Our original intent had been to travel on the 'Caledonian sleeper' from London to Inverness. We decided that to travel overnight with a cabin would allow us to arrive refreshed and ready to go. Bang on the dot at 12 weeks before we tried to book the advanced tickets. This is the earliest you can get them, the later you book the more expensive the tickets become and the less that are available. There was no joy, next day we checked the web again but the tickets were still not available. So we phoned the company to discover that engineering works were taking place at Edinburgh and tickets for advanced sales had not been released till they had enough information on the disruption being caused.
Each day we enquired, desperate not to miss the first sale, for about 2 weeks before deciding getting to engrossed in 1 set of plans could lead to greater problems. So we looked around for alternatives routing. Having re planned everything we decided to Travel to London Kings Cross station and physically purchase the tickets there so we had them in our hands. Instead of overnight travel we were going to face an all day transit up the UK. Accommodation was rebooked and we carried on our preparations still with an eye on the horror stories that emerged every now and then.
On Saturday morning we got up to the alarm at 04.45, just for a cup of tea before loading the bikes. Breakfast was to be a Choc au pain & coffee but Richard found himself unable to force this into his mouth, no matter we could pick up food on the way.
We mounted our steeds and headed to Bedford station to get the 06.10 to London. We chose this train because it left from platform 1, and platform 1 is what your on as soon as you go through the ticket barriers, so no lifts and stairs to negotiate. Not sure where the cycle carriage would be we wandered along to some seats and waited for the train. What joy, as the train pulled in to a halt the cycle door was right in front of us. A quick heaving upwards and we had the bikes on board. Joy turned into an 'Oh No' moment at the next station as a group of 7 from a local riding club tried to get their road bikes on as well. Anyone not from the UK will have to understand that most trains here can barley take 4 bikes at a time. After a bit of shuffling everyone managed to get on and being early in the morning the number of bicycles caused little inconvenience to other travellers.
We arrived at St. Pancras within the hour, and just had to cross the road to Kings Cross for the next train. We had 85 minutes planned into this break to allow for refreshments and a little leeway to ensure we got the next train at 08.30. We had a cup of coffee before wandering into the station to await the train announcement.
While train platforms were being put up on the electronic boards ours was not causing some consternation, and not for the only time that day. 15 minutes before departure we finally got the info we needed and with several hundred people made the 100 metre dash for the platform. Fortunately the guards van was right by the entrance making life easier. Other times they can be at the far end of the train making life difficult in the time given.
The conductor greeted us enquiring "Edinburgh?" great, they're expecting us, "Are they booked?" "Yes" we exclaimed flapping the tickets firmly attached to the handle bars. We were instructed to put them in the bike racks at the far end of the carriage. If you have not seen these then I will state that they look like everyday street racks with the addition of a U channel at the base to put the wheels in. Unfortunately there are three racks each side and fitted so close together that only naked road bikes are going to fit. A quick bit of thinking and just by removing 1 front pannier we got ours into the outside racks. Great.
We moved up the train and settled in to our seats for the next leg of our journey. This was going to be 4.45 hours, with numerous stops at major cities en route. Thankfully the train was comfy, by British standards, and the staff were good. The refreshment trolly being wheeled out with each new departure. Just outside Berwick We text mum to say Happy Birthday, and as fate would have it she was in Edinburgh at that time. Knowing the station was a mess she decided to get there and greet us with as much info as possible in the time.
Edinburgh station turned into a nightmare, the train was late in, the heat was stifling and the crowds & noise made it look like footage from somewhere on the Indian railways. We greeted mum on the platform and went to get the bikes. Richard's brain was not coping too well with everything going on and at one point lost track of Lorraine. Mum had found the info boards but just as before the platform for our train was not giving the right info. With less than 8 minutes before departure it was announced and it seemed like half the station was moving for the same place. Steering the bikes towards the one gate that was opened became a nightmare. Moving along the platform looking for the correct carriage was difficult, but the cycle labelled door appeared on a completely different carriage. People had already placed bags in there and really didn't want to move them, life was in danger of becoming the stories we had read. In the end one of the conductors staff got things sorted, mainly I think so they could get the train moving.
This train, the 13.38 to Inverness was crowded. Anyone without a pre-booked ticket was likely to have trouble, and there were numerous stations en route. After a few stops the train was split into 2 separate branches and additional carriages were added to ours. Finally some relief. Richard was looking forward to seeing the Cairngorm mountains and the Drumachter pass but slept to relieve his head of stress. But did manage to snap a liner in the Firth of Forth while the train crossed the Forth Bridge before doing so.
Inverness station, while less crowded proved to be no less thrilling. We could see what platform we wanted almost straight away. We could also see lots of other cyclists and bikes at the station. We had about 50 minutes to wait while lots of people eyed each other up like the final scene from 'The good, the bad & the ugly' all waiting to see who would go for their bikes first. Completely oblivious to this we went for a break before re-entering the station and then joined the queue by the platform gate. Well that started it, next thing we knew two bikes were immediately behind us and engaged us in conversation, well we say engaged, more like pumping us with questions. The gates opened and a surge went through. It was amusing to watch as we strode purposely up the platform to see others trying to get in front without appearing to run. The others engaged the conductor in convo pointing out they had reservations, but must have been giving the lady some grief about ours. She asked if we had tickets/reservations which we confirmed but still they seemed to go on. At which point the conductor said in no uncertain terms that all the bikes had tickets & all the bikes were going to go on. It was another long trip from Inverness to Thurso, we left at 17.56 and got in at 21.48, we picked up a crowd of football supporters on the way but for the most bit it was calm. The best scenery of the trip was the route up the river valley from Helmsdale, unfortunately Richard was so absorbed, as well as mentally exhausted we got no photo's.
We finally arrived and the sun had still not yet set. (we cheated and took this photo later).
The station was already locked but you just walk out the car park, and the B&B was straight down the road.
A good nights sleep and ready to explore.....more to follow later.
A crazy day? All those different trains, so many things to keep sorted... I would have been completely exhausted, too.
ReplyDeleteNow that you're there, however, I'm sure you're excited. I'm really looking forward to the stories that are to unfold. :D