Fun on the sleeper...
There and back again
9 & 20 February 2024
Readers will recall that I travelled from
Kyle of Lochalsh last month - on 9
February I was heading north again.
After carefully studying all the options -
can I do it in a day? - the Caledonian
Sleeper came to mind. It would get me
to Inverness, and therefore Kyle, at a
reasonable hour. The fares (with a railcard, in a seat) were
reasonable too.
I would travel by rail from Shrewsbury on 8 February, and
having booked the sleeper ticket, everything that could go
wrong did so. Floods, a landslip at Muir of Ord, forecasts of
heavy snow, my lift to Shrewsbury getting the ‘flu. The snow
came to nothing, I got to Shrewsbury, and everything went
according to plan. I left the county town at 22.07, and
arrived at Kyle of Lochalsh at 11.31. The sleeper was early
into Crewe, and early into Inverness - perfect! It was a tight
connection, but there was time for a photo or two.
A few days later, I booked my return journey. The sleeper
would get me to Crewe at 05.30 (is there such a time?); with
some lengthy waits there and at Shrewsbury, I should be
home by 8.30. Not quite...
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
The sleeper is hauled by two
locomotives north of Edinburgh - a class
66 (freight) locomotive for haulage
power, and a class 73, primarily to heat
and light the sleeper carriages. It failed!
A replacement was called out. 73970
left Craigentinny (yes, Edinburgh! Four hours away!) at
18.30. On time as far as Aviemore, it then lost time until it
left Moy (just 15 miles away) 72 minutes late...
So instead of leaving at 20.45, our train began its long
journey south just one minute before midnight! One
consolation - I won’t be standing on the platform at Crewe in
the dark. To cut this overlong story short, we arrived there at
08.02. (Yes, we made up some time, partly at Waverley,
where the Fort William and Aberdeen portions are attached.
RealtimeTrains says that 92023 pulled away with 23 carriages
in tow). I just had time to scuttle over the footbridge to
board the 08.10 to Shrewsbury (I’m glad I was in the sleeper’s
front carriage...). At Shrewsbury, I caught a homeward-bound
bus a minute before it pulled away, and courtesy of a lift
from a good friend from the bus stop, I was home, just over
9½hrs after leaving Inverness.
Would I do it again? Well, I’m hoping to travel north again
before too long...
