The Highlander: Edinburgh - Fort William in Caledonian Double Room aboard Caledonian Sleeper Train

[@venca2]

I just love your videos ❤. With no comments and no music 👍🏻, it actually feels like I am making the trip myself. Scotland is a great country for railway fans. Greetings from Prague 🇨🇿❤🇺🇦!

[@doc7austin]

thank you for your feedback

[@David-zt4hq]

Lovely journey, so many great views and a wonderful experience. Thanks for sharing.

[@wm7531]

I am your fans for years but no idea why I did not find you in my following list. Now I subscribe again. Great documentary videos! Bravo!

[@pietrovecchio8497]

complimenti per la completa scheda di accompagnamento del video

[@mvm03vm3]

UK runs 6 night trains, CS also run a 'lowlander' service to just Edinburgh and Glasgow that departs around 2 hours later from Euston

[@doc7austin]

yes, you are right; i completely forgot the lowlander train to edinburgh and glasgow

[@jackodon74]

I’ve been on this sleeper a few times to fort William and it’s neigh on impossible to sleep on the new rolling stock, the ride quality is dreadful over unwelded track. Travelling south bound you can sleep because it’s welded rail all the way from Edinburgh, as for the fares the less said the better. The old mk 3 stock was more superior.

[@pociagipkp5483]

Amazing video my friend !

[@davidcrossley8771]

Another great video! Disappointing about the plumbing failure (frozen?) and staff attitude. You did not mention Lowland Sleeper which serves Glasgow and Edinburgh from London.

[@doc7austin]

well, i can live with the plumbing failure, but the associated staff behaviour (sleeping car pax were not allowed to use the seating car toilet) is unacceptable; yes, i forget the Lowlander

[@kieranl8181]

Done the sleeper form London I done Euston to fort William and back again in march. Done it in club room with bunk beds , was interesting trying to shower when on move not good for someone with balance issues. And doing Euston to Inverness and back agin in July but I'm accbile room this time as found it extremely hard and difficult in the club room Tho with my disabled Railcard I do find Scotland sleeper cheaper than the GWR. Also great thing with caldionda is they also great with Acciblety they have adapted cutlery which makes it easier to do a day trip to Scotland and back on the sleeper. Paddington to Penzance twice on GWR MK3 stock.

[@Bobrogers99]

I've watched a number of Caledonian Sleeper videos, and while most praise the cleanliness and the staff, most also are unable to sleep well because of the motions and sounds from the rails. Several have encountered problems with the shower or with room temperature, but you are the first to have all the toilets malfunction as well as cranky staff. I suppose we're all entitled to have a bad day.....

[@doc7austin]

well, i have been riding night trains all over the world - on much worse railway tracks, so I am used to the motions; but yes, as you could see in the video -> all toilets in the accessible car have malfunctioned.

[@metro119]

I've used it quite regularly to Glasgow and never have any problems sleeping.

[@bobe.3719]

I have to say that the Caledonian could learn something from Amtrak in the US, and that's saying something. Blaming the weather for the plumbing problems was a "shitty" excuse, and I wouldn't blame you for being "pissed".

[@ramasamygokulakrishnan1784]

Hi iam tamilnadu good train video super

[@doc7austin]

thank you

[@ramasamygokulakrishnan1784]

@@doc7austin ok

[@B10Flipster]

Ich vermute, die zweite Lok diente der Stromversorgung. Die Class 66 haben (zumindest bei uns in Deutschland), keine Zugsammelschiene und können somit die Wagen nicht mit Strom versorgen.

[@sellier-bellot22]

🥸Pretty rough ride !!! LOL

[@trianandacaesaryandasril786]

i like your video. You should try riding Whoosh in indonesia, the first high speed train in southeast asia with a speed of 350/KMH. There are still many more trains in indonesia that you can make your youtube video. greetings from indonesia, Keep spirit and keep healty😊

[@Vi233]

Big bed but small window

[@doc7austin]

yes, the double bed cabin aboard the MUn sleeping car is a bit better, esp. because it has a large window

[@kevinellis8869]

Glad you got compensation for the poor facilities, the service is getting constant poor reviews. The last time I travelled to Inverness I broke my journey with an overnight stay in Berwick using ECML.

[@doc7austin]

well, the product was good, but staff had an attitude problem

[@samtrak1204]

You didn't eat or drink in diner lounge?

[@Tinovr6]

405 GBP. Not bad for a whole private train with big sleeping room ;)

[@doc7austin]

well, it could be more expensive in high season; but with the two 25% discounts, the value is pretty good in my eyes

[@victorhodgson8767]

I’ve been following you since that cross Russian journey, ( from Vladivostok to Moscow - Helsinki), so as a Scotsman, I apologise for the very shortcomings,highlighted by you, I sincerely hope the Rail Company, take heed of them, ( frozen pipe work in this day & age should never happen, if thought was given to their installation ! ) . Ps that haunting music on your cross Russian trip , still lives with me .

[@victorhodgson8767]

I’ve been following you since that cross Russian journey, ( from Vladivostok to Moscow - Helsinki), so as a Scotsman, I apologise for the very shortcomings,highlighted by you, I sincerely hope the Rail Company, take heed of them, ( frozen pipe work in this day & age should never happen, if thought was given to their installation ! ) . Ps that haunting music on your cross Russian trip , still lives with me .

[@doc7austin]

@victorhodgson8767 thank you for your feedback

[@clairestafford9372]

No, the locomotive wasn't broken, the class 66 is a freight only engine, i.e. no head-end power for the coaches, so the class 73 provides that

[@doc7austin]

oki; and i assume the class 73 alone is not powerful enough to pull the train up rannoch moor ?

[@clairestafford9372]

The original class 73 were primarily 750v DC electric with a small diesel engine. More recently some of them had the electric/diesel powerplant removed and replaced with a 1600hp diesel (classed as 73/9). I'm not sure that they are inadequate but maybe marginal particularly in winter.

[@jfmezei]

You broke the toilets 🙂 when Canada got new trains in 1981 (LRC), they were first in Canada to have holding tanks for waste water. VIA Rail quickly found out that they needed heaters/insulation in winter because the holding tank would freeze rendering toilets unusable, and conductors had to shut fresh water supply to prevent toilets from overflowing if flushed. Do you know what temperature the train travelled through in Scotland? During the night when nobody uses toilet/showers would be when that holding tank would have opportuity to freeze. The wind and shaking of train would cause an unprotected tank to freeze fairly quickly.

[@doc7austin]

it was not too cold; maybe -2C

[@jfmezei]

@@doc7austin At -2, it shoudln't be enough to freeze stuff in those tanks. After watching your video, I stumbled on a US FRA document on train toilets and it is always a huge challenge to get them to be very reliable. And they are costly on sleeping cars. (though on your train, with showers, not sure if the shower grey water is treated the same way as toilet waste). These coaches were introduced in 2019, so you would think they would have been debugged during 5 years of service.

[@doc7austin]

@jfmezei the water system still didnt work in 2024 - 5 years after the introduction of these new mark 5 cars

[@samtrak1204]

t doesn't look like you can sightsee if you're lying in bed. Did the club car open during the trip?

[@jfmezei]

Of the videos about Caledonian Sleepers I had seen, all seemed to provide the image of a perfect train with great service/comfort. Curious how much of your experience was due to having a bad batch of employees that day versus policy (not allowed into coach would be policy). Is it possible that service quality is going down due to cuts or employees asked to work longer hours etc?

[@doc7austin]

but was my video really that critical of european sleeper ?

[@jfmezei]

@@doc7austin As I recall, your ride on European Sleeper was quite eventfull on a new service. Caledonian Sleeper is an estabished service, so your comments on it reflect more what anyone would experience. (Your criticism was mild, but I said that in a context where all other videos I had seen had pitched it as a perfect service without ANY flaw. )

[@Fat_Cat_747]

Let the bed soak up your piss. Either they let you use a toilet or you have to improvise. That's fair isn't it ?

[@andyasia]

Is there no dinner in a restaurant car ?

[@doc7austin]

it is called club car, though, I didnt eat breakfast there

[@robyoungquist5803]

Surely Staff would allow Sleeper Passengers to use seated car toilets if all toilets were in ops right? 🤔🫤

[@doc7austin]

i have asked that question on railforums.co.uk ; i was told in no uncertain that I had no right to be anywhere the seating car as sleeping car passenger.

[@robyoungquist5803]

@@doc7austin … that’s some very poor customer service right there not to mention a lack of common sense. Moral of the story is … don’t book the Caledonian Sleeper in the winter months 🫤

[@metro119]

@@doc7austin There's no issue using any toilets you want, the staff won't stop you. It's more of a case that the seated car can't use toilets in the sleeping carriages.

[@doc7austin]

@metro119 no; i was stopped; and on railforum.co.uk many users were angry with me that I have even tried to use the toilet in the seating car