01 December 2010 - update

Managed to get the sleepers booked today.

Late Changes of Plan

The first change of plan was intentional. While travelling to work I was reading the paper and saw an article on a new Dr Who exhibition opening at Olympia in the Sunday before we were travelling to London. On consultation with the three younger viewers they wanted to go to the exhibition. A check of the website and tickets were available for the 15:00 slot on the Thursday. £73 later and the tickets were booked. This only meant a slight change of plan travelling down to London on 10:40 rather than the 15:40 we had originally planned.

The second change was not intentional. A few days before departure a spanner was well and truly thrown in the works. Arriva Trains Wales drivers had decided they did not want to come to work on Sunday 27 February. This meant that getting back from Cardiff Airport was somewhat difficult as the trains would not be operating between Rhoose and Cardiff. Some further research was required to overcome this problem. Research undertaken and it was discovered an hourly bus service operated from the Airport to Cardiff City Centre at 40 past each hour. The flight was due in at 15:30 we were unlikely to get the 15:40 therefore we would have to wait for the 16:40 and get home an hour later than we had originally planned which was not too bad. This seemed like the best option rather than leaving the car at the airport and having to do something complex at the beginning of the weekend.

The basic plan was:

• Thursday: London, Dr Who Exhibition, Sleeper to Fort William

• Friday: Train back to Glasgow and Model Railway Exhibition at the SECC, hotel in Polmont

• Saturday: Edinburgh

• Sunday: Fly home from Glasgow

We had put quite a full program but together for the four days but the question remained, was it possible for a family of five to have a holiday only using public transport? We were about to find out.

Thursday 24 February 2011

The Thursday morning dawned dull but with sunny and cold conditions forecast for London. So with sandwiches packed we headed for the train which departed and arrived in London on time. The first part of the plan was to go to the left luggage office at Euston. We could deposit the rucksacks of the three people more likely to whinge. The reason for choosing Euston was that we could pick them up immediately before joining the sleeper and did not have to worry about having to go back to Paddington to collect them.

The left luggage price is a little steep at £8.00 a bag. We managed to get down to two bags rather than three thus saving £8.00. A bizarre quirk of their pricing was it worked out cheaper to lose the rucksacks and pay £5.00 to get them back rather than paying the left luggage charge.

Next it was off to Olympia. This is not the easiest underground journey from Euston. Armed with our Travelcards we set out. I had worked out the easiest way to go was using London Overground travelling Euston – Willesden Jn – Kensington Olympia which operates every 15 minutes. Unfortunately I had not checked the train times and had not discovered there was engineering works between Euston and South Hampstead and there were no trains. Back to plan B Victoria Line to Victoria then District Line to Kensington Olympia changing at Earls Court. We just manage this just in time and arrive at the door on the dot of 15:00 at our allotted time slot.

It appears we had played a master stoke in booking when we did as tickets for the exhibition were now sold out for the entire half term week. We were fortunate the weather was good as the queuing arrangement involve standing outside and we would have been soaked had it been raining. This is not ideal as small groups are taken up in the lift to the 2^nd floor. If you are thinking of going I would not attempt attending without pre-booking.

The Dr Who exhibition was very well done and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. I do not want to spoil the special effects with too much information it is very well done. It is worth a visit if you like Dr Who. There is also a good selection of old costumes after the interactive part of the exhibition. The only complaint was the café seems to have been a bit of an afterthought. It is worth a visit with children but a bit pricey at £73 for a family of five.

Views of London from Golden Jubilee Bridge

After spending two hours in the exhibition it was now time to seek out dinner. We were going to head to the area around Trafalgar Square. This is again not the easiest by tube journeys so I decided to do this by train, Kensington Olympia – Clapham Jn – Waterloo – Waterloo East – Charing Cross. All this was possible on a Travelcard. It would also give views of the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament at sunset between Waterloo East and Charing Cross. Charing Cross station is just round the corner form Trafalgar Square. This worked well and we settled on a Prezzo restaurant on Northumberland Road. It was very busy and we had a 30 minute wait for the table. It was worth the wait as the food was good.

After the meal we had time to kill so decided to walk back to Waterloo across the new pedestrian bridge across the Thames to the London Eye. The evening was now getting cold but just enough time to get a few photos of London at night before heading for the tube back to Euston.

We recovered our bags from the left luggage and it was boarding time for the sleeper. This train is probably the most complex operation in the UK. It has conventional loco haulage (four different locomotives), multiple portion working and a reversal. The train is operated by Scotrail but the supply of locomotives is contracted to DB Schenker. The train consists of 16 carriages (probably the longest passenger train in the UK) leaving Euston, a mix Sleepers, Day Coaches and Lounge Cars. On leaving Euston the train is hauled by a Class 90 locomotive via the West Coast Mainline to Edinburgh. At Edinburgh the train both reverses and splits into three portions and three Class 67s operate one on each portion.

The Caledonian Sleeper cabins

The first portion departs for Inverness consisting of five sleepers, one lounge car and one day coach. The second portion has the same formation and departs for Aberdeen. The remaining two sleepers depart for Fort William but not before the addition of another Lounge Car and Day Coach which have been detached from the southbound Fort William to London sleeper. This is much that goes bump in the night when travelling by Scotrail sleeper. Particulary between 04:00 and 05:00 in Edinburgh.

We find our berths at the very front on the train leaving Euston and are checked in by the steward. We then head down to the Lounge Car for some Hot Chocolates and a Deuchars IPA. A most pleasant experience. Shortly after leaving Euston the children are packed off to bed and I return for another beer and watch the towns pass by in the darkness. At 22:45 I decide it is time to retire for the usual restless night’s sleeper sleep. I enjoy travelling by sleeper, the cabins are kept clean but are not getting in need of a refurbishment.

Friday 25 February 2011

I am awoken by the shunting in Edinburgh and can hear the eldest two boys very excited talking about the train splitting. I find out later they are looking out of the train windows in their pyjamas. I decide to ignore this and go back to my sleep.

At 06:30 I finally give up and get dressed and wash before heading down to the lounge car and coffee.nIt is just coming light and we are descending the bank between Glen Douglas and Arrochar and Tarbet. Memories come back of the amazing assent of the bank on the sleeper in January 1989, that is a story in it’s self. You can read about this trip on another page. I have made this journey many times over the years but I never tire of it. The scenery is spectacular from Helensburgh Upper all the way to Fort William and beyond. There is something special about joining a train in the hustle and bustle of London and waking up and seeing deer and stags out of the train window while crossing Rannoch Moor and eating breakfast.

67007 pauses at Rannoch to pass the train coming in the other direction.

We pass the first departure of the day from Mallaig in the other direction at Rannoch. As we continue towards Fort William we pass Corrour Summit and the Monassie Gorge before descending into Fort William. After 589 miles, one reversal, a complex train split and attachment, a loco change and 12 hours 35 minutes we arrive into Fort William, 4 minutes early. 12 passengers in total leave the train, of which we are five.

Fort William consists of one street which we walk down and then come back by the duel carriageway by the sea. After about 40 minutes we have seen Fort William so head back to the station buffet for lunch before the train departure back to Glasgow at 11:40. If you are in Fort William this is not a bad place to eat as the food is fresh cooked to order. We are very lucky as about 10 minutes after we sit down the heavens open in an almighty downpour. 

Our train arrives and is quite busy leaving Fort William but only a handful of passengers join and leave en-route. The return journey is equally spectacular. At Crainlarich we gain the Oban portion and the train continues south. It is good to see that a trolley service is provided on this train all the way to Glasgow and is well stocked.

At Ardlui we are joined by one of my oldest friends and we talk railways until we reach Dalmuir. We are leaving the train here to change for Exhibition Centre and the Model Railway Exhibition. The original purpose of this journey but what has actually become a small part of the weekend. My friend leaves us here as he is planning to visit on Sunday.

The exhibition is very good as usual and arriving at 16:00 on Friday appears to be a very good move. Most people have gone by this stage and you can get a good look at the layouts. This always used to be a good exhibitions to get bargains but this is no longer the case and it is very expensive. After an hour or so the troops are getting restless and it is time to once again seek out food. Tonight it is to be Indian night.

We head back to Glasgow and wander out of Central Station and spot the Bombay Blues Restaurant. They do a £12.95 all you can eat buffet and the food is excellent. After several trips to the buffet we are full and it is time to find out hotel. We across the city to Queen St station and our final train of the day to Polmont.

On arrival at Polmont we have to find our hotel the Inchyra Grange. Checking Google maps it is somewhat further than we had expected so decide to get a taxi. This turns out to be a good decision as it would have been a 40 minute walk. Not a good idea with children that have been travelling for nearly 36 hours. The hotel is undergoing refurbishment which we had been told at the time of booking but this mainly in the gym, which has no effect on me. What they do not tell you in the literature for the hotel is that there is an oil refinery about half a mile down the road. The hotel is very nice and a good and long night’s sleep is had by all.

Saturday 26 February 2011

On waking I have an idea and do a bit of research on the mobile internet. Polmont where we are staying is very close to Falkirk. Something I have seen off the train is the Falkirk Wheel and it is somewhere I would like to visit. The weather is unexpectedly sunny but cold so possibly a good day for a visit. A few minutes of research later and a bus (number 3) runs every 15 minutes from near both Falkirk Grahamston and High stations out to the wheel. Trains are very frequent from Polmont to both these stations. This is looking like it might be possible.

I have a make my suggestion to Mrs Track Basher who thinks it is a good idea. We have breakfast then order a taxi to get us out back to the station.  We let the first train to Falkirk Grahamston go and wait the second one to Falkirk High. We are going to go back to Edinburgh in the afternoon so think it better to travel to and from the same station as you know where to get off the bus. The rail journey is only 5 minutes and a very helpful member of Scotrail staff directs us to the bus stop. After a few minutes the bus arrives.

The Falkirk Wheel.

The bus takes about 15 minutes to reach the site and is fortunately the last stop on the route. The wheel is best described as spectacular, an amazing feat of engineering. The Falkirk Wheel, for those who do not know, is a boat lift located on the Union Canal. It was constructed in the early 2000s to replace a lock ladder which closed in the 1960s. The wheel has two gondolas and rotates to lift the boats a height of 35m. The rotation takes approximately 4 minutes and uses the same power consumption as boiling 8 kettles. More details of the wheel are available on the Falkirk Wheel website.

On arrival we go to find out about boat trips on the wheel. The first trip of the day leaves at 11:30 in 15 minutes. It was as if we had planned it and not just rolled up off the bus. Tickets are purchased £27 for a family of 5 which I don’t think is too expensive. On the boat trip you start at the bottom of the wheel and go to the top then travel along the canal a short way through the tunnel under the Antonine Wall and the main Glasgow – Edinburgh mainline before turning round and coming back down the wheel. It is quite strange coming along a canal which finishes 35m above the ground with views across the mountains north of Falkirk. The total round trip takes an hour and is definitely worth a trip. To get the most out of the visit I would only suggest doing this on a dry clear day.

We have a walk around the site have a sandwich for lunch and then head back for the bus back towards the station. The afternoon consists of a trip to Edinburgh, expensive bus tour and more Italian food. I am overruled on the Hard Rock Café.

At 19:00 it is time to head back to the station for the train back to Polmont and another good night’s sleep.

Sunday 27 February 2011

The morning is sunny again but still cold. Today we are heading home. We have to be up at 08:00 in order to pack, have breakfast and get to the station in time for the 10:24 train. We arrive at the station to find many Rugby fans out early. Scotland are playing Ireland at Murrayfield today in the 6 Nations and supporters of both sides are travelling towards Edinburgh. The train arrives a few minutes late but we still have plenty of time.

At Glasgow we walk across the city to Central station and manage to catch an earlier train than planned out to Paisley. This we discover on arrival is of no use as there is no bus for a while. We look for a taxi and enquire the cost to the airport the answer £5.00. This is cheaper than the bus would have been so decide not to wait.

We find the departure lounge and do battle with the self service check in as we have no hold luggage. In order to keep the cost down we elected to just use hand luggage, this is both cheaper and faster at the other end. We are allocated seats on what we are later to discover is the last row of seats on the plane.

The Airport is very quite and we are virtually alone in the departure lounge. This is the part of air travel I dislike, the endless waiting about waiting for the plane to depart. We are finally requested to board and the plane departs on time. This is our first flight with Flybe and I am surprised to find out they operate prop planes and not jets and hence the 90 minute flight time. We leave on time and have clear view of the ground for most of the journey and you can quite clearly tell we are flying over Dumfries and Galloway - Solway Firth – Lake District – Lancaster – Blackpool – Liverpool and the Marches before turning over Newport and the Severn Estuary and landing in Cardiff.

One of the major benefits of not checking in luggage is you do not have to wait for it and you can just walk out off the plane. We have arrived early at 15:15 which means we can catch the 15:40 bus to Cardiff. This bus goes around the world and takes 45 minutes to get to Cardiff. This means we can catch the 16:56 from Cardiff Central, which is the train we had originally intended to catch before the strike was announced. We were still going to arrive home at the same time we had originally planned.

What is ironic about this journey is that the end to end journey time from Polmont to Neath is only one hour quicker on the plane than using the train all the way.

Answering the question posed at the beginning of this review is it possible for a family of 5 to have a holiday only using public transport. I think you will agree the answer is yes. The only point we could not use public transport was between Polmont station and the hotel as we were travelling at unusual times.

This short break was a very busy few days but was superb. We travelled over 1,000 miles on 17 different trains over four days. None of these trains were more than five minutes late and some arriving early. I now need to start looking at the plan for the 2012 Glasgow Model Railway Exhibition. How am I going to top this?

The Final Plan:

Traction Log: