Personally I find the gangway squeaking quite nostalgic!
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Caledonian Sleeper
- Thread starter Essexman
- Start date
Personally I find the gangway squeaking quite nostalgic!
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Sleepy
Established Member
Yep me too
BRX
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And me! Nothing quite like a mk3 gangway creak.
styles
Member
I'll take the en-suite showers over ride smoothness any day. Roll into London for work, haven had a decent Scottish brekkie and a hot shower, walk to work to wake me up, in the office for 8am feeling fresh.
Night Riviera is like kicked out your room by what, half 6, having only had a soggy bacon roll; then hanging around the lounge waiting for a shower to be free (I believe you can book slots though?)
I find the Mk5s generally are awful, full stop! Noisy (door release beeps), ride quality (banging and knocking), mattress comfort (can feel the hard surface underneath) and the seats in the club car are horrendously uncomfortable.
Having moved to Scotland recently I’ve used it quite a bit over the past couple of years as it was convenient with the station only being 5 mins away, but at the prices they charge it’s just a rip off for the quality.
I’ve taken to flying down and getting a decent hotel, the combined cost is usually cheaper (even with a business class flight!) and you also get a good nights sleep! Slight time penalty in the evening with getting to the airport, but well worth it in the end as the following day you feel refreshed and ready for work rather than like you’ve had a night on the razz and tried sleeping in a cement mixer!
Having moved to Scotland recently I’ve used it quite a bit over the past couple of years as it was convenient with the station only being 5 mins away, but at the prices they charge it’s just a rip off for the quality.
I’ve taken to flying down and getting a decent hotel, the combined cost is usually cheaper (even with a business class flight!) and you also get a good nights sleep! Slight time penalty in the evening with getting to the airport, but well worth it in the end as the following day you feel refreshed and ready for work rather than like you’ve had a night on the razz and tried sleeping in a cement mixer!
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rower40
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This may have been answered somewhere in the previous 595 pages - sorry if so.
When the Edinburgh portion of the lowland sleeper (1B26) arrives at Waverley, and then departs empty for Polmadie, one of four things must occur:
1) Loco runs round to attach to the west end of the train
2) There are two locos, in top-and-tail mode (Like the Night Riviera at Paddington, where an extra loco is attached to the rear of the Up Sleeper, and detached from the rear of the Down Sleeper, at Reading.)
3) The train can be driven from a Driving Van Trailer or equivalent - i.e. a cab at the rear on arrival at Waverley
4) The empty train uses the "Sub" line so can depart eastwards from Waverley
I can rule out 4) because I can see the schedule for 5B26 departing from Waverley through Haymarket and on to the Midcalder line.
Can anyone tell me which of 1-3 takes place please?
When the Edinburgh portion of the lowland sleeper (1B26) arrives at Waverley, and then departs empty for Polmadie, one of four things must occur:
1) Loco runs round to attach to the west end of the train
2) There are two locos, in top-and-tail mode (Like the Night Riviera at Paddington, where an extra loco is attached to the rear of the Up Sleeper, and detached from the rear of the Down Sleeper, at Reading.)
3) The train can be driven from a Driving Van Trailer or equivalent - i.e. a cab at the rear on arrival at Waverley
4) The empty train uses the "Sub" line so can depart eastwards from Waverley
I can rule out 4) because I can see the schedule for 5B26 departing from Waverley through Haymarket and on to the Midcalder line.
Can anyone tell me which of 1-3 takes place please?
Dfatcontroller
Member
rower40
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Super, thank you.
Tetragon213
Member
Iirc you only get a shower of any variety if you book one of the borderline extortionate Club rooms, which are something on the order of 2-3 times what I paid for a Night Riviera ticket. I'm fairly certain it's more expensive to use the Cally than it is to book even a 4* hotel with a VT ticket!
You can indeed book to use the shower at Penzance. When I travelled, someone else had already booked the first slot, so I booked in for 8:15 (15 minutes after arrival, which conveniently is approximately how long it takes for me to have a cup of tea and 2 biscuits without rushing).
styles
Member
£230ish for 2 people in a Club room last time I did it. £165pp for both the rail fare, lounge access, and what would be a hotel room in London isn't bad imo. Not cheap, but I don't think extortionate either.
If you've got a Classic room ticket, you can pay (£5?) to grab a shower at Euston/Waverley/Glasgow/Fort William (maybe some more, but I haven't tried them).
I contemplate it for my mum using a Disabled Railcard recently, and it knocks 1/3rd off for both passengers, Club or Classic, and even if you choose to book two separate rooms. The accessible rooms are cheaper to begin with at around £200, so you could be talking £133 for 2 people. Includes lounge access, brekkie, but bathroom is not en-suite.
What happened to the Highlander ex Fort William last night, lost 4 hours at Bridge of Orchy
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Realtime Trains | 1B01 1950 Fort William to London Kings Cross | 18/04/2025
Real-time train running information for 1B01 1950 departure from Fort William to London Kings Cross on 18/04/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Falcon1200
Established Member
And the main Inverness-Kings Cross train waited at Edinburgh for it! Departing Waverley at 0514, 214 minutes late.
(Edited as train was running to Kings X, not Euston!)
(Edited as train was running to Kings X, not Euston!)
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father_jack
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Air compressor fault on 73969What happened to the Highlander ex Fort William last night, lost 4 hours at Bridge of Orchy
Realtime Trains | 1B01 1950 Fort William to London Kings Cross | 18/04/2025
Real-time train running information for 1B01 1950 departure from Fort William to London Kings Cross on 18/04/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
D1537
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Bizarre that the main train waited for it. Surely would have been better to send it on and put the Fort Bill passengers on the first LNER which would only have been an hours wait.
187L passing Peterborough at 0928 en route for Kings Cross.
greatkingrat
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That would mean one of the Down portions being cancelled though as the stock will be in the wrong place.
Class15
Established Member
It means that the empty stock will be late enough for me to see it 
I suspect a few people enjoyed seeing it in daylight for a change! I’ve been staying a few minutes from Alexandra Palace this weekend and planned to pop out early morning to watch it go through, but instead had a leisurely morning and strolled down to see it around 10:30. As a bonus I saw another CS 92 near the carriage wash on the down side near Hornsey.
There was a Lumo leaving Edinburgh not long after it departed that would have got passengers into KX a while sooner.
There was a Lumo leaving Edinburgh not long after it departed that would have got passengers into KX a while sooner.
MatthewHutton
Member
Don’t they have a spare train to send that down separately? You have all day to do it.
Class15
Established Member
Where is the class 92 for that move coming from?
Falcon1200
Established Member
It was a difficult choice; Let the main train go on time and strand the Fort William passengers at Edinburgh, and the stock, causing the cancellation of the return Fort William service on Sunday night; Or hold the main train and delay everyone!
Peter Sarf
Established Member
What this does indicate is how thinly stretched the Caledonian sleeper resources are.
There are no spare locos and crew to bring the late running Fort William portion to London on its own. Certainly no spare stock (at either end) to allow a full complement of coaches for the return North the following night.
After though - Added twist is that running the delayed Fort William portion on its own to London would have resulted in a surplus of "control" coaches in London and a shortage for the split at Edinburgh the same evening/night of the Northbound.
And all the staff would be stranded too. Does the Up Fort William form the Down Fort William on the next working? Doubtful, due to maintenance schedules
norbitonflyer
Established Member
And also because a 92 wuoldn't get far on the Sub - it's not electrified
3rd rail land
Member
Even if Caledonian Sleeper had sufficient locos available to send the Fort William portion to London separately would there have been an available path?
Peter Sarf
Established Member
I can only assume the path the delayed entire 16 coaches took would have done for the delayed ex Fort William portion.
Still would have needed extra crew AND the control coach meant for the Northbound Fort William.
Falcon1200
Established Member
Given the amount of subsidy it swallows already (part of which comes from my Scottish taxes!) it is unreasonable to expect Caledonian Sleepers to have a spare loco, and Drivers - probably two at least - standing by at Edinburgh and elsewhere just in case one portion is delayed en route, so that it could run independently. Most of the time it would not be needed.
Peter Sarf
Established Member
Oh, I agree.
The only way it would happen would be if the resources required were part of a larger pool covering almost all other services in the UK.
Isn’t the supply and reliability of the loco’s GBRF’s problem, if theirs is a requirement for spare loco’s and crew it’s down to them!
Caledonian Sleeper pay GBRF for the traction, if there’s loco isn’t up to the job (defective) it’s GBRF that are contracted and therefore they should be the ones to have the standby loco and staff available.
Caledonian Sleeper pay GBRF for the traction, if there’s loco isn’t up to the job (defective) it’s GBRF that are contracted and therefore they should be the ones to have the standby loco and staff available.