South Gyle – Markinch – Dundee – Aberdeen – Inverness – Perth – Glasgow Queen Street – Glasgow Central – Exhibition Centre

From my hotel, it was a short walk to South Gyle and my thought was to go over the Forth Bridge (because why not?) to Perth, Glasgow and explore some of the suburban lines to the west of the city that I’ve not seen before.

It was a glorious warm morning and the views from the bridge were spectacular. I love the coastal section here, the views over the firth of Forth are always lovely, and especially so today. In Kircaldy, we passed the home of Raith Rovers where they were clearly getting into pre-season training. I love old football grounds and Scotland has some gems. This club of course was the subject of one of the finest Colemanballs of all time, which immediately came to mind when I spotted the ground 😁

The joy of rail passes is making it up as you go along. I started thinking of the lovely coastal line up to Aberdeen. On a whim I changed my plan, and bailed out of the train at Markinch. From here I could get a connection to Dundee. The Tay Bridge is another spot with fabulous views and it was a rare treat to cross it in reasonable weather, I usually seem to catch it in fog.

The Dundee – Aberdeen service is mostly operated on HSTs, and on this occasion I got lucky, and also had a whole carriage to myself. The sun was at exactly the wrong angle to take photos, but I enjoyed the views.

I’d not planned this out at all, but once in Aberdeen, a wait for the Inverness service felt like the best option, and gave me time for a wander around the station and its surroundings. Lunch options were somewhat limited and I ended up in a Costa in the shopping centre joined onto the station.

The Aberdeen-Inverness line isn’t my favourite. It mostly cuts the corner, geographically speaking, so very little of the coast can be seen. I do like the last few miles though. The views across to the Black Isle, and occasional glimpses of Kessock Bridge remind me of many good times spent up here in years gone by.

By now it was early evening, but at this time of year the sun is still high in the sky and I had spectacular views from the train to Perth. I’ve driven the A9 along this route many times, but taken the train very few times and the opportunity to really enjoy the scenery was very welcome. This short video clip gives a feel for it.

I changed once more at Perth. A few more snaps were taken at what I feel is a hidden gem of the Scottish railway network.

From here I picked up another HST into Glasgow Queen Street, another lovely station. I crossed town on foot to Central, from where I sought out the underground platform for the last train of the day. I’d picked somewhere near to the Exhibition Centre to stay, as it looked rather quirky. I can’t say that either end of this leg was particularly pleasant, indeed it was quite grim and I was glad to find my destination.

As for the title of this post, this page explains it.