Scotland’s Incredible Train: CALEDONIAN SLEEPER - The Deerstalker, Fort William to London

[Music] hello and welcome to another trip report I'm cruising at about 40 miles an hour a southbounder through the Scottish Highlands in the middle of summer it's a wonderful journey that I'm on today it's the deerstalker Caledonian sleepers headline sleeper service from Fort William to London Houston and I'll be doing it in first-class enjoy the video Fort William is over 500 miles by rail from London and lies at the center of the West Highland line to the north are eros egg and maleic and to the south Glasgow and London all of these passengers are waiting for the same train as me there's even an unmanned thrift-store which works entirely on honesty you wouldn't find that in London there are no showers onboard the Train first-class passengers can access the showers at Fort William for free there are separate male and female facilities here there's a five-pound charge if you're in standard class or in the seated accommodation these showers were perfectly acceptable the water pressure is fine and hot shampoo and towels are provided the towels are absolutely fine but you may prefer to use your own shampoo the carriages for the sleeper train lie in the old motor rail sidings to the north of the station until the early 1990s when the railways are privatized you could have simply driven your car up that ramp and onto the train taking it with you to London on a special wagon with around 45 minutes to go until departure the carriages are shunted back down into one of the platforms and the departure process can begin it's worth pointing out that this journey took place in the last summer that these carriages are due to run on the West Highland line Caledonian sleeper have brand new mark 5 carriages on order from a Spanish train line the interiors look absolutely fantastic including a new club lounge car and even some luxury double suites I am booked on the inaugural train on June the second and I can't wait stay subscribe to this channel to find out just what it's like the West Highland line is not electrified and so a class 73 electro diesel will take us as far as Edinburgh Waverley this evening despite their rage these locomotives bear the New Caledonian sleeper livery I think the new logo is absolutely fantastic thank you sleeper passengers need to check in with the hosts on the platform and from there feel free to board the train at your leisure as a consequence of inventing the railways and therefore having a large network of them before anyone else we have narrowed trains built to fit on Victorian infrastructure you'll be able to get most suitcases along this corridor but don't worry there is help on hand if you're struggling my berth for this evening is number three the third one along they'll be time for a more detailed room tour later in the video but this is pretty much how you'll find it as you bought the bed is made and the blind is down first-class passengers receive a complimentary breakfast you need to fill in this card and hang it on your door just as you would in a good hotel the place to be for the evening is the lounge car an old British Rail Mark 2 it's actually one of the oldest carriage is still running in scheduled service on the network there are actually two types of lounge car in service there's this one with the thick seats and there's also a different type with moveable chairs and fixed sofas all sleeper passengers have the right to enter the lounge car but if you're in first class you'll get a table reservation for dinner it's very civilized to order a drink and watch the Train slowly depart for William on its 14-hour Odyssey down to London [Music] there's a comprehensive menu onboard both for drinks and food feel free to pause the video here if you want to read more I actually pre-ordered buy a meal online on the Caledonians sleeper website I've gone for a Scottish classic haggis neeps and tatties this is a traditional Scottish dish and the name comes from the scots dialect i don't really want to have to explain to you what haggis is I'd rather let Wikipedia do that the neeps are Scots for turnips and their crush Taylor Tati's of course are your potatoes and here they're mashed the whole dish is accompanied by caramelized onions with whiskey absolutely perfect [Music] for dessert I went for the raspberry frangipane tart which was absolutely fantastic of course only indulge in this purely for research purposes if you're going to do this journey that I implore you to do it in mid-summer Fort William is further north and some places in Alaska and the latitude catches people out if you do this journey in winter or an early spring or late autumn the entire journey will be in darkness conversely in summer you could expect a 7:00 p.m. departure to have several hours of daylight ahead this train takes four hours to get to Glasgow and it still wasn't completely dark by the time we arrived there the West Highland line is consistently voted among the top scenic railway journeys that you can do anywhere in the world this stretch of line was completed in the 1890s and it's almost impossible to imagine how difficult it must have been to engineer this line over such inhospitable terrain in the winter this part of the world is almost completely frozen one hour after leaving Fort William we arrived in a Cobra which is the highest railway station in the UK by elevation it's also arguably the most remote there is no public road access to this station just a private track there is just about nothing here however Carew is quite popular with Hill walkers and hikers who use this station as a convenient start point for their walks the station buildings haven't served the station in quite some time they're now a very popular guesthouse and restaurant from kuru the train traverses the inhospitable and remote Rannoch Moor the old permanent way shed in the next shot reminds us of the harsh conditions that people would have had to live and work to construct this line back in the 19th century this is ranek Franek is notable for two things firstly you'll notice the trade actually passes on the right here instead of on the left and this is to simplify some shunting moves at the south of the station secondly this flashing blue light signifies that we're entering a radio electronic token block system essentially the trains here are controlled over the single line ahead by a radio signal issued from the signal box in the old days you would have to have a physical token usually a piece of metal on the end of a long loop both the radio and physical tokens do the same thing they ensure that only one train is in the single-line section at any one time right let's do a room tour the first thing to note is something which is true of most sleeper cabins anyway you'll come across in the world there is not much space for your bags this suitcase of mine has to live on the floor and my large full-size cabin bag will just about fit in the overhead racks the window also comes with a privacy blind similar to what you'd find on an aircraft now there is a bit of a neck too actually closing this blind as you can see here and it's especially difficult if you're right-handed and trying to deal with your left the washbasin is located under the table which you can lift up and hook on this small latch here be warned the water here is not drinking water it's just for washing your face and brushing your teeth the pressure is fine both hot and cold and you need to keep pressing the taps to get more water there are four USB charge points above the sink and also a single bottle of water the bed is around six feet long and will be ready-made for you when you arrive with fresh linen sheets and pillows you don't need to bring your own if you have a standard class ticket then you'll find yourself sharing a berth with someone the top bunk is seen here folded away if you have to use this bunk it will be already made up by the staff for you in the same way my bottom bunk is there are also duplicated attendant call buttons and light switches for both the top and bottom bunks there's also a temperature control valve the main light switches are found towards the ceiling the main light can be turned on and off and for nighttime there's also a nightlight which you can see here first-class passengers will receive an errand aromatics goody bag which is seen here there's a small selection of toiletries included the pillow spray is actually some sort of lavender scent which you're supposed to spray on your pillow apparently it makes you sleep better the most useful things in the kit are this branded I mask a hand towel and of course earplugs each birth has a fold down table this is very useful for your breakfast is served to you in the morning each birth can be locked from the inside there is no external lock and there is no key to each birth but don't worry crime on these trains is almost unheard of toilets are located at the end of each corridor this is a very rare example of gendered toilets on trains I'm not quite sure why the sleeper is treated differently the toilets are perfectly acceptable they're kept clean and tidy throughout the journey by the cabin attendants it's worth noting that these toilets don't have a handle to flush instead there's a continental style push button on the floor this is much more hygienic in my view [Music] now I've given you an overview of the facilities on board I have to tell you I feel a little conflicted about the arrival of brand-new trains the real appeal to me of this Caledonian sleeper deerstalker service is the visceral nature of the journey there are opening windows everything goes click the clack and you can feel at one with the Scottish Highlands nonetheless I accept that I am an enthusiast the brand new trains will bring a luxury high-end experience to this journey and it's going to be so much more appealing especially to people from abroad and people who don't traditionally use the Train overall I do think it's a good thing as the branch from auvergne joins from the West we stopped at Creon Larrick Creon Larrick is essentially the beginning of the end of the Scottish Highlands from here the journey flattens out down the Clyde s3 and into the urban sprawl of the Glasgow conurbation it's a good excuse to head to the lounge car and grab one final Scottish snack before bed an iron brew and a Tunnock's teacake [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] one thing I really do recommend that you do if you come on the sleeper is to bring your own pajamas it does get quite cold here it's just got a half-past eleven we just come three clouds go and I think it's time to turn in good night after a good six hours sleep I wake up somewhere in Staffordshire and we're rushing at 90 miles an hour towards London Euston remember I'd placed my order last night I got the full traditional breakfast option here which you can see is perfectly acceptable the coffee was more than welcome and had a busy day in London ahead as a final note in the morning you may find the lounge cart in a different position in the train to where it was the previous evening that's because this train joins up with other portions from Aberdeen and Inverness to make a 16 carriage long train that all happens at Edinburgh Waverley and the carriages are shunted around for the journey to London [Music] we arrived into London at quarter to eight in the morning right on time and ready for a full day in London ahead showers are available here at London Euston in the Virgin Trains first-class lounge complimentary for first-class sleeper passengers and that really is the value of sleeper train travel it souls the accommodation and travel problems in the one solution and that cigar is welcome to London Houston in my opinion the deerstalker service that I've just been on is one of the greatest trade experiences you can have in the world anywhere let me know what you think of the journey in the comments below but until next time I'll see you around [Music]

Channel: Wingin’ It! Paul Lucas

Views: 988,225

Rating: 4.8971405 out of 5

Keywords: caledonian sleeper, paul lucas, wingin it, highland sleeper, scottish sleeper, caledonian sleeper first class, west highland line, london euston, fort william, caledonian sleeper mk5, caledonian sleeper train, train, railway, caledonian sleeper at speed, caledonian sleeper room, railfan, scottish sleeper train, review, caledonian sleeper review, first class, sleeper train, pauls trip reports, west coast main line, wcml, trip report, tripreport

Id: GxdaXlHHIlc

Length: 16min 42sec (1002 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 14 2019