Statto]

I followed a bit of it on Traksy wondering why i couldn't see anywhere between Carstairs & Glasgow, but 1S26 was showing on the way to Edinburgh, as that section should have shown it as 1B26.

 

[matthenj]

Smooth sailing (railing?) from Euston to Fort William last night.

Can confirm, as I was on it. The 4 am train change will probably discourage me from doing the lounge again; Note to self: plan further ahead.

Some observations: the best seats to sleep in appeared to be the window side of the “pair” rather than the singles; the Cabin lighting is not central, and those chairs appeared to be somewhat more shaded. Next time I will take a pillow.

Further observations: the entitlement of some guests is beggars belief; the entire car was treated to a discussion about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game, and a new rap song, at 3:50 AM. Midges boarded the train at Corrour

 

[voyagerdude220]

Further observations: the entitlement of some guests is beggars belief; the entire car was treated to a discussion about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game, and a new rap song, at 3:50 AM. Midges boarded the train at Corrour

Aside from how selfish and ignorant your fellow passengers seem to be, I'd feel disappointed if the Staff didn't instruct them to keep the noise down during the night.

 

[matthenj]

Aside from how selfish and ignorant your fellow passengers seem to be, I'd feel disappointed if the Staff didn't instruct them to keep the noise down during the night.

(Speculating) I think they would have, had they been there; but who can say.

 

[gg1]

Apologies if this has already been covered in this thread, but when a sleeper service is cancelled, such as the Fort William incident a few days ago, are affected passengers given the option of a hotel stay and a day train the following day or is a rail replacement bus the only option?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Apologies if this has already been covered in this thread, but when a sleeper service is cancelled, such as the Fort William incident a few days ago, are affected passengers given the option of a hotel stay and a day train the following day or is a rail replacement bus the only option?

Generally overnight accommodation (sometimes in a hotel, sometimes on the train static in the station) and a day train will be offered.

 

[gg1]

Generally overnight accommodation (sometimes in a hotel, sometimes on the train static in the station) and a day train will be offered.

Good to know, thanks.

 

[teaspoon]

Midges boarded the train at Corrour

Did they have a valid ticket?

 

[styles]

Did they have a valid ticket?

They were all on Midge For A Quidge tickets.

 

[Bald Rick]

Midges boarded the train at Corrour

You can safely assume they boarded at the two previous calls also, but were perhaps less hungry as there are more people to eat there.

 

[cats_five]

... there are more people to eat there.

Gosh I thought eating people was wrong

 

[Bald Rick]

Gosh I thought eating people was wrong

Not by Midge laws.

 

[Rover]

It's only the females that bite!

 

[Mag_seven]

Can we ditch the midges discussion and get back to discussing the Caledonian Sleeper please.

 

[Tetragon213]

In a parallel universe people are complaining about snowploughs not being in the right place in January and wondering why they weren't maintained and moved in the summer before they were needed

They have, *checks notes* a grand total of 14 different Saturdays where there are NO Cally operations, that they could choose to do this on. But no, let's do it in August!

Is there any word on how long it will take them to clear it up? And whether or not tomorrow's Cally will operate as aresult? I can't see this being rerailed in a hurry, and I'm assuming they'll be relying on coaches to get people in and out of Edinburgh?

 

[InvHst]

They have, *checks notes* a grand total of 14 different Saturdays where there are NO Cally operations, that they could choose to do this on. But no, let's do it in August!

Is there any word on how long it will take them to clear it up? And whether or not tomorrow's Cally will operate as aresult? I can't see this being rerailed in a hurry, and I'm assuming they'll be relying on coaches to get people in and out of Edinburgh?

Em the incident in question was resolved a good few days ago. Sleeper should run

 

[Tetragon213]

Em the incident in question was resolved a good few days ago. Sleeper should run

Ah, looks like the website's been loading funny for me, then.

Either way, it doesn't do Cally's fragile operations any favours. I'm still trying to sort out a trip next year on the Jacobite, and from Glasgow that means relying on the Cally on a minimum of one leg.

Theoretically, if I were to buy an Off-Peak Day Return from Dalmuir (for argument's sake) to Fort Bill, intending to catch the Afternoon Jacobite and returning on the Cally, but the Cally was cancelled once again, would they arrange for a coach to at least get us to Dalmuir, or is it a case of "tough cookies, enjoy a night on a bench in Fort Bill"?

 

[BRX]

Ah, looks like the website's been loading funny for me, then.

Either way, it doesn't do Cally's fragile operations any favours. I'm still trying to sort out a trip next year on the Jacobite, and from Glasgow that means relying on the Cally on a minimum of one leg.

Theoretically, if I were to buy an Off-Peak Day Return from Dalmuir (for argument's sake) to Fort Bill, intending to catch the Afternoon Jacobite and returning on the Cally, but the Cally was cancelled once again, would they arrange for a coach to at least get us to Dalmuir, or is it a case of "tough cookies, enjoy a night on a bench in Fort Bill"?

I don't see a reason why they wouldn't.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Southbound Lowlander running 90 minutes late due, apparently to late departure of the Edinburgh portion, which left only just before the Highlander, which overtook it at Carstairs. Lowlander now expected into Euston shortly after the Highlander, which could be interesting.

 

[185143]

Ah, looks like the website's been loading funny for me, then.

Either way, it doesn't do Cally's fragile operations any favours. I'm still trying to sort out a trip next year on the Jacobite, and from Glasgow that means relying on the Cally on a minimum of one leg.

Theoretically, if I were to buy an Off-Peak Day Return from Dalmuir (for argument's sake) to Fort Bill, intending to catch the Afternoon Jacobite and returning on the Cally, but the Cally was cancelled once again, would they arrange for a coach to at least get us to Dalmuir, or is it a case of "tough cookies, enjoy a night on a bench in Fort Bill"?

Probably a taxi in all likelihood. The vast majority will be going down south, so I'd expect a coach to go direct to Edinburgh with taxis sorted for the few going elsewhere.

That said, I've been in a fleet of taxis from Edinburgh to Fort William before. IIRC out of the 25ish of us on the FTW portion, one taxi went to Dalmuir and somewhere else, the rest were all direct to FTW.

 

[RPI]

I believe it's more reliable, but it's also a simpler operation. That said, it's not unknown for sleeper passengers to be "accommodated" in normal day carriages.

The sleeper has on a few occasions been replaced with an IET, but that's better than nothing, GWR being a full operator at least have that as a backup.

On thing on GWR that doesn't happen regularly is that if one direction is cancelled, they don't automatically cancel the other, like I've seen on CS where the Northbound would be cancelled because of an issue, they'd sometimes cancel the southbound in order to balance the stock, when this has happened on GWR they will just run the failed set later in the day ECS back to Reading - I fully appreciate though that the mileage is significantly lower!

 

[Highlander1]

They have, *checks notes* a grand total of 14 different Saturdays where there are NO Cally operations, that they could choose to do this on. But no, let's do it in August!

Is there any word on how long it will take them to clear it up? And whether or not tomorrow's Cally will operate as aresult? I can't see this being rerailed in a hurry, and I'm assuming they'll be relying on coaches to get people in and out of Edinburgh?

What difference does August make? They didn't plan a derailment and people use the sleeper every month of the year. What do you mean by 14 Saturdays? There's no sleeper services on any Saturday. If you want to shorten caledonian then Caley is more appropriate

 

[Tetragon213]

Probably a taxi in all likelihood. The vast majority will be going down south, so I'd expect a coach to go direct to Edinburgh with taxis sorted for the few going elsewhere.

That said, I've been in a fleet of taxis from Edinburgh to Fort William before. IIRC out of the 25ish of us on the FTW portion, one taxi went to Dalmuir and somewhere else, the rest were all direct to FTW.

So Cally definitely will get me down from Fort Bill if they screw up their service? That's reassuring; it gives me a bit more confidence in booking the journey knowing I won't be risking a night on a bench in Fort Bill!

 

[3rd rail land]

So Cally definitely will get me down from Fort Bill if they screw up their service? That's reassuring; it gives me a bit more confidence in booking the journey knowing I won't be risking a night on a bench in Fort Bill!

They would never leave you stranded at a station. If they genuinely had no way of getting you to somewhere you could meet the train, high unlikely, they'd put you up in a hotel.

 

[marshlinker]

So Cally definitely will get me down from Fort Bill if they screw up their service? That's reassuring; it gives me a bit more confidence in booking the journey knowing I won't be risking a night on a bench in Fort Bill!

If you're seriously worried about being stranded in Fort William there's an Ember Bus service that leaves after 10pm to Buchanan Street (or the airport) which is rarely busy for about £15 that you can book online up to 10 mins before departure.