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My first trip north of the border was in March. A few weeks before this trip we were burgled and all my camera gear was stolen. Thankfully I was able to buy a new Canon EOS 1000fn (remember those?) and a small zoom lens. The trip had been organiased for months with my mate Colin. We met up at Kings Cross and caught the the 07:00.
1S05 Kings Cross to Edinburgh 91003 Winner [392m 71ch].
On arrival at Edinburgh we decided to drop our overnight bag so we caught a train to Haymarket.
Edinburgh to Haymarket 156493 [1m 24ch].
Our original plan was to try and ride a few 47/7s (well the plan had been made a long time before) but these had been transferred south and were working the Paddington to Oxford and the Waterloo to Exeter St. David's services. We had to settle the good old B.R.E.L. built cl.158s.
Haymarket to Glasgow Queen Street 158725, 158720 [46m 00ch]
We walked around to Glasgow Central and whilst on the way a local not so "gentleman" under the influance asked for money and when we declined he expressed himself in a strange local dialect. Very strange 😂.
We had a bit of time on Central station and as you can see I did manage some photos but very few were any good. In fact the one of the class 303 (303013) was one of the better ones and to be honest that one took a LOT of work in photoshop to make it half decent. After a couple of hours we headed back to Queen Street station and missed our intended train but managed to catch the next one.
Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley 158725, 158720, 158786 One winner [47m 24ch]
Once we left the station we fancied a curry, so headed to a really nice Indian resturant.
After eating and a couple of drinks we went back to our B&B.
Edinburgh Waverley to Haymarket 150283, 150262 winner [1m 24ch]
Next morning after a lovely breakfast we decided to spend a little time on the platforms before heading back to London.
Haymarket to Edinburgh Waverley 158749, 158743 winner (1m 24ch)
We did grab some food for our trip back to London.
Edinbrugh Waverley to Kings Cross 91019
The wife and I were planning a trip abroad in the future but she had not been on an aircraft ever. We decided that a short hauled domestic flight would be a good idea. Possibly Invernes was not the best choice. The flight taking off was good but with the Inverness area being rather "hilly" the finals was rather a steep decent.
We had a couple of days around town then on the 17th June we decided to take a trip up to see Dunrobin Castle. It was pretty overcast but that never used to deter us going out. Post breakfast we headed down to the station and caught our train.
Inverness to Dunrobin Castle 156478 Winner [86m 13ch]
THe station is a tiny little one full of character. The quaint wood frame and panels in black and white. It is a single platform with a pretty low platform. It had remanents of a bay platform.
We had a look around the castle and grounds we decided to have a walk along the beach to the town south of the castle - Golspie. We set off and just less than halfway there the hevens opened and down came the rain ... lots and lots and lots of rain. We made it to the station and the second we sat on the bench the rain stopped. Isn't that always the way? We caught the train back into Inverness
2H62 Golspie to Inverness 156458 Winner [84m 28ch]
The next day we decided to do something different. A leaflet in the station reminded us that there was a steam railway not too far from Inverness. No DMUs today.
1B26 Inverness to Aviemore 37071, 37428 Winner [34m 77ch]
There is nothing like the sound of a class 37 hauling MkII coaching stock in Scotland. When the locos in question are in the old 'Dutch' (Civil Engineers livery) and Railfreight Grey livery it feels that little bit more special. (See the bottom of this page for the locos leaving Aviemore in a video).
The Strathspey Railway leave the same station at Aviemore. Once we had crossed the bridge we got ourselves some tickets and boarded our train.
Aviemore to Boat of Garten 828 Winner [5m 02ch]
The loco was Caledonian 812 Class (currently Dec 2025 the loco is on the Spa Valley Railway).
Boat of Garten to Aviemore 828 Non Winner [5m 02ch]
Once back at Aviemore we caught a train back to Inverness and it was another awesome bit of traction.
1H11 Aviemore to Inverness 37294 Winner [34m 77ch]
Back at Inverness a photo of the loco completed the day.