Scottish Adventure via London

[Kendalian]

Evening all.

Got some free time before starting a new job so taking a few days to revisit the Highlands.

Setting off from Preston tomorrow afternoon down to Euston. About 3 hours spare so taking a walk along to St Pancras to see the Euros then back to Euston (bar).

Booked on the Sleeper to Inverness (Coach B).

Tuesday am...4 day in 8 Spirit of Scotland £139...1038 to Wick. 1 hour to visit Wick. 30 min will suffice.
1600 back to Inverness. Stay at Premier Inn near the river.

Weds - 0855 to Kyle. Return 1208 to Inverness. Then 1551 to Edinburgh.
Stay at Hub Prem Inn.

Thurs - 1000 ish to Glasgow QS. Walk around then 1221 to Fort William.
Stay at Prem Inn. Watch England qualify for WC from safety of room.

Fri - 0830 FTW to Mallaig. Quick stroll then return on 1010 to Glasgow.
Sprint over to Central, hope to catch the 1600 or doesnt matter if it's the 1640. Already booked off peak Carlisle to Preston for any OP train.

That's the plan. Might change the first day in Scotland if I don't sleep on the Insomnia or if there's disruption.

Any tips guys?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

If this is your first time on the Sleeper I would suggest that you will in actual fact be getting a lot more sleep than you will at first feel like you are getting; whatever you do if you think you aren't getting to sleep - don't check the time.

If you do, then you'll start checking it every time you wake up - and you'll also be waking up more and more frequently because your brain will start thinking "must check the time".

Just keep the lights off, don't check the time. You will get enough sleep.

It helps if you get your head down before departure from Euston - board as soon as you can and settle in for the night.

 

[Kendalian]

If this is your first time on the Sleeper I would suggest that you will in actual fact be getting a lot more sleep than you will at first feel like you are getting; whatever you do if you think you aren't getting to sleep - don't check the time.

If you do, then you'll start checking it every time you wake up - and you'll also be waking up more and more frequently because your brain will start thinking "must check the time".

Just keep the lights off, don't check the time. You will get enough sleep.

It helps if you get your head down before departure from Euston - board as soon as you can and settle in for the night.

Thanks Peter...

When it comes to the Sleepers, you are the voice of experience par excellence.

33 years since I did a sleeper...Preston to London. 2 Mark III's sat in P4b until about 4 am when we were rudely awakened.


Guess it's a bit like a jet lag flight back from USA/West Indies etc. Done a few of those...yes, more sleep than you realise. Still Kerry Packered next day though!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I am a regular... you might remember back in 2014 I did a charity stunt which involved six consecutive nights on Sleepers, and in most years I do make one or two return trips to Scotland on the Sleeper. So yes, I do have the experience.

In fact I did Euston to Glasgow last Thursday night 21st and returned on Friday night 22nd ( attending a conference in Clydebank on the Friday ); if anything I slept more soundly than I often do at home - and I was in J23 both ways, which is directly above the wheels.

So - you'll be absolutely fine.

 

[Kite159]

I'm surprised you are not planning to do Oban, but then I noticed you are in Edinburgh the night before so probably the timings don't work out.

Enjoy your trip, the West Highlands is amazing

 

[Blindtraveler]

Might I suggest a slight alteration to your southbound moves from Inverness? Purely in the interests of cumfort and sanity take the 15:29 Inverness Aberdeen and the 18:18 Aberdeen Edinburgh.
Your proposed 15:51 is booked a single 3 car 170, a totally unsuitable train for the trip so not only will you freez every time the doors open in the highlands but these crates also make a very noticeable amount of engine drone. Further more this train is always without fail very busy and usually late by the time it reaches Fife and whilst it adds a little to your travel time the 158 on the Aberdeen service and the HST it connects with will make a far nicer journey for you.

Also if you need iether the route via Shotts or Bathgate you should have ample time for these on your FortWilliam day. Were you aware your ticket is valid on the 04:50x Waverley to FTW?
Good choice of hotels!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Oh and pack a USB cable, the sleaper berths and Scotrail 158s have USB points rather than 3 pin sockets.

 

[Kendalian]

Might I suggest a slight alteration to your southbound moves from Inverness? Purely in the interests of cumfort and sanity take the 15:29 Inverness Aberdeen and the 18:18 Aberdeen Edinburgh.
Your proposed 15:51 is booked a single 3 car 170, a totally unsuitable train for the trip so not only will you freez every time the doors open in the highlands but these crates also make a very noticeable amount of engine drone. Further more this train is always without fail very busy and usually late by the time it reaches Fife and whilst it adds a little to your travel time the 158 on the Aberdeen service and the HST it connects with will make a far nicer journey for you.

Also if you need iether the route via Shotts or Bathgate you should have ample time for these on your FortWilliam day. Were you aware your ticket is valid on the 04:50x Waverley to FTW?
Good choice of hotels!

Thanks BT.

I think I'll take my chance with the HML as I want to do it in daylight all the way. Going up on the sleeper it won't get light till about Newtonmore...

If we get to Inverness on time from Kyle (1442) I'll have a look at the 1447 to GQS...if there's still decent empty seats I'll jump on that instead and go to GQS then across to Edinburgh. Ahh the beauty of a rover ticket

I've kept an eye on Realtraintimes the last week or so and the sleeper has got in pretty much on time every day at Inverness. Whilst being careful about what I wish for, I'm hoping it will be late tomorrow (60-65 min would be perfect), so get to see more scenery in daylight and get a full refund on delay repay Still gives me plenty of time to get the Wick train!

 

[telstarbox]

If you enjoy real ale then the Bree Louise pub just west of Euston station is worth a visit.

 

[Kendalian]

So far so good.

Now at Inverness awaiting 1041 to Wick. It is raining but who cares

Sleeper got in at 0832 having been 20 late leaving Edinburgh. 67013 provided ample power up the hills. Anyone know what worked the Euston Edinburgh leg last night? Didn't fancy a half mile walk to the top to look! 92014 was at the buffers so guess that worked the Lowlander later

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Anyone know what worked the Euston Edinburgh leg last night?

Cross-referring other posts and a couple of e-mails suggests it was 92 010.

The evidence is that at 17.45 yesterday both 92 014 and 92 010 were in the siding between platforms 15 and 16 at Euston and both were stabled at Edinburgh today.

So by deduction... as you saw 92 014 at the wrong end of the Highlander meaning it worked the Lowlander later, then 92 010 must have worked the Highlander given that it was also at Edinburgh today.

 

[Kendalian]

Thanks Peter. Good to know

Sitting having breakfast in Inverness overlooking the river....it's a nicer day than yesterday.

Hoping the sun comes out for the run to Kyle later

I'll do a full review on Saturday rather than keep drip feeding info!

 

[Kendalian]

Ok, so mission accomplished. Very enjoyable few days.

Full breakdown of services as follows -

2/10 - 1252 Leyland - Preston (150268+142067) - 23 min late due to signal problems Lostock
1458 Preston - Euston (390129) - 3 min early into Euston
2115 Euston - Inverness (92010, 67013 EDI-INV). (92014 brought stock in to Euston) - 8 min early in to Inverness.
(www.realtraintimes.co.uk/C74104/2017/10/02/advanced).

3/10 - 1041 Inverness - Wick
1600 Wick - Inverness (Both 158719 - refurbished)
Overnight at Premier Inn by the River Ness

4/10 - 0855 Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh
1208 Kyle of Lochalsh - Inverness (Both 158704 - refurbished)
1447 Inverness - Stirling (170434)
1737 Stirling - Edinburgh (170418). 1703 Perth-Edinburgh cancelled due to cable theft, as mentioned elsewhere
Overnight at Hub Premier Inn Royal Mile

5/10 - 1000 Edinburgh - Glasgow QS (170470+170430)
1221 Glasgow QS - Fort William (156493+156445)
Overnight at Premier Inn Fort William (and yes...watched qualification for world cup, turgid as it was)

6/10 - 0830 Fort William - Mallaig
1010 Mallaig - Glasgow QS (Both 156445+156493). 7 hours is more than enough on a 156....20 min late into QS. Held 10 min at Spean Bridge waiting to cross 0821 GQS-MLG, held Crianlarich c 10 min awaiting 1211 from Oban
1640 Glasgow C - Preston (390134).

NB No trolley service available on 1140 FTW-GQS due to staff shortage. No hot food/drink on 1640 GLC-PRE, electrical fault.

Overall, yes a great trip. Only 2 real delays, neither of which caused me any real issues.

Key points - furthest north station on network - Thurso. Furthest west - Arisaig. The 3 highest summits on the network - Drumochter (1484 ft), Corrour (1350 ft), Slochd (1315 ft), plus 2 further over 1000 feet - County March (West Highland) and Beattock.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a very good trip

 

[Peter Mugridge]

How did you manage with the getting sleep on the Sleeper bit? Was it all good?

 

[Kendalian]

How did you manage with the getting sleep on the Sleeper bit? Was it all good?

Yes it was a bit jolty at times. I was in berth 23 at the end which I guess isn't the best!

Sat up for a while and turned in about Stafford. Got up about 6.15 and watched out of the window as it slowly got light.

Sleep wise, yes I know what you mean! Didn't think I had slept at all, but I must have drifted off quite a bit as felt fine next morning!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

When I went to Glasgow three weeks ago I had J23* both ways - no problems at all, but maybe it's because I'm used to it? If anything I actually find it easier to sleep in the end cabins than the middle ones.


*By choice from the selection function on the website when I made the booking.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I could not do that length of time on a Scotrail 156, esp with no trolley.

The lack of hot stuff (accept possibly the catering female staff members) on the 16:40 is thank goodness the acception rather than the rule, assuming you were in First they will have worked extra hard on other things??
Grand little trip. I havnt used these hub PI's yet, are they good?

 

[Kendalian]

Yes I like the Premier Inn hub. Only stayed at the Royal Mile one, not the other one in Edinburgh or any of the London ones.

Standard rooms are compact but high tech. Whilst they're officially double rooms I reckon they would be cosy for 2. OK if you like being cosy

They also have bigger rooms which I stayed in with Mrs K last year. That was fine for 2. Can't upload pics sadly files are too large it says....

 

[Bletchleyite]

I stayed in there and it was good though it doesn't beat Motel One which is truly excellent compared with its price.