I'm going on the Jacobite in a few weeks and I'm seriously looking forward to it. I haven't done any mainline steam for about 25 years (since I was a kid), and I'm not sure what to expect. What is the sort of behaviour on these occasions? I suppose there will be a lot more dreary normals and ageing kettle veg than on the sort of crankfest that I'm used to. Does this mean that most people will be über respectable and not getting the booze out before the train has even left Fort William? What about bellowing? Is this advisable?
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Mainline steam: advice please
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We were booked in the leading coach when we travelled back from Mallaig on it a couple of weeks ago. Definitely no crankfest. There must have been a coach trip booked, as a lot of the punters in our coach seemed to know each other. One table spent ages pondering how the loco might have got to the other end of the train at Mallaig, and how on earth the whole train had moved into the other platform. Our view of Glenfinnan Viaduct (as the train approached) was entirely obscured by acres of backside as the women opposite all stood up for a better view. Beer might help you get through the experience without losing your sanity 
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As for the journey itself, it's a bit of a crawl but it's also a decent opportunity to hear a kettle working hard for a long period of time!
.As for the journey itself, it's a bit of a crawl but it's also a decent opportunity to hear a kettle working hard for a long period of time!
We were booked in the leading coach when we travelled back from Mallaig on it a couple of weeks ago. Definitely no crankfest. There must have been a coach trip booked, as a lot of the punters in our coach seemed to know each other. One table spent ages pondering how the loco might have got to the other end of the train at Mallaig, and how on earth the whole train had moved into the other platform. Our view of Glenfinnan Viaduct (as the train approached) was entirely obscured by acres of backside as the women opposite all stood up for a better view. Beer might help you get through the experience without losing your sanity
As for the journey itself, it's a bit of a crawl but it's also a decent opportunity to hear a kettle working hard for a long period of time!
This is the problem on trains that are essentially 'visitor attractions' and geared up around extracting dollar from normals. It's much nicer to be around people who love railways when experiencing railways. Still, it'll be much nicer than doing it on a 156, so a few beers sounds like the answer!
It's not just the kettles! A coach party had reserved seats on our 158 from Inverness to Kyle the previous day (we wondered why so many seats were reserved on an otherwise fairly empty train away from Inverness) - they all travelled from Dingwall to Kyle whilst the coach followed on the mostly parallel road... in sight for much of the journey. Bizarre!
Edited: 158 not 156!
Edited: 158 not 156!
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A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I'd rather travel with normals who are totally oblivious to the railway world around them than with a load of late-middle aged, spirit-sapping, cardigan wearing goons who have some vague but inaccurate notion that railways were better in the 'golden age of steam'. Having to listen to ill-informed platitudes about railways is very, very difficult when you love them as much as most cranks (and let's face it, kettle veg too) do.
Indeed, that's an unfortunate disadvantage of heritage railways (and tourist-y operations on the mainline). I'm always delighted (workload permitting, of course) to welcome an interested visitor to have a quick look around my signalbox, explain the workings and hopefully have an interesting chat. I'm often disappointed!
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