A train trip to Scotland Day 6: 15/05/2023 Thurso to Inverness.
Trains from Thurso to Inverness are a choice of stupid-o’clock in the morning or 1306, I chose the latter since although it meant an inconvenient hour’s wait between having to check out of the hotel and getting the train, taking the earlier departure would mean killing 90 minutes in Inverness before checking into the next hotel. The weather looked fine so about 1100 I decided to check out and get a picnic lunch to eat down on the promenade. Half way there and the sky darkened and it pissed down. There is a sad lack of shelters in Thurso and the rain lasted just long enough to ensure that there was now not a dry surface available to sit on in Thurso other than an uncomfortable bus shelter or the railway station train shed. The latter became my picnic lunch location. The views aren’t up to much but at least it was dry. I awaited the train and read my book. The train arrived with enough time to offload those who’d ventured from Wick to the bright lights of Thurso and load those of us heading south to leave on time at 1306. Goodbye Thurso, or perhaps Au Revoir.
My allocated seat got swiped by the wheelchair user's wife (I assume) so I'm travelling backwards again apart from the first 10 minutes. I’m on the coast side of the train though so should get better views as we head south. This journey is the reverse of the trip up so sort of familiar. At Kinbrace there were four deer next to the station but the train didn’t stop so if they had wanted to be on it they should have made their intent clear. Held out a hoof or something The expected good sea views came along the north side of Beauly Firth.
At Ardgay we paused and then came the announcement that we would remain here for 15 to 20 minutes, delayed by a fault on the northbound train which we needed to pass at Ardgay Station. Once it had arrived we carried on down the line. Conon Bridge and Beauly stations both have such short platforms that passengers have to board or alight from one specific set of doors in the middle of the two coach train, as directed by the guard. In contrast some of the other stations have platforms much longer than will ever be needed nowadays but presumably saw much longer trains in the past. By Muir of Ord we were running only 2 minutes late and were still only 2 minutes late when we pulled into a sunny Inverness. It didn’t feel like it had been a 4 hour journey although I did have my head in a book for quite a bit of it - The Necromancer’s Apprentice by Icy Sedgwick in case you were wondering. I walked out to Premier Inn Inverness not-so-Central and checked in again, nicer room this time but on the road and railway side of the building. I had a whole day in Inverness tomorrow so started looking online for something to do.
A train trip to Scotland Day 7: 16/05/2023 Inverness and Elgin.
Kilt makers and woollen shops aside the most touristy place to visit in Inverness is probably the castle and as that was closed while they had the builders in I decided to make a side trip to Elgin where the map showed an interesting-looking motor museum. Elgin is a short train ride away. By the time I got to the station I had to put my coat on. Sunny spells and spots of rain, fingers crossed that it didn’t get wetter. I eschewed the ScotRail app and bought my ticket at the station, in the actual ticket office as most of the self-service machines were out of order. £9 return with Senior Railcard isn’t too bad. The train departed at 0946. At Scotland’s newest railway station (at the time of writing) Inverness Airport which opened in February 2023 we paused for 5 minutes, perhaps to fully appreciate what £14m gets you in the way of a station nowadays. The answer is not a whole lot. Two platforms, a bridge with lifts, some bus stop style shelters and some dot matrix displays. And a longish walk to the airport.
The Moray Motor Museum is on the other side of Elgin town centre from the railway station, about a twenty minute walk so with the train arriving at 1040 and the museum opening at 1100 I was the first customer through the door, the man hadn’t even finished Hoovering. This is a small museum in one single storey building but has a really nice collection of cars from Veterans to a one-owner Mark 2 Ford Granada, a lot of motoring and other ephemera, and is well worth the tenner admission charge. I spent an hour there and then went across the road as the museum admission includes a complementary tea or coffee in the DIY shop restaurant opposite. However the queue to get a table there was so long that I gave up and went back into Elgin town centre and found a Costa instead.
Boosted by a flat white I climbed Lady Hill, which is a prominent piece of high ground to the east of the centre of Elgin and not a member of the Scottish aristocracy. Up there are the ruins of Elgin Castle which are small, and the Duke of Gordon's Monument, which is very large. The view’s not too shabby either.
After that I went back to the station for the 1325 train to Inverness. This was delayed till 1337 as it had been held for a customer connection at Keith - that doesn't happen around here, if you miss your connection because of a delayed train then it’s tough, I got stranded at Ascot once by SWR because of a missed connection to a last train.
A train trip to Scotland Day 8: 17/05/2023 Inverness to Edinburgh.
I don’t know why I got up so early when my train to Edinburgh didn't depart until 1050 but I was packed and ready to go with an hour to spare so I went and got some food for an on-train lunch. In a piece of excellent timing I was standing by the gateline when the platform was announced so was first on board and bagged a forward facing seat with a cleanish window. We departed on time and the journey was uneventful, I read for most of it to be honest. I arrived at Edinburgh Waverley at 1429 and exited to Princes street via the multiple escalators. The city centre was very busy, a complete contrast to Thurso and Wick. I headed straight to my hotel, the Terrace again, where this time I had a huge room with a giant bed. Later I took a stroll down to Meadowbank Shopping Centre for KFC and then went to the Bellfield Brewery Tap Room for a pint to wash it down. Interesting place with a good range of beers. But probably more fun as a group especially as it was quiz night. Nice beer though, and the one I had in the Artisan Bar on the way back to the hotel was better still. I had a good night’s sleep - at least once the two talkative women next door had settled down.
A train trip to Scotland Day 9: 18/05/2023 Edinburgh to Home.
Up and ready for the trip home, starting with the 1030 LNER Azuma to London King’s Cross. I’d feared that this train would be crowded so had booked a seat to go with my open return ticket. So that’s another train company I’ve had to set up an account with. As it turned out it wasn’t too busy. The seat across the table was occupied to Newcastle and reserved from there to London but the guy that boarded at Newcastle decided to forego the window and sit on the aisle side so we both had legroom. He then proceeded to extract from his bags and spread out on the table and seat lunch, drinks, phone, toiletries, a mouse, a mouse mat, and two laptops! Make yourself at home son. I passed the time reading, listening to podcasts and watching the scenery rush by. The run down the north east coast is still spectacular.
At 1449 the train pulled into King’s Cross. All going well so far. It couldn’t last, I got the Hammersmith and City Line to Paddington only to find on arrival that everything was screwed with multiple cancellations and delays caused by a points failure somewhere near Slough. It always seems to me that when it all goes wrong GWR are involved in some way. A tannoy announcement advised anyone heading for Reading to go via Waterloo instead so I got on the Bakerloo Line and crossed London for a second time. I caught a SWR train to Guildford, not entirely sure if my Super Off Peak ticket was valid but the ticket inspector didn’t query it. An angry posh mum sat opposite on the phone complaining about her little darling being suspended from her public school. It's all so unfair and all the school’s fault apparently. She carried on moaning all the way through Woking before a dropped signal cut her short. At Guildford I caught the next train to Sandhurst, it looked as if it was going to rain just to top things off. In the event I was home at 1735. And dry too.
I had a good trip despite the hiccups on the last leg (at least GWR has coughed up under delay repay and TfL only charged me for one journey from King’s Cross to Waterloo via Paddington) and enjoyed the North of Scotland. It had been some years since I’d been up there and I hope to return again in the future, whether by train or some other mode of transport. Meanwhile I’ve got about 250 photos to look through and this blog to remind me how much I enjoyed it.
Even if it did take a long time to get around to it.
Here’s the Flickr Album with all the photos (249) that I took on the trip.
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