The Transport Game (UK)

[FQ]

We then continue North by taking the 23:27 Northern service to Doncaster arriving at 00:05 on Saturday morning.

 

[ValleyLines142]

That appears to be the last train of the day, so we call it a night before boarding the 0610 Virgin Trains East Coast service 1S02 to Newcastle, arriving there at 0739 on Saturday morning.

 

[jaffa840]

and we leave Newcastle and go cross country to Carlisle on the 2N09 0824 Newcastle to Carlisle train service and get there at 0956 on the Saturday morning

 

[ValleyLines142]

Exiting the station and taking the two minute walk to The Courts, we then embark on a very slow service as we board the 1005 First Scotland East (what appears to be a division of First South East and Central Scotland) service X95 to Edinburgh (Leith Street), arriving there at 1341 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[me123]

We run in vain to catch a train to Dumfries, alas the train leaves before we make the -1 minute connection. An unfortunately timed connection. Our second connection to Scotland is also stopped by just a seven minute connection (compared to the 8 minute minimum at this station), so for the sake of a minute we have no option but to watch the train leave towards Glasgow.

We instead have to wait until 10:47 until we can head Northwards, when we can finally board 1S42 to Glasgow Central. We arrive at 11:59 on Saturday morning.
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Exiting the station and taking the two minute walk to The Courts, we then embark on a very slow service as we board the 1005 First Scotland East (what appears to be a division of First South East and Central Scotland) service X95 to Edinburgh (Leith Street), arriving there at 1341 on Saturday afternoon.

We head back the way we came. Kind of. It's approximately the same route, but we couldn't alight here on the way up. Anyway, we cross the road and, at 13:48, we get on a Lothian buses number 49 service back towards the Borders. At 14:13 on Saturday afternoon, we arrive at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board the 1427 Lothian Buses service 21 to Clermiston (Queensferry Road), arriving there at 1543 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[me123]

We head back towards the city on Lothian Buses service 41, which leaves at 15:54. It takes us to Queensferry Street Edinburgh (Stop QB), at 16:05 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Walking around the corner to the West End tram stop, we then board the 1616 Edinburgh Trams service to Gyle Centre, arriving there at 1637 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[me123]

We walk to the bus stops and board a Lothian 63 bus at 17:18 towards Sommerville Gardens. We alight at Queensferry Police Station at 17:50 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Finally having a change of operator, we then board the 1823 Stagecoach Fife service 40A to Edinburgh (George Street), arriving there at 1858 on Saturday evening.

 

[me123]

We leave Edinburgh behind on another Stagecoach Fife service, this time the 19:19 X59 service which takes us over the Forth Road Bridge* to the town of St Andrews, where we arrive at the bus station at 21:05 on Saturday evening.

* As per the rules, the diversions for the bridge closure are not in place for the purposes of the game.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board the 2130 Stagecoach Fife service 99A to Dundee (Bus Station), arriving there at 2202 on Saturday evening.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wishing to visit the home of the "smokie", we next board the 2236 Stagecoach Strathtay service 73 to Arbroath bus station that arrives there at 2329 on Saturday evening.

 

[me123]

Services seem to have shut down for the night, so we find a hotel nearby to keep us warm on this cold, cold Saturday night.

Sparse services up here on Sundays on some routes, although the first service I can find (that doesn't take us to Aberdeen) leaves at the reasonably early hour of 07:12. The Stagecoach X7 bus takes us all the way to Perth, Canal Street (Stop ZP), alighting at 08:48 on Sunday morning.

 

[jaffa840]

we have a nice breakfast and then we catch the 1H45 perth to Inverness ScotRail service
and get there at 1259 on the sunday afternoon

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We take the four minute walk to the bus station and board the 1325 Stagecoach Highlands service 25 to Dingwall (Royal Hotel on Hill Street) that arrives there at 1352 on Sunday afternoon.

 

[me123]

On a Sunday, it of course makes sense to go as rural as possible in a game like this. So we grab a bite for lunch before heading to the adjacent bus station. We catch the 13:40 Stagecoach Highlands 61 bus service from here to Ullapool Ferry Terminal, arriving at 15:10 on Sunday afternoon.

 

[dzug2]

We make our way to the bus station for the 1325 Stagecoach Highland 25 bus to Dingwall o/s Royal Hotel on Hill Street where we arrive at 1352 Sunday afternoon

 

[jaffa840]

we have something to eat at dingwall and continue are journey north on the 1655 stagecoach highland bus service to Thurso, Bank of Scotland and get there at 2041 on the sunday eveing

 

[me123]

We would appear to be struggling for more services in this quiet part of the country. However, the decidedly odd services in the Highlands have proven to be as unpredictable as ever, and just as we make our way to find a hotel for the night, we notice a timetable promising just one more bus tonight, from a stop at Sir George's Street Church, just 0.2 miles from where we were last set down.

It seems to be the only bus for several dozen miles in any direction, but sure enough Stagecoach Highland's 276 arrives bang on time at 23:25. It takes us to a quiet little bus stance outside Dounreay Nuclear Power Station, arriving at 23:45 on Sunday night.

As we get into our sleeping bags for the night, we wonder if this has been a productive move. We could be in a nice hotel in Thurso, instead we're outside in the North of Scotland, in the winter, being slowly irradiated and very likely to attract police attention camping out beside a nuclear facility.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We hear the growl of a vehicle with a diesel engine approaching and are delighted to find it is the 0010 Stagecoach Highlands service 276 to Staxigoe (Bus shelter on Elzy Road) that arrives there at 0101 on Monday morning.

 

[me123]

We stay here overnight, sleeping rough as this tiny little hamlet doesn't even appear to have a B&B. There are a few buses saving this tiny community, but again it's the 276 that takes us on our next step of the journey, arriving at 06:40. It's an odd little service that seems to exist solely to convey workers to Dounreay, and rather oddly bypasses the centre of the most important town in the area!

Having already visited Dounreay and Thurso, we alight at Wick, Henrietta Street (before Green Road) at 06:47 on Monday morning.

 

[jaffa840]

with a little extra time on our hands we walk to wick railway station and catch the 2H56 0802 scotrail trains to Inverness and get there at 1225 on the Monday afternoon

 

[me123]

The adjacent bus station allows us to connect onto Scottish Citylink's 919 service to Invergarry, which leaves at 12:45. We arrive at Invergarry (opp. Junction Bus Bay on A82) at 13:53 on Monday afternoon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We next board the 1453 Scottish Citylink service 919 to Invermoriston (Civic Hall) that arrives there at 1513 on Monday afternoon.

 

[me123]

It's a long time until our next bus arrives. Assuming it's a school day, the next bus we can board is the 16:30 Ross's Minibus service 312D to Drumnadrochit (o/s Post Office on A82), which arrives at 16:55 on Monday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board the 1710 Scottish Citylink service 919 to Fort William (Bus Station), arriving there at 1833 on Monday evening.

 

[Quakkerillo]

After having sampled some nice Scottish Highlands, we decide to head South again.
We want to board the Caledonian Sleeper down to London, but oh dear. Cancelled due to stock shortage.
So we continue with the connecting bus 918 instead, departing at 19:00 sharp.
We leave this bus at the entrance of the Sealife Centre at 20:02 on Monday evening.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

So we continue with the connecting bus 918 instead, departing at 19:00 sharp.
We leave this bus at the entrance of the Sealife Centre at 20:02 on Monday evening.

We appear to have travelled for just over an hour, so we must have made some mileage, so where exactly is this Sealife Centre actually situated.

Incidentally, we are supposed to state the name of the bus/coach company that was used, which in this case is West Coast Motors.

 

[Quakkerillo]

We appear to have travelled for just over an hour, so we must have made some mileage, so where exactly is this Sealife Centre actually situated.

Just west of Barcaldine. https://goo.gl/maps/zn4B5mQmQLB2