Do it by Rail '21, '22

 It seemed to be a long wait. I suppose it was because, according to their own document,  How rail timetabling works , timetables are normally published 3 months in advance -  May's would be in February - not 2 or 3 weeks as this has been. Now I must update the schedules for 55 trains I plan to use for my round Britain tour with the latest data and hope there are no major changes. Meanwhile, the last part of my East, South, North, West stations is only 11 days away. More on this soon.

 Having achieved the most northerly station, I'm now returning in brilliant sunshine so I hope I'll get a forwards-facing window seat on the train (that's a rear-facing window seat from Thurso because it'll reverse at the first station, Georgemas Junction). Here we are back at Forsinard around 5pm River Helmsdale, we follow this for a while To Helmsdale.  There's a good visitor centre here and my wife's favourite clothesline - it's beside the harbour and was full of washing every time we visited. Helmsdale also had a famous cafe/restaurant, all in pink, run by a jolly local female impersonator and frequented by Dame Barbara Cartland and Clarissa Dickson Wright (one of the Two Fat Ladies TV chefs) who recommended the fish & chips as the best you could get in Scotland.  La Mirage changed hands about ten years ago. Helmsdale station, note the painted windows Helmsdale from down the coast. Much of this line is coastal like Dawlish Warren line in Cornwall but...

Wifi and internet both appeared to be OK on this 2-coach ScotRail train but it was very crowded with much luggage too.  Phone informed me it was down to 4% power so had to recharge it.  Some more photos. Inverness station. That's my train on platform 5: Dingwall station is lovely.  At one time we planned to retire here. Many stations on this line are a delight. Neat, tidy, great views, this is Lairg: Dunrobin Castle has it's own station which is only open when the is open. More photos here on the return trip. Forsinard station is as far as I'd previously been by train when we visited this RSPB centre which doubles as the station building. Here we are at Thurso, arrived on time. The previous station is Georgemas Junction, the train has to reverse from there to Thurso.  Then it returns to Georgemas Junction and onward to Wick. Here I took a wander into and around town, ending up at the North Coast Visitor Centre for a late lunch of tea, a sandwich and a piece of coffee...

 A few photos from early morning on the way to Inverness. Near Blair Atholl: Dalnaspidal: A couple of miles south of the Drumochter Pass, the highest point on British Rail (452m) I've done this journey over 100 times so am familiar with where we pass certain spots, such as Entrance to Highland Wildlife Park and Slochd summit, second highest point of British Rail (401m) Dalroy Not far now. NEXT:   onwards-to-thurso

Train needed maintenance at Edinburgh so we're 1 hour late  so I'll now have 3hrs to eat and relax in the lounge car.  Just received my Highland breakfast.   W iFi is working on the train but no Internet connection so running blind.   Many of the apps I need work OK on my smartphone but not Blogger which seems to insist on an internet connection at all times.  The laptop is useless here. NEXT:   lovely-morning

This blog could be a bit iffy because my laptop says the trains WiFi has no Internet connection, but the smartphone is happy. Left home early which is a good thing because the local trains were ruining 20 minutes late.  91 bus from Charing Cross was very good. Then had 30 minutes in Euston's lounge before boarding the sleeper.  The lounge at Euston.  Boarded at 20.30 it's a very long walk to coach N . 1/3 mile I'd say. Then the lounge car was 5 coaches back. Got a window seat.  Very uncomfortable stool. The lounge car. This is proving too difficult for an old man like me so I  hope to continue it in the morning.  Morning on the train to Thurso: Editing blogs on a smartphone is too difficult, I'm probably 60 years too old for it despite 40 years in IT! Now that the Laptop is fired up it's a doddle. Yesterday's meal in the lounge car:     The internet is usually OK at stations, a bit iffy in between. NEXT:   running-late

  Here's where I aim to be for a late lunch on Thursday 21st April. However, being a bit of a realist, I try to plan what to do if any of the transport fails. So, what are the chances of  a cancelation or being over 15 minutes late?  According to Office of Rail and Road, Caledonian Sleeper cancelations for the last quarter were 5.7%, not too bad but over the next month I'll be on 4 sleepers so there's approx. 1/5 chance of one of them being cancelled. ScotRail cancelations currently stand at 3.7%, that's for all their services but a reasonable figure and with 99.2% of those that are not cancelled arriving within 15 minutes of schedule I'm reasonably confident they will cause me no trouble. At the London end there's no problem on local train or bus as they all run 4 or 6 times an hour. If the Caledonian Sleeper from Euston to Inverness  on Wednesday is cancelled:       I'll postpone this trip and re-book for next week or later. From Inverness the p...

Next Wednesday I'll be on the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness and onwards via Scotrail to Thurso.  This image from seat61.com the best info I've found anywhere on Caledonian Sleeper. For full info see HERE My wife hailed from Inverness so we used the Caledonian Sleeper a great many times - probably around 75 return journeys including the Motorail sleeper.  What a shame the Motorail was discontinued, it was so popular we had to book in March for a September booking. On Wednesday 20th April I'll take a train and bus to arrive at Euston in time to board the sleeper just after 20:30.  This will be my first time on the new sleeper rolling stock, every previous occasion has been on the originals without the en-suite facilities. The lounge car appears to be better designed too.  I'll let you know next week. I'll have over 2hours in Inverness before the Thurso train departs and another 2hours in Thurso before returning to Inverness. I will be concerned if the Thurso to Inve...