The journey begins in bright sunshine.River ThursoTurbinesThe Flow Country
The Flow Country is an area of blanket peat bog. I saw a lot of deer.
The sun is low but bright.The Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness.
Got up for breakfast near Birmingham International.
Arrived ten minutes early in Euston.
The cycle across London was slowed up by the traffic, first time in a while. Does this mean that more less polluting cars are coming in to London ?
It demonstrates that cars slow up the traffic, including the other cars, delivery vehicles, emergency vehicles, buses and cycles.
The speed profile shows the waiting for traffic lights and the slower speeds are when the traffic got in the way.
The bus lanes enable buses and cyclists to avoid most of the traffic, but there are some points with no bus lane. Cycling is the fastest way to get from Euston to Paddington.
Cheapest, most time effective and least stressful way to attend a meeting near Manchester in the south is using the Caledonian Sleeper. Travel while you sleep and no hotel needed.
It’s a sunny start.It’s sunny all the way to Inverness River OykelBeauty FirthComing into Inverness And onto the sleeper
I go to sleep in the Highlands.
And I wake up near Birmingham.
I get off the sleeper at 0620 at Birmingham International.
Birmingham International
The only time a train was late on the trip was the train from Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street. I did not miss my next connection so no harm done. I eat my sleeper breakfast while waiting.
Birmingham New Street More cloud in Birmingham than Scotland Cheshire Off at Warrington Bank QuayA cycle to Warrington Central
Glad I had the bike with me.
On to my destination.
After a day of work I catch the train to Manchester, with a stop for food.
Manchester Piccadilly Leaving Manchester
The train that I am on takes me down to Birmingham International where I wait for the sleeper which comes in at 2240. Then to bed and sleep.
To wake up in the Highlands.
I grab breakfast in Inverness.
Then it’s back to the north.
Through fields The seaHills And rivers
I chose to get off and on to the sleeper at Birmingham international rather than Crewe as I got an hours more sleep in both directions. I did have to travel further but this was preferable to getting off the sleeper really early and getting on really late.
Why is this cheaper than other methods of travel? I saved two hotel nights, no airport parking no miles in the car, no flights. Easy win.
My carbon footprint was far lower than if I had taken a flight.
And I was relaxed. I had an Ok sleep on the way down and a really good sleep on the way back.
A trip to the south, or the northwest of England as it is known, and then to the northeast of Scotland. This got off to a bad start when the ScotRail app told me at nine in the evening, before I was due to go, that the 0650 train was cancelled as it had broken down. Good that I was informed, bad that it was late in the day. The ScotRail app works well.
Could I catch the later train, and arrive late in Manchester or find an alternative? I went for the alternative, booking the Ember electric bus, meaning an earlier start, arriving an hour earlier in Inverness. The Ember bus is easy to book onto via the web.
Inside the Ember Bus.
The ride experience in the Ember bus was good, but still prefer the train. Early start meant packing a breakfast sandwich for the journey.
Cloudy crossing of River ThursoTurbine blades in WickNear Lybster
The elevation of the bus meant I could see far more than what I normally see from a car.
Near Portgower
A wait in Inverness and then on to the next leg, back on track.
Inverness Station Crossing the River Findhorn.
It is on to Edinburgh, where I changed trains. The temperature is far higher than further north.
Edinburgh Waverley It’s sunny River Clyde near CarstairsCarlisle
Changed trains at Carlisle. The forecast temperature here is 24 degrees but the temperature in the glass roofed station is more like the mid 30s. It’s a greenhouse.
Looking into the Lake District Coming into Manchester Manchester Piccadilly Station
It was a twelve hour journey.
I am staying at the Premier Inn near the station, which is extremely close and convenient. I am on the ninth floor, a room with a view.
There are lots of canals in the centre of Manchester.
Looking towards my room.Interesting architecture canal side.
Manchester is an interesting city.
Building ripe for redevelopment Minshull Street crown court Princess StreetWellingtonChinatown Back to Manchester Piccadilly
It is off to Crewe to catch the sleeper.
Leaving
The Caledonian Sleeper is due at 2345, but as ever it arrives late at Crewe. I get to bed just after midnight and I wake up in Scotland.
The Tay, Dundee.MontroseBreakfast approaching StonehavenComing into Aberdeen – River DeeAberdeen station Turbine blades Aberdeen Esplanade
Bristol TempelmeadNear Tewksbury Change at Birmingham New Street
The trains became a bit chaotic as demonstrated by this notice.
The 2006 to Milton Keynes , which I had planned to take, was eventually cancelled. I caught the slower, local train to Birmingham International, but not before its platform was changed.
Heading to Birmingham International Birmingham International
The Birmingham International station is clean and modern. I had an extended wait due to delays caused by a lorry damaging a bridge near Bedford. This is probably why the Milton Keynes train had been delayed. This was the first time that I caught the sleeper service from Birmingham International.
Modern notice boards
The notice boards showed the chaos caused by lorry.
I went down to the platform and worked out that my carriage was near the front of the train, so I moved to the correct end, having found out the direction of travel.
The arrival of the sleeper.
When I boarded, I was asked by a trainee Caledonian Sleeper host how I knew to be in the right place.
Straight to bed.
Waked up to breakfast in the Highlands.
River Garry.Loch InschNear Inverness Inverness Station
I had to wait for the rail replacement bus north. No trains due to work on the far north line. I took some photos from the bus.
Conan Bridge Alness Dornoch FirthNear The MoundHelmsdaleBeriedaleNear Latheron
Another trip south by train, this time with bike. Arrived at the station to meet the train to Inverness. It was windy.
And sunny.
Very sunny.Big blue sky with turbines in the distance.Loch FleetRiver OykelSnow on the hills Coming into Inverness
Getting on to the sleeper.
Breakfast Solar panels next to the railway line.
The sleeper was not taking its normal route meaning it arrived 40minutes later than normal. Much of the extra time was spent manoeuvring through London.
Wembley stadium in the distance.
A ride through London taking 19 minutes to get from Euston to Paddington, five minutes of which was spent stationary at traffic lights.
Green Oxfordshire.Didcot.
Oh dear, the English and Union Jack Flags being inappropriately displayed in Didcot. Very disrespectful! What can be more disrespectful than cheap Chinese made flags looking scrawny and scruffy.
From bright sunshine and blue skies in the far north to cloud in the south.
A February far flung journey, starting in the north,
To the platform Train arriving and it’s getting dark.Windows are a big dirty Thurso river near Halkirk
The downside to travelling this time of year is that it is dark for most of the journey, so not many views.
Disembarked at a dark Inverness The waiting Caledonian Sleeper service
I had a really good nights sleep, waking up for breakfast in the buffet car.
Birmingham Airport
Caledonian sleeper have added a new stop at Birmingham International. This looks potentially very useful. I saw the airport just after sitting down for breakfast.
Breakfast Euston
No bike with me this time. I had an appointment in London within walking distance. The time to get there was pretty similar either by foot or public transport, so off I walked.
Then it was off to Marylebone Station, for my first ever visit. Also by foot.
All Souls Church The BBC
Also first time I had seen the BBC buildings.
Marylebone Station
Things went a bit awry at this point. A goods train had broken down so the route was blocked.
The notice board with the delays.
Take a picture or filming shows how much the boards must flicker.
The intention is to get to Oxford to change trains. Eventually a train is provided with loads of carriages to enable taking all the passengers from the cancelled trains. The route to avoid the blockage involved travelling to Princess Risborough, the train then reversed heading to Bicester Village, where again it reversed, eventually arriving in Oxford.
Oxford Station
At Oxford some of the tracks are sectioned off. There are no trains to Didcot, only rail replacement buses. This is why I went via Marylebone rather than Paddington.
The train arrives
Smooth onward journey to Moreton-in-Marsh.
There is a lot of surface water.
After my appointment in Moreton-in-Marsh it’s back to Oxford in the dark.
Moreton-in-Marsh stationLots of work going near Oxford station
The Thames at Osney Bridge is fast flowing.Finally arrived at the Premier Inn
The problem with catching the late afternoon train in autumn is that it’s dark. No views.
Onto the sleeper at Inverness.The breakfast has improved.WembleyArrival at Euston A quick ride
The ride from Euston to Paddington was less affected by the traffic lights than normal. As a result I managed to catch an earlier train to Reading.
Then on to Mortimer.
Geese on Wokefield EstateMortimer Station – it’s short
Reading Station
What a smooth journey, all the trains on time. No overcrowding. I had slept very well on the sleeper. A good journey.
And then……
On to the train at Reading to Manchester Piccadilly. It was rammed. Totally overcrowded.
Things started going really wrong and confusing as we went to Oxford. Announced that we would have to change trains. Then announced we would not have to change trains but we needed to go past Oxford into a siding and then come back. A long wait in the siding then back to the station. Then it was announced we would have to change trains after all.
There was a signal failure near Banbury.
We crossed Oxford Station and caught a train towards Hereford, changed at Worcester, heading to Birmingham. This was bad as now I was due to be in Manchester two hours late.
Worcestershire Parkway
Birmingham
Change at Birmingham New Street. This is a very badly designed station. The signage is poor. Very confusing, The ugly side of architecture.
More delay due to trespassers on the track. The train had to go slow as a precaution.
Late!Manchester Piccadilly two and a half hours latePremier Inn Room View from the eighth floor.
The Premier Inn is a quarter mile from the station.
