Oban

16th June 2018

I've always liked Oban. A compact town wrapped around its harbour and ferry terminal, ideal for wandering around with plenty of interest and no shortage of places to eat and drink. The West Highland Line is probably one of the best ways to get there, I driven there in the past but if you're driving you don't really get to appreciate the scenery - at least not without risk of becoming part of it. Also you can take advantage of the above mentioned places to drink :-)

Just over £30 (June 2018) gets you an off-peak return from Glasgow, in my case from Charing Cross changing at Dalmuir from the suburban service to the West Highland Line train that had come from Glasgow Queen Street. I was surprised that it was only a two coach train, quite busy but I had a seat reservation anyway.

The West Highland Line is famous for spectacular views but it quickly became apparent that we weren't to be afforded any of them by the rain and mist that had descended on the west of Scotland that morning. The photo isn't mine but gives you an idea of what it was like except the mist was thicker.

Fortunately by the time the train reached Oban two and three-quarter hours later the weather had cleared up and though breezy there were some prolonged warm sunny periods and it stayed dry.

Oban town and harbour.

The railway station is right next to the harbour and ferry terminal where Calmac ferries leave for the Western Isles so it's a very short walk and you're right in the town centre and harbour area.

Had a wander about the town, there were a number of tall ships (sailing ships) moored in the harbour at the North Pier. The North Pier has been redeveloped since I first visited and now seems to be dominated by two modern restaurants. I seem to recall there used to be a "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and a Model Railway exhibition at one time but not any more. There are at least some public toilets which as far as I can tell are the only ones in the town centre.

Above the town and visible from most of it is what appears to be a Roman Amphitheatre. Now we all know that the empire's "civilising" influence didn't reach this far north so what is it really?

McCaig's Tower from the harbour.

McCaig's Tower is a folly that stands on Battery Hill and is worth the steep climb from the town for the extensive views over Oban, the harbour and the Isle of Kerrera. Commisioned by wealthy philanthropist and banker (you don't get many of those) John Stuart McCaig to provide  a monument to his family and to provide work for local stonemasons. Only the outer structure was completed between 1897 and 1902 when McCaig died of a heart attack. I don't know if that was because he got the bill for the construction - £5000 (getting on for £5m today depending on how you measure it).

 Inside McCaig's Tower.

 View to Kerrera from McCaig's Tower

 Harbour entrance from McCaig's Tower

 View over Oban towards Lismore from McCaig's Tower
















In spite of the stiff breeze it was warm work climbing up to the tower and back so back into town for an ice cream and a look around the shops, a pint in the Oban Inn, some excellent grilled scallops at MacGillivrays Seafood right by the harbour, and to take some more photos.

 Caledonian MacBrayne ferry coming into Oban

 Oban, along the prom.

 All the way to the Isle of Mull

 Clouds building but they passed without dropping anything on Oban.

Mine! Mine!

That's just immature.

As is the gull.













And then it was time to get the train back to Glasgow. My seat reservation was in Coach G, which was a bit odd for a two coach train but the two coaches were F and G, something to do I think with how the trains out of Glasgow divide at Crianlarich, with part of the train going to Oban and the other going to Mallaig (which is a trip I intend to do at some point in the future). The views were much better on the way back in the evening light although photo's taken through the train windows don't really do them justice.

 Loch Awe from the train.

 Loch Long from the train.

 Dalmally Station.

Tunnocks Teacake.
Traditional Scottish treat for the journey.
Washed down with Irn Bru obviously.















Back at Dalmuir Station to change trains and the setting sun lit up the adjacent tower blocks while waiting for the Scotrail suburban service for Charing Cross.

 Crescent Court bathed by the setting sun.

Suburban service at Dalmuir.

The Scotrail services in and around Glasgow were, at least while I was there, reasonably reliable, fairly frequent, and sometimes even on time.



















If you're thinking of visiting Oban then I'd say do it. And let the train take the strain, as they used to say.

Sandhurst to Glasgow the long way.

14th June 2018

The best laid plans are often thwarted by the weather in the UK. In this case Storm Hector which swept across northern England and toppled trees onto the west coast main line, taking out the overhead power cables. So just after I settled on the train at London Euston they announced that it probably wouldn't be going any further than Preston and suggested that passengers should wait until tomorrow to travel - not what you want to hear when you're already part way through your journey.

What I should have done at that point was get off, walk down the road to King's Cross and get a train up the east coast which was at that point still running OK. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

But they only said probably, so by the time we get there perhaps it will be OK. Right? Wrong. The further north we went the more definite it became that the west coast line was not going to reopen. Eventually the train manager announced that we should get something to write on as he would shortly be giving us some instructions on how to get to Glasgow. The plan was from Preston go to Bolton, then to Manchester Victoria, then to York where we could pick up an east coast train to Glasgow via Edinburgh. Not a simple plan but a plan nonetheless.

Original route in red, actual journey in blue.

It would also take a bit longer, ETA was now about 20:15 rather than 16:00. 

It almost went to plan. At Manchester Victoria I was able to get a delayed Trans Pennine Express cutting out a wait there. The train manager on that suggested we change at Leeds instead of York to avoid the crush at York as east coast trains were now very crowded with everyone travelling north having to go that way. Alas he was wrong. It was physically impossible to get on the train at Leeds and even if you could it would have meant standing for 4 hours. Bugger that, wait for another train. Next one was to Dunbar, that will get me to Edinburgh. That hindsight thing again, should have stayed on the train at Leeds - it went through to Newcastle anyway! 

Slowly the train went north, with us all fighting over the seats and playing musical chairs as people got on with reserved seats. Got off at Edinburgh, 21:00 ish, nearly there, just need a train to Glasgow Queen Street. Fortunately there were plenty of those and an hour and a quarter later I was on my last train of the day, Queen St. to Charing Cross, and I was very glad to be staying in the hotel directly above the station. I was even more glad that the bar was still open!

Train to Bolton, hooray for the Pacer!

I have had better rail journeys. Thirteen and a half hours and eight different trains in all. I wouldn't want to do it often. However on this occasion the problems weren't the direct fault of the train operating companies or Network Rail, nature will do what it will. And the train staff tried their best to get us round the problem, with some success (apart from the guy who suggested changing at Leeds) and kept us up to date as best they could with the changing situation. I was also glad to have the Train Track app on my phone to get a look at upcoming trains and which platform they departed from, though it would have been even more useful if Three actually had some network coverage anywhere between Leeds and Edinburgh.

Could've been worse. Could've been stuck in a traffic jam on a motorway for hours. At least travelling by train you can find somewhere to take a leak :-)