LONDON TRIP and our 6½ hour 1st class Avanti West Coast delay. We arrive Glasgow Central at 0415+1

[@steve-marsh]

Aye that was some surprise for you eh Blair? Make sure you squeeze another trip out of that refund ;) Cheers for the shout-out - you're almost making it look like I know stuff.

[@TheUluxian]

No worries, Steve. Anybody that follows you will never mistake you for someone who knows stuff..😜 (Kidding..I'm kidding..Love ya, Steve!)

[@martinh4982]

It's that time of the week! Guess where Steve is while he's watching Scott's video... I reckon on a ferry somewhere in the North Sea!

[@seanzealony9499]

Steve Marsh after watching your last vlog Cherbourg is now on list for visiting next year.

[@pauleric8799]

Steve, when I was in the army we called English soldiers marshmen because during the battle of Bannokburn they sank in the marshes because of they're heavy armour.

[@jonjohnson2844]

@@seanzealony9499 Cherbourg, really? It looked a bit like Rotherham lol

[@barball3955]

With every video Blair comes out of himself a little more, great to see quality father/son time (he is very polite and a little camera shy). Another great video.

[@ryanodonnell6748]

A Katsu curry has been my Saturday night treat for a while now 💥

[@6yjjk]

Brave to surpise someone you like with a ride on Avanti.

[@ismellfearonu]

He won't again

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

LNER is absolute top drawer while Avanti is so bad that the government are about to step in. Whole different world.

[@GabrielsReviews]

@@halfbakedproductions7887 I've had my fair share of problems with both! The only operator I can't fault? HX!

[@ulfw]

Your son Blair is very sweet. You're a great dad Scott!

[@richardpeters4086]

He's a phone addict.

[@drycfc]

Everyone is​@@richardpeters4086

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

@@richardpeters4086 He's a young lad. Not sure how old he is, but when I was a teenager in the early 2000s we didn't have smartphones and instead had other ways to distract ourselves and be untalkative in the same way.

[@josephlatham3824]

@@halfbakedproductions7887 good young lad interested in his dads activities i wasn't at his age? Scott knows the time to give him a more profile?

[@lisakars566]

Blair is a wonderful lad! How lucky he is to have a dad who takes him places!

[@CherylelaineRayment]

Great video. You have such a well brought up and polite son.

[@Bobrogers99]

The most memorable trips are often the ones where things go wrong. I'm sure that Blair won't forget this one.

[@tonightwefly]

Along with Steve Marsh, you and his are my favourite video's and I always enjoy every one of them!

[@kevinellis8869]

Welcome back to the real world of UK train travel. I go out on trips usually twice a week and am frequently filling in Delay Repay claims with EMR, Avanti and XC.

[@RaymondChristie-i7i]

That was a great surprise Blair you have a great dad 😂

[@tonemarieantonsen1597]

Oh gosh, your son is so cute 🩵

[@mcsuibhne005]

03:05 immediately walking out of that shop to save my eardrums.

[@noahcount7132]

Not a total disaster, Scott. You and Blair got some great food, got to see some impressive sights, and on top of that you scored a free hotel room and a free train ride. 👍

[@drsteele]

Little did Blair know that the surprise would be an 11 hour train journey. Can sympathise - once had an East Coast trip that took 12 hours from London to Edinburgh including the classic announcement of "we aren't moving as there is currently no driver"

[@stevenhanlon4983]

Nothing like a pint in an old London pub. Well done lads!

[@mistywolf312]

Thanks for the quick look at Dippys new lodgings, I really wanted to see how they'd set her up, it looks great.

[@alanchandler254]

At least you got to your destination. I was on an LNER London to Edinburgh only for the train to be terminated at Doncaster, I was fortunate that there was a local service to Leeds so got that. You don't seem to have much luck with the weather. Hope things are better in the New year, so Happy New Year to you and your family, and look forward to some more interesting videos.

[@hanshartfiel6394]

Great video, Scott. I, too, took my son once to the Natural History Museum in London, that was about 28 years ago. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and we ended up in the Victoria & Albert Museum which is almost next door. The good thing was that we only live about 50 or so miles north of London and we went down again two weeks later but this time to the right place.

[@lparky4409]

Reminds me of my brother in law en route to Australia a few years ago, got asked if he could let someone fly in his place as flight overbooked, no, anyway he was asked again and offered money and an upgraded seat because someone was in a hurry to get to Australia. Anyway accepted the offer, boarded the later plane, when he got to Australia iit turned out the previous plane had been grounded in Dubai due to technical problems.

[@CherylSteele-rt8dj]

This was great, Scott. What a lovely son you have. Shame about the return journey, but you handled it well and reminded us that things aren't always going to go the way we plan. More travelling please! 🎉

[@twentyrothmans7308]

Time spent with one's father isn't wasted.

[@vicordner9391]

Sorry to hear thing went pear shape Scott! We enjoy watching your videos, all very interesting, thank you So much! Bob and Vi

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

Things going pear-shaped is never welcome, but it makes a good story.

[@andygore1149]

Great video Scott as always & your son Blair comes across as a great lad, well done m8 👍

[@josephlatham3824]

superb video again mate you, Steve marsh & Rog Edwards are the best cant separate you 3 others in the the reckoning honestly better than some of the TV programmes we endure lol 1 criticism not giving us prices? always look forward to your videos keep them coming

[@ThamesShips]

Great video. Glad you enjoyed yourself in London and good to see some footage of the Thames!

[@labessss]

Nice to see you boys in the local manor,hope you had a great time in London..

[@SirKilot]

That’s a pretty good deal you get to enjoy first class on the train for longer and the tickets are completely free :D

[@barriedenham222]

What an arduous adventure but quality time with son a positive

[@Elliot_frew]

I absolutely love it when Blair is in these videos such a good lad 👌

[@mrhaggit]

Great video, I saw this on the trackers the day after. I felt bad for those on the heavily delayed services! Apart from the disruptive journey back, it looked like a good trip out. Enjoyable video😊

[@joannharrington2279]

Museum worth going to see. Broken down trains is all part of the journey. The rain is terrible but the time with your son is priceless. Safe travels home.

[@silvo-sings]

It’s good to see more of Blair. More videos with you two guys please.👍👍

[@ColdRFusion]

You make drinking orange juice an adventure Scott!

[@richardoliver6131]

Well you did have a fun time

[@adamsmith7802]

I was stuck in this too! went from BHM-GLC, and was stuck at CAR for hours, played musical trains, moved and then held at LOC for ages too! Eventually got into GLC at 03:20 when i was due in at 19:20. the staff were fantastic trying to keep us updated as much as they could. Sadly no refund for me - i was travelling on a free Club Avanti ticket!

[@gavinhagan8357]

An adventure as always but yes Blair looked shattered. I hope he grows to learn great this is all part of the fun.

[@victoria7105]

Glad you had a good time in London with your son👍👍

[@kevinobrien628]

Great video. Dont think ive ever been on an avanti west coast train that wasnt late or delayed by some way or another. Always made me miss connections on like Carlisle or Lancaster.

[@andywillis2650]

Wow, what a miserable end to what had looked like a great time for you and Blair !! That wzs some delay, food in Wagamama looked great.

[@christinehodge3608]

Good video, interesting, lovely food especially from wagama

[@richardbaguley6165]

Thanks for the video and also showing us what the west coast main line was like on monday night on your way home

[@amtrakharry]

That was a great trip till the train portion. The mueseum was cool . Your son has a great taste in food.!!!

[@user-fj6ey3wl4s]

Hi Scott. Love your videos. Just to let you know, my daughter was on the train ahead of you that was broken down. She was travelling alone on her way back home to Glasgow. She too was delayed 6+ hours, ariving into Glasgow Central at midnight after being evacuated off the broken down train. Her connections had finished for the night to Thonliebank.There was also no taxis. She was told to claim a full refund, so she submitted a claim. Avanti said there was no record of the breakdown. Made me angry that they could deny it when it caused chaos along the entire line.

[@derektaylor2941]

Under BR days when there was a one-in-a-blue-moon event like this (the storm of 1987 was the last I remember being that delayed) we had our Driver mess rooms opened for passengers to wait in. Not ideal but warmer and safer than kicking them out onto the street.

[@Priorw8]

Thank you for one of your what could go possibly wrong films.still great fun to watch

[@ChrisPipinghot]

Fantastic trip boys! Jeezo but that train back, I seen it on the news about it the other day. What a nightmare.

[@jessicanippes1730]

Blair is a really handsome young man, he reminds me of the young John Cusack 😊 Love to see you both taking adventures as a father- kiddo duo 😊

[@derektaylor2941]

In 1842, the various newly formed railway companies came together to create (the) Railway Clearing House (RCH). Originally it was designed so that one railway company could pay another railway company for transporting its goods beyond their own network. But then it evolved into creating a set of standards for equipment that meant each company could just send its wagons onto the other network without the need of costly unloading and reloading and RCH would manage cross-railway payments etc. What has this to do with Scott and Blair's ridiculous delay? Very simple: from the above, through grouping and into British Rail days there was always a way for a train to 'rescue' another ahead or behind, provided it was within class (ie a little railbus wouldn't rescue an express). In BR days the following train, regardless of whether it was freight, passenger, parcels, internal use, would simply couple up and push until the train could be stored in a spare platform or cripple siding. Pendolinos, like most modern plastic trains don't have the facility to do this (well, technically I suppose they could) and they instead rely on a small fleet of 60+ year old diesels to drag them; all well and good provided the line isn't blocked by delayed trains and you can get your 'Thunderbird' to the front (NOT the rear!) Even the Channel Tunnel trains- designed in an era when it was expected they'd be run by BR/SNCF- were built with this in mind... so much so that a Channel Shuttle can lose power in one locomotive and still couple up and push the whole train in front or behind. Even with the myriad of couplings- screw, buckeye, BSI... under BR days they still had facilities for each to connect to the other. No, 6.5 hour delay is beyond ridiculous.

[@kevinmoffatt]

Love train travel, and it should be the default method of transport used by all. It is absolutely hamstrung with incompetent operators who think that delaying travellers for hours at a time is just the acceptable way to run 'services' and that we should shut up and suck it up. A mean average of scheduled routes delayed should be established and fines for operators who consistently fall behind in service provision introduced that really sting and pressure them to up their game.

[@derektaylor2941]

@@kevinmoffatt your words will resonate with many people and are not without merit, but are woefully naive. You demonstrate very little understanding about why the modern railway system is in such a mess and are defaulting to the usual "blame private enterprise", which is such a lazy tool. Alas, anyone who uses 'suck it up' as a means to express anything is, in my opinion, seldom worthy of learned discourse in any case. Perhaps instead of taking the obvious and lazy option you might like to look into WHY modern rail travel is so poor.

[@siobhan28483]

Great video Scott. Nice to see Blair again and glad you both enjoyed your time here in good old London Town, despite the delays getting back to Glasgow.

[@robinharrison3907]

Great Video 👍Nice to spend time with your Son 👍❤️👍

[@iancooper2213]

We frequented that pub back in university days many years ago!

[@janicehopwood9528]

My home town. So familiar, especially Gloucester Road.

[@paulhoughton5266]

So cool to have a father and son trip like risers, will be memorable for both of you

[@listey]

The Avanti always reminds me of the Peter Kay TV ad.

[@AntonFanify]

I am surprised that service wasn't renamed the Avanti sleeper service?

[@SRV777]

Great video! Your Avanti service 1S90 made it into Glasgow really late at 04:17am! There was quite a bit of congestion on that line due to a failed train

[@LesleyMuircroft]

My train Leaving Motherwell the next morning was cancelled due to all the previous nights delays. Like you I will be getting my money back, I was so looking forward to the journey as I have watched many of your videos on Avanti , my experience going down to London and return were memorable, but sadly not for the right reasons. I did travel first class but didnt receive the finest first class experience,

[@ronnieskittle]

Hi Scott, was lovely talking to you in saltcoats! -Jasper

[@kevinmcanulty2593]

oh boy that was a trip.

[@CarolWhite-il7ki]

Thankyou

[@Andrewjg_89]

Have you seen the new Avanti West Coast Class 805 Bi-Mode IET. Plus with the Class 807 Electric IETs coming into service from next year.

[@robertblechle6365]

I do love the Museum. Wonders of travel. As my mom always says prong your patience pants and all will be fine

[@horsehollerer]

Sorry that happened but still a great watch. And hey... at least you weren't stuck in LNER first class for 11 hours with their square wooden thrones, concrete block headrests that like to randomly detach themselves, and massive table-support poles where you need to put your legs!

[@alastairross9628]

No quite the intended surprise but epic trip 😄

[@MrLetmein2011]

I love when you do trips together, with Blair choosing restaurants it’s always more fun. Keep it in the family it’s working well 👏👏👏

[@fussyboy2000]

East Coast was always my preferred option for London - Glasgow. Now that it's down to Azumas vs Pendolinos it is less clear cut.

[@richards5280]

Love London and I’ve stayed in that area around Gloucester Rd station 3x (most recently at the Millenium Bailey’s next door to the one you stayed at). Wow what a ‘surprise’ for you and Blair at the end there! Oh, and is Blair ever NOT on his phone?? 😆👍

[@baseballfan99]

A great little trip. Although it not somewhere I would pick as soon as I saw you were going to Wagamamas I said it should be the katsu curry so good choice. I always stay Sunday Night in London when visiting. M6 and M1 is usually clear when taking the coach and as you say it’s a lot cheaper at most hotels. Fair play to Avanti for not just cancelling the train but I did feel for you both when I saw all that rain. I was stranded on the Motorway for over 2 hours in the middle of the night, two weeks ago due to a Police incident so I feel your pain.

[@soggymoggytravels]

If you'd taken the 300 flight switch offer, Blair would have got one of those t-shirts with change left over ;)

[@sueKay]

The first two flights I was ever on I was in the first row, I never realised it was thing! I'm sorry your trip went so wrong at the end but glad you got a refund. I've not had one trip on Avanti that hasn't gone pear-shaped. Last time they cancelled our train and about 6 others at Carlisle...then put on a single replacement coach for all of us. Thankfully I was able to get one of their staff to assist as I was with my mum who is disabled and she didn't have meds for the next day, and we got seats on that bus...we also never got a refund despite applying for one. I felt so sorry for the staff cos they clearly didn't have the backup or the resources they needed but were doing their best. I miss Virgin trains - I can't ever remember having a major hiccup with them other than being 31 minutes late once (and getting an automatic refund!)

[@markharkin5257]

Another great video, love London not been for a couple years now. Coconut Ice-cream that tastes... Coconutty?? Well, I suppose it was Bounty 🙂

[@alisterhoult4795]

Thank you for the video, Alister Ian Hoult, Carrying Place, Ontario, Canada.

[@ctm1602]

Bodeans is one of my go to London eateries 😊

[@eileenmclean1274]

Your trips never seem to go according to plan. Nice to see Blair again. ❤❤❤

[@stephentalas1940]

Thanks, good to see the 'Big Smoke', 40 years a Londoner, miss it sometimes, but could never afford to go back, I'll stick with the Borders.

[@Mattfuze]

Good to see you doing things with your son ❤

[@yvonnejohnston9429]

Been with a avanti twice and each time an issue. So always go LNER now, though I now have to leave from Edinburgh as they’ve cut the early service from Falkirk grahamston.

[@alexmcwhirter6611]

Great video Scott which shows that not everything in travel runs perfectly. UK rail's Delay Repay is by far the most generous in Europe and with the gov't anxious to economise one wonders if it (Delay Repay) will not be so generous in future.

[@Albatross-365]

Worst I've had is a 9 hour journey from Leuchars to Kings Cross in heavy snow. I was on an HST but all the electric trains ahead were breaking down. Watched many diesel locomotives running up and down the adjoining line to help those in need.

[@Kirisiac]

Shame you were stuck in Preston so late...best katsu chicken curry I'VE had is from the restaurant just inside the shopping centre across the road! You and Blair have a great dynamic and I'd love to see Blair trip reports some day :)

[@simpsond7862]

I do love a train ride but recently I was on one from London it couldn't move for about 45 minutes they managed to fix it. I was on another from Manchester to Doncaster,the train was not able to cope with the large numbers of passages. It was too short and at one point it felt like it was going to come off the line. Both of these trains were very old.😢

[@richardbutler4488]

@Trains, Planes, Everything. Put Blair on a phone free trip, that would be fun 🤩 Scott 😊 You would be a fabulous daddy to show him the old ways of doing things with a paper timetable and a guide book 📕

[@rogertemple7193]

It's always great to see you and Blair on your travels exploring places and you are always in the most interesting places especially in the beautiful rural areas as well as the cities take care and thanks. 🖖🇬🇧👋

[@terryosullivan2620]

Great video Scott ,Blair. Did you tell Blair about the joys of travelling airports overnights delays eating on the go . Thanks again.

[@TheUluxian]

Blair reminds me of a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. My last trip to London I stayed at the Montana Hotel on the corner of Gloucester and Cromwell. I know that area quite well. A bit dated, but exceptionally clean, and the people that run it were amazing...

[@holygooff]

That's where I stayed as well. It was the absolute best in the lower price range.

[@happysporran]

felt a bit guilty pressing the 👍like!

[@JelMain]

That's why it's a bucket list. You may have to bail.

[@rydo2012]

I was on the Glasgow to stansted easyjet flight last Monday at 7am and was watching one of your videos 😂

[@Christopher-hg2yi]

Old EU 261! Very familiar with it!

[@josephlatham3824]

forgot to ask how was the museum compared to Glasgow's similar ?

[@Everythingwithonehand]

If you enjoyed Wagamama I highly recommend Ichiban Noodle Bar on Queen Street in Glasgow. They do excellent Katsu curry.

[@CricketEngland]

Should have gone to “Mother Mash” and had a tradition pie and mash but at least it wasn’t McDonald’s

[@zocto3459]

Me and my family love ichiban its so fire🔥

[@scott3656]

Ichiban - Lipstick for men!

[@andrewvannan1714]

Ichiban is nearly in known but so damn amazing

[@andymerrett]

@@scott3656 just what I thought :)

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

Wagamama is actually also one of the few places which are not part of a Japanese district but still have some very authentic Japanese dishes...

[@DaveyPalmer1]

What a nightmare Scott! At least you had some decent bait at Wagamana's though (their restaurant in West George St , Glasgow is very good BTW).

[@voxley19]

A typical journey on Avanti Worst Coast (its not a misprint)!

[@tarquinmontague637]

We decided to follow Galaxy’s (player of nebulous) recommendation of the establishment known as “Wagamamas” but it didn’t sit well with the PA, he was abusing all night.

[@martinmaxfield8285]

At £117 that hotel was a bargain, as a freemans it was a mega-deal. Always good to see some father/son time. I assume you stopped at Warrington Bank Quay, my home town station. Shame about the delay, but at least another freebie

[@imsbvs]

Thanks for the wifi password (15.54)!! Loved the selfie outside Parliament & Big Ben, was there a month ago. As for the museums I haven't visited for 40+ years, but I do recall going there in the school holidays by Underground serveral times in my childhood, I grew up in London and escaped to the Kent coast in 2000. Shame about the delays, full refund will not soften the pain.

[@jonathanmarks3750]

2:25: See it. Say it. Sorted. Even as a German I know this ad.

[@eprohoda]

Planes,, bonjour~you shared inrcedible -peace out~

[@dazlebluefrogify]

Great video scott nice to see you do things like this with ya lad,but is there ever a journey where ya have no problems ?🤔