Spotting in the Scottish Central Belt.

[Alanko]

Hello all,

I have some time off in a couple of weeks. I live in Edinburgh, and would like to do a bit of light spotting. I'm not one for jotting down numbers, just interested in what I might see. Generally I'm more interested in freight than passenger trains (I do Edinburgh to Glasgow three times a week on 385s, either into Queen Street or Central so I get more than my fill, this way).

I've read on here that Coatbridge Central is a good location to see freight services from a 'Glasgow area' perspective. A glance at RTT and it looks like there is maybe one or two freight movements and hour?

I also have a soft spot for East Lothian, so would somewhere like Drem be a good contender? Basically I'm looking for somewhere I can take a good book, a flask of coffee and not worry too much about being mugged (or looking like an abject weirdo ).

 

[Esker-pades]

It depends how far you're willing to go. If I was after freight, I'd go to Carluke. They should have a good deal of momentum behind them at that point, and you'd get a good lot of different passenger traffic in between the freight. The curve may help with photography, if that's a thing you do.

 

[pt_mad]

Hello all,

I have some time off in a couple of weeks. I live in Edinburgh, and would like to do a bit of light spotting. I'm not one for jotting down numbers, just interested in what I might see. Generally I'm more interested in freight than passenger trains (I do Edinburgh to Glasgow three times a week on 385s, either into Queen Street or Central so I get more than my fill, this way).

I've read on here that Coatbridge Central is a good location to see freight services from a 'Glasgow area' perspective. A glance at RTT and it looks like there is maybe one or two freight movements and hour?

I also have a soft spot for East Lothian, so would somewhere like Drem be a good contender? Basically I'm looking for somewhere I can take a good book, a flask of coffee and not worry too much about being mugged (or looking like an abject weirdo ).

Drem is ok, Longniddry nearby is a nice rural ish station and the area is quite upmarket. There's only a shelter if it rains though and you'll probably see a lot of 385s there too. But you will get the East Coast traffic there, 225s and HSTs, there's an Azuma been parked up at Craigentinny lately too but I don't know when that goes up and down.

 

[ScotTrains]

Holytown is quite good for freight movements but I can't guarantee you won't get mugged!

 

[Alanko]

Holytown is quite good for freight movements but I can't guarantee you won't get mugged!

I would expect better from a place called Holytown!

Thanks everybody for the suggestions just now, and thanks mods for moving this to the proper location.

 

[Condor7]

I’m a Freightmaster subscriber and they have timetables for scheduled freight both at Coatbridge and Holytown. It would not be right to display these for obvious reasons.

What I can say is a lot depends on what day of the week you go and what part of the day but as a guide at Coatbridge Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm there are between 5 and 8 scheduled freight and Holytown between 7 and 9 all depending on what day you go. There will no doubt be the occasional unscheduled freight as well but that tends to be in the lap of the gods.

 

[Condor7]

One of the problems with Freightmaster (in a good way) is the tables are regularly updated and since my earlier post the Freightmaster tables were updated again today and some things have changed.........

Now Coatbridge between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday have between 3 and 6 scheduled freight depending on the day, and Holytown between 9 and 12 scheduled freight.

 

[Alanko]

I’m a Freightmaster subscriber and they have timetables for scheduled freight both at Coatbridge and Holytown. It would not be right to display these for obvious reasons.

A service I didn't even knew existed! I admire your dedication!

I might take myself on a jaunt to Summerlee and poke my head onto the platform at Coatbridge Central for a short spell. Many thanks for the heads up about Holytown.

 

[433N]

A service I didn't even knew existed! I admire your dedication!

I might take myself on a jaunt to Summerlee and poke my head onto the platform at Coatbridge Central for a short spell. Many thanks for the heads up about Holytown.

Well if you're going to Summerlee, just peek over the car park wall ... one of the few which hasn't been security fenced in urban Scotland and a good vantage point for photography.

 

[Alanko]

Well if you're going to Summerlee, just peek over the car park wall ... one of the few which hasn't been security fenced in urban Scotland and a good vantage point for photography.

Even better! Many thanks! Have they moved the big Beyer-Garratt off site at all? That was a high point for the trips made there when I was a child. I understand it could be steamed when it arrived but was basically allowed to rot where it stood?