Which train service am I on? #3 (through the buffers...)

[RobbieM]

The 12:00 service to Inverness?

Indeed! It is the 'Highland Chieftain' Kings Cross to Inverness service, departing at 1200 hours, and arriving at 2011 hours, give or take. Last time I was on it, it arrived at 2125 hours, but I got a full refund on my ticket. Had I known that was going to happen, I’d have chosen First Class...

As Scotland doesn't have electricity north of the Central Belt (well, on the railways, at least), this train has to be Diesel all the way from London.

I travel by ‘The Chieftain’ once or twice a year in its entirety (taking plenty of reading material with me). The next date I'm due on it is Tuesday 18th December. There is some superb scenery - the usual East Coast views, and then you get the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, the Tay Valley, the Tomatin and Culloden viaducts etc. And the final descent into Inverness with the Kessock Bridge and Black Isle in the background can be quite picturesque too. Providing it's not raining, of course!

However, it misses out the Forth Bridge, but you can’t have everything.

But a wonderful journey it is – I’d recommend giving it a go sometime.

[tractakid]

Any volunteers for the next one?

Got this one done in 12, and that's including Tubeguru's bad luck with the TOC questions! Can that be beaten?

[RobbieM]

As Scotland doesn't have electricity north of the Central Belt (well, on the railways, at least), this train has to be Diesel all the way from London.

I travel by ‘The Chieftain’ once or twice a year in its entirety (taking plenty of reading material with me). The next date I'm due on it is Tuesday 18th December.

Well, this journey on the Chieftain on Tuesday turned out to be a little different to how I expected. As you may remember, it’s the day that the power lines fell down (for the second time) in Hertfordshire, so East Coast trains were severely disrupted.

However, I made my way to King’s Cross, just in case things got sorted out before my reserved seat’s departure time. After seeing “Cancelled” across virtually all the departure boards, I put ‘plan B’ into operation, headed for Euston, and boarded the 1130 to Glasgow. And I changed at Carlisle for the Edinburgh service.

During my change at Carlisle, I made some enquiries, and discovered that my reserved seat HAD in fact left King’s Cross (and was somewhere in the Durham area). That’s the beauty of it being a diesel train (as I noted above) – power lines coming down were little obstacle!

So, the race was on – who could get to Haymarket first – me, or my reserved seat? Answer – me! So I waited, and 20 minutes later, the slightly-delayed Chieftain pulled in. And there it was – my reserved seat – still empty, and waiting for me! (Not that I stayed in it for long – it was facing the wrong way, so I moved.)

From then on, the journey was pretty uneventful, and I arrived at Inverness just 15 minutes late. Not enough to get a refund on my ticket...

Merry Christmas from the Highlands!