Woke later than I'd planned to, after a fine night of sleep. Yesterday was strangely tiring, and today promised a long hot run south. However, I was looking forward to the journey which took a different route to our outward path. Having checked out of the hotel and done a little shopping, I lugged my bags over to my now familiar coffee shop for one last quick visit. The ill-tempered barista was still struggling to get staff in to work, but remained, as ever, faultlessly polite to the customers. I realised that in the few days I've spent here over the past few years, I've grown to like Inverness very much - there is something of the outpost about it sure enough, the last bit of civilisation before the barren north - but there is also a buzz which isn't always found in comparably sized cities. Wandered thoughtfully down to the station to find our train back in platform 1 and people milling around for photographs. Managed a quick shot of my own, and also snapped the depot shunter at work.
Our route home was, like the outward journey, timed in anticipation of a slower locomotive being in the consist. This meant we were fairly early all the way, and had several welcome leg-stretch breaks. The first of these came at Aviemore, where we let a unit pass in each direction. The waiting locals and tourists seemed faintly amused to see us scattering all over the station photographing the locomotives against a Cairngorm backdrop which still had snow, which news reports had assured us could still be used for skiing, despite it being Midsummers Day! Back onto the train for a run through gloomy Druimuichdar, even this remote and unforgiving spot rendered benign by wonderful sunshine. Another break followed at Dunkeld and Birnam, before we continued via Perth and Ladybank - with an unscheduled traversal of Thornton Loop thrown in while we waited time.
Another highlight followed, as we passed over the Forth Bridge. Still very much under repair, the mighty structure still managed to impress as we sped across to reach Ediburgh for a very brief set-down before leaving eastwards and taking the Suburban Lines to double back through the southern reaches of the city to reach our route south at Craiglockhart Junction. While briefly delayed here, a few spots of rain fell - but not nearly enough to signal a change in the weather, and once we gathered speed once again into the Clyde Valley at Carstairs, we were again travelling in stunning conditions. An early arrival at Carlisle followed, with a chance to chat to the trip organisers on the platform and to offer congratulations on a weekend which had lived up to every expectation and exceeded a good few of them too! There was lots of talk of next time, and where the trip might end up - and I very much hope that circumstances allow me to be there. It was a sobering reminder that I was returning to a very uncertain world, quite removed from the idyllic West Highlands or stony and empty Far North.
The last dash south behind the stalwart locomotives which had seen well over 1000 miles of use this weekend was just as impressive as their efforts over the gradients of the north, and as I made my way to my hotel room in Wolverhampton, I watched the locomotives thunder over the viaduct back towards Birmingham. This long weekend, the centrepiece of my 'UK tour' which has seen me on railtours for the past five weeks, has been fantastic. My first proper break for a very long time, and a chance to escape to my beloved Scotland. Spitfire deserve much credit for sticking with the complicated planning process and delivering this trip. It's been an incredible few days in the Highlands.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
