Scotrail 1st class - North Highland Lines

[VideozVideoz]

The seating is not really first class anyway. Exactly the same as the rest of the train but with lamps on the table.

I noticed that the seat son my train did look different - slightly more comfy with a headrest. There was 1 lady in 1st class with her laptop.

This may be a silly question but why are class 158 trains used on Kyle-Inverness route? I don't believe we went any faster than 50mph but the windows were perfect for the scenery.

 

[me123]

Why did they get rid of the class 156 dmus from the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh/Wick/Thurso services?

I can only assume that they wanted a uniform fleet up in Inverness. The Inverness-Aberdeen runs really need the 158s for the FC accommodation. THe 158s move around quite a bit, as they are common sights on Inverness/Aberdeen-Central Belt services.

On the other hand, any 156s based up there wouldn't really be able to travel South in service without inhibiting the speed of whatever it's attached to. It's not really a good idea to then have a separate fleet of 156s up in Inverness if you can avoid it.

 

[Damien1986]

I can only assume that they wanted a uniform fleet up in Inverness. The Inverness-Aberdeen runs really need the 158s for the FC accommodation. THe 158s move around quite a bit, as they are common sights on Inverness/Aberdeen-Central Belt services.

On the other hand, any 156s based up there wouldn't really be able to travel South in service without inhibiting the speed of whatever it's attached to. It's not really a good idea to then have a separate fleet of 156s up in Inverness if you can avoid it.

What was it like travelling on a class 156 dmu north of Inverness?

 

[37 418]

Something else in the Far North's favour is the lack of trees - you can see for miles, unlike the West Highland up to Crianlarich where you miss all the scenery because of the continuous forests.

The trees are there for a reason, cut them down and you will no doubt see endless landslides!

The soil up north is harder.

 

[Scotrail84]

I think you've misread it. It wasn't implied that they're the same thing.
The point was that the only first class service direct between Edinburgh and Stirling is the Chieftain, and that the sleeper doesn't count as a second one.



To be fair, the Fort William one is still referred to as the Deerstalker by a lot of people.

Never heard anyone refer to it as the deerstalker after nearly 11 years in railway. Shunter's and staff just call it the Ft William or Ft Willy. Inverness is the Shneckie and the Aberdeen is just the Aberdeen. The Edinburgh sleeper is referred to as the Lowlander or Night Scot
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I can only assume that they wanted a uniform fleet up in Inverness. The Inverness-Aberdeen runs really need the 158s for the FC accommodation. The 158s move around quite a bit, as they are common sights on Inverness/Aberdeen-Central Belt services.


Indeed i had 158 704 on Cowdenbeath's yesterday

 

[90019]

Never heard anyone refer to it as the deerstalker after nearly 11 years in railway. Shunter's and staff just call it the Ft William or Ft Willy. Inverness is the Shneckie and the Aberdeen is just the Aberdeen. The Edinburgh sleeper is referred to as the Lowlander or Night Scot

Perhaps not by staff, but I've heard people calling it the Deerstalker still.

 

[EltonRoad]

The trees are there for a reason, cut them down and you will no doubt see endless landslides!

Not sure if that's right.

There is an ongoing campaign by the Friends of the West Highland Lines to have the trees felled, specifically to open up the views. They've recently completed two projects, one near Glen Falloch and one alongside Loch Awe on the Oban branch which have opened up new vistas. Obstacles are a) cost and b) coinciding the work with Network Rail's routine maintenance.

One stretch which could really do with it in my view is the five mile descent alongside Loch Treig, which is becoming more and more overgrown. This is otherwise one of the best views from a train I've ever seen.