Spitfires' Lochs & Glens Napier, Sep 14th

[Drimnagh Road]

Now going to Oban,

I believe that Network Rail could only offer a 02:20 or there abouts start from Crewe if they wanted to go to Fort William.

Never the less, it'll still be a long day, departing Crewe 04:20, returning 00:39

I must say that I always thought that Crewe-Fort William and back in a day was completely unachievable.

 

[junglejames]

Now going to Oban,

I believe that Network Rail could only offer a 02:20 or there abouts start from Crewe if they wanted to go to Fort William.

Never the less, it'll still be a long day, departing Crewe 04:20, returning 00:39

I must say that I always thought that Crewe-Fort William and back in a day was completely unachievable.

I believe there is an extra freight train on the WHL on the day. Had it not been for this, they should have managed it. Just.

 

[scotsman]

Oh well, I daresay Oban is a hell of a lot better than Fort Bill anyway. A trip to Mull and a walk up McCaig's folley is worth a try!

 

[junglejames]

I dunno. Ive heard Oban isnt up to much either. FW is pleasant for a couple of hours if the weather is nice.

 

[scotsman]

I dunno. Ive heard Oban isnt up to much either. FW is pleasant for a couple of hours if the weather is nice.

I know both well. Fort Bill is the pits. Oban is lovely - if you have time, take a trip on the ferry to Mull and back (£8.25) then head up McCaig's tower and have a wander round the town.

Oban is a proper West Highland town.

 

[NIMBUS]

Oban is lovely - if you have time, take a trip on the ferry to Mull and back (£8.25)

In 90 minutes - might be pushing it a bit! Especially given the weather forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday, the chances are that the train is going to run late reducing the layover even further.

 

[junglejames]

I know both well. Fort Bill is the pits. Oban is lovely - if you have time, take a trip on the ferry to Mull and back (£8.25) then head up McCaig's tower and have a wander round the town.

Oban is a proper West Highland town.

Poor Fort William! I quite like it there, even if there isnt much to do.

 

[table38]

Poor Fort William! I quite like it there, even if there isnt much to do.

With this weather, you could have a swim in the old station

(from http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/f/fort_william/index.shtml)

 

[junglejames]

Now i never knew about an old station at FW.

 

[sprinterguy]

Now i never knew about an old station at FW.

You didn't know about the old Fort William station? hock:

As you can see from that absolutely fabulous aquatic photo, it was located on the sea front, betwixt Loch Linnhe and the town. The townsfolk welcomed the railway to Fort William with open arms, and then realised shortly after that they had robbed themselves of what could have been a great Victorian tourist feature: A lochside promenade

The old site was horribly cramped, and the station quickly became extremely congested whenever there was more than one train present. So the final half a mile of the line was truncated, and the current station was opened in 1975. The A82 runs across the site of the old station now.

 

[chefchenko]

I know both well. Fort Bill is the pits. Oban is lovely - if you have time, take a trip on the ferry to Mull and back (£8.25) then head up McCaig's tower and have a wander round the town.

Oban is a proper West Highland town.

I did the trip,which was excellent, fort bill is ok but oban is lovely and the scallops on the pier were to die for hahaha.It ran pretty much to time overall,a few delays were quickly made up except for the slightly late arrival back into crewe.... but hey ho who cares !! was a very long day though:roll:

 

[NIMBUS]

I did the trip,which was excellent, fort bill is ok but oban is lovely and the scallops on the pier were to die for hahaha.It ran pretty much to time overall,a few delays were quickly made up except for the slightly late arrival back into crewe.... but hey ho who cares !! was a very long day though:roll:

Absolutely. A shame that a (nearly) 30 minute early approach to Preston was then converted into a 15 minute late arrival at Crewe - mainly due to standing at Euxton Balshaw Lane to allow "Lady Penelope" to convey her ECS Pendolino back to depot!

 

[Phil6219]

Absolutely. A shame that a (nearly) 30 minute early approach to Preston was then converted into a 15 minute late arrival at Crewe - mainly due to standing at Euxton Balshaw Lane to allow "Lady Penelope" to convey her ECS Pendolino back to depot!

Well we would have left Preston nice and early but someone lost something which held our departure up long enough to allow Lady Penelope to hook up to the Pendo and be hot on our tail.

Did you spot Tin Tin going the other way with the Euston - Preston (30 late).

I must admit 57307 sounded awesome when she roared passed us at Euxton.

The tour was really good and the weather was fantastic, Got the arrival and departure videos online. Still editing the proper "Trip" video...

Phil

 

[EltonRoad]

I believe there is an extra freight train on the WHL on the day. Had it not been for this, they should have managed it. Just.

I heard that the reason it went to Oban was that Alcans now run their trains to about 24 tanks, i.e. too long for a passing loop. The Lochs and Glens tour was 11 coaches + a class 47 DOR for some of the time, which I believe overlaps most if not all of the loops. You can have one over-long train passing at a loop, but not two ...

(This wasn't from an official source, I might add.)

 

[table38]

You can have one over-long train passing at a loop, but not two ...

To be pedantic (who, me? ) you can, but it's complicated - and I'm not sure it has ever been done in this country!

I couldn't find an example on-line so I knocked this up to demonstrate the principle... I can't be bothered to work out if you could do it with more iterations for an even longer train!

For a longer train, the red engine could just collect another loops-worth of coaches/waggons at the end and then repeat the procedure.

 

[EltonRoad]

That's very amusing! Like a Mensa puzzle!