Inverness – Perth – Dundee – Edinburgh Waverley – Newcastle – Carlisle – Manchester Piccadilly – Crewe

I’d chosen to use one of the two domestic travel days of my active Interrail pass for this journey. I try where I can to make the best possible use of them, so have previously been to Penzance, Stranraer and assorted other extremities.

I’d toyed with all sorts of ideas of what I might do, including a 5am start which would have allowed me time to get from one end of the country to the other, as well as an assortment of east coast destinations but in the end I took a less adventurous approach, with an eye on the fairly unpleasant weather forecast and the distinct possibility of line closures later in the day.

This allowed me time for breakfast in the hotel. Oddly their “continental” option included porridge, which sounded like an excellent idea, though was way too salty for my tastes. I prefer cinnamon on my porridge, if anything at all.

My chosen departure was the HST towards Glasgow, the same service that was boarding as I arrived yesterday. No surprise then that the sleeper pulled in as I was walking down the platform.

First class in the ScotRail HSTs has to be the most comfortable seating on main line services, anywhere in the country. I settled in and dealt with a few work issues before we headed into the wilds. These services used to have a cafe but an at-seat service is now provided with complimentary hot and cold drinks, and assorted biscuits.

It rained most of the way to Perth. I caught a very brief glimpse of snow on top of the Cairngorms south of Aviemore, but in the poor light didn’t get any decent photos.

As we pulled into the station at Pitlochry, something caught my eye that I wasn’t expecting to see, a 1960s railway carriage. I looked it up online and discovered that it is now a Thai restaurant. It has quite a story and is one to remember for a future trip.

I left the train at Perth. I love this station, it is such a lovely building from so many angles and being a junction as well means that there is always lots going on.

Something I’ve never spotted before on this station was a small memorial to local man John Buchan, writer of The 39 Steps.

The next service was a local stopping train to Dundee. Again there was a first class section, but this one was tiny and I was the only person in it.

This section of line goes along the north bank of the Tay, but unfortunately it is all but impossible to photograph the famous railway bridge from the train as there is an industrial estate in the way.

I’d originally planned to travel from Perth on the following service (another HST) but going ahead gave me photo opportunities in Dundee. As the train I’d originally planned to use arrived en route to Aberdeen, the reverse service was leaving from the opposite platform. I almost got the perfect video but the weather and bad light did no favours. A nice moment to see though, as these near 50-year-old sets won’t be around for too much longer (hence my enthusiasm to photograph what I could on this trip.)

My own next train was another HST set, down to Edinburgh Waverley. I managed to get a couple more photos and also one of the Tay Bridge as we rounded the curve at the north end.

I do like this section of coast. There are views of Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth and the near coast also is full of interest, with beaches and shipyards glimpsed as we sped by. It’s impossible to photograph the Forth Bridge from a train these days (now that you can’t hang out of the windows) but it’s always an enjoyable experience.

I had quite a tight connection in Waverley onto an LNER Azuma service, destined for King’s Cross. I wouldn’t be going that far, but was booked to York.

A detail for Interrail users here. This service has mandatory reservations, according to the Interrail app. To do this through them costs €6. I was able to do it on the LNER site for free. (It also said that they were required on the TransPennine and Avanti services later in the day but in both cases I was told by platform or train staff that is wasn’t necessary, meaning I’m €18 up on the day.)

I’ve not ridden the Azuma before. The replaced the HST sets a few years ago on the London to Aberdeen and Inverness services, and having just come off the older stock I have to say that this is a LOT less comfortable! That’s not to say it is unusually bad (we’re all getting used to nasty hard seats on trains in the UK aren’t we?) but it does demonstrate how far the balance between comfort and cost has shifted.

Conversely, I was offered complimentary food and drink before we’d even left the suburbs of Edinburgh. This was delivered very promptly by the train crew, and was rather tasty. I was ready for some lunch and having not had time in Edinburgh to grab anything it was more than welcome. Being an English company I was even offered a glass of wine. (ScotRail stopped having alcohol on board some years ago.)

In no time at all we were over the border and pulling into Berwick-upon-Tweed. I’ve never got on or off a train here which made me wonder why is the up platform not on the same side as the station building (which is also the same side as the town.) You have to go over a bridge (to the left of the shot below) to board on the opposite side. Very odd.

The line sweeps out of Berwick on a stunning curved viaduct with great views across the town to the sea. This whole section of railway has impressive views and I also enjoyed the view of Alnwick 15 minutes later, though it was a bit far away to get a good photo.

Arriving into Newcastle an announcement was made about the connecting services and which platforms they were departing from. On the spur of the moment I decided that I was going to cross to the Pennines to Carlisle, using a line I’ve never been on before.

I had a few minutes to see Newcastle station which is rather impressive. The departure took me over a bridge I’d not used before which gave a view down the many other bridges over the Tyne.

The light had started to fade quite soon after leaving Newcastle. The first stop was at the Metro Shopping Centre, then there were a series of small stations, mostly with place names I didn’t recognise. As the city is left behind, you head into open countryside with just the river for company.

At Haltwhistle I enjoyed the sign which appeared to welcome Hadrian, though I’m very sure he didn’t get here by train, 1900 years ago! By the time we reached Carlisle there was just the last of the daylight in the sky, with nothing really visible through the train windows. Night vision on my camera was just about able to pick out the details.

Carlisle was starting to batten down the hatches for the approaching storm. All Avanti services from Glasgow and Edinburgh had been cancelled, though TransPennine were still running a partial service. They had decided to turn around a late running northbound train to use as the next service to Manchester Airport. I had time for a cuppa in a rather nice station cafe, which I’d not visited before. Outside the cafe was a letterbox which had been quite impressively decorated. I usually hate such things, but this one made me smile.

There was only me and one other passenger in First Class. The information signs above the seats showed that the train was meant to have picked up quite a lot of people in Edinburgh and Haymarket, but of course having not even been there, it was unexpectedly empty.

We were very well looked after by a crew member who wasn’t expecting to be on this service, didn’t know what they had in stock in the galley, but was determined to make our journey as comfortable as possible. I accepted the offer of a bacon and sausage bap, along with some cranberry sauce because he couldn’t find the ketchup! It actually goes very well. I was also given a very enjoyable TransPenine branded IPA.

Something I would say about the TPE First Class. The fabric used for the seats, along with the cushions looks horribly tatty, though I know from looking at the rest of the train that it is still quite new. It was more comfortable than the LNER Azuma but looked a lot worse.

As the train went over the summit at Shap, you could really feel the wind gusting. With the train doing just over 100mph and winds reported in the 50-60mph range that was perhaps not too surprising. I was quite glad when we passed Tebay and headed into the valley.

I’d originally thought about getting out at Preston for the connection to Crewe but wasn’t sure what there would be there. The Avanti services from the south were reportedly being turned around there but it felt like a better bet to stay on board as far as Manchester Piccadilly.

I used to use Piccadilly all the time but the station today is unrecognisable from the one of my student years, on the inside at least. For me it has lost a lot of its character and feels like it could be pretty much anywhere.

My connection to Crewe was on an Avanti service to Euston. Again First Class was virtually empty, though I saw that Standard Class was packed as I walked past.

Again I was offered a menu and a drink as I sat down. By this point I was starting to feel that you could travel all day on First Class services and never need to feed yourself again! I declined the offer of dinner but asked for a cup of tea, which came with a piece of shortbread.

Back in Crewe, I got off the train on the same platform where I had boarded another Avanti service, just two and a bit days earlier. I feel like I’ve packed a lot into this short trip, but for now it was time to get the car and go home.