Your choice of places to visit - 2016.

[whole diary]

[bobm]

If you are on the West side of Scotland, Oban is worth a visit and the train journey from Crianlarich is good too.

[grahame]

... we are planning to train as much as we can as whisky the rest ...

Somewhere else in Scotland (any suggestions?)

"The Keith and Dufftown Railway is an eleven mile line linking the World's Malt Whisky Capital, Dufftown, to the market town of Keith." - http://www.keith-dufftown-railway.co.uk

[ChrisB]

Oban is accessible by sleeper for around 3 weeks this year while works happen on the Fort William line. A trial to see whether the sleeper might service there permanently I'm told

[BerkshireBugsy]

Oban is accessible by sleeper for around 3 weeks this year while works happen on the Fort William line. A trial to see whether the sleeper might service there permanently I'm told

As a slight aside there was a segment on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Breakfast today about someone who commuted weekly from Scotland to Euston - I believe it was an 11 hour journey but it showed some footage of life on board the sleeper. May be worth a view if you are considering this

[TeaStew]

Thank you for bringing that to my attention, I will have a look! And thank you everyone for other suggestions. Highland Rover/Freedom of Scotland Travelpass are definitely on the cards for this!

[ChrisB]

The sleeper on Friday night north & Sunday south is surprisingly full of weekly commuters - got talking to a few of them just before Christmas....

[grahame]

Oban is accessible by sleeper for around 3 weeks this year while works happen on the Fort William line. A trial to see whether the sleeper might service there permanently I'm told

I can see that being long enough as an operational trial; market-wise, three weeks in midwinter may be limited in what it tells you.

I do note that
a) The West Highland Sleeper is said to be a significantly quiet train
b) The Inverness sleeper calls at Newtonmore - around 40 miles away from Fort William - some 2 hours later in the evening ad some 2 and a half hours earlier in the morning
c) Running to Oban would save some hour on the train's journey
d) Oban may be an attractive summer market, with tourists catching boats to the inner and outer Hebrides, perhaps not all wanting their cars.  Also Oban is not close to other sleeper routes in the way the Fort William and Inverness services pass within 30 miles of each other.

[Wilf19]

As I stopped traveling for work back in the summer, I now get to choose when and where I go (mostly!). Here are mine:

St Ives.
Barnstaple - been to Barnstaple lots of times but never by train.
Portishead
Thurso
Pwllheli

Three of which are not too far from Taunton, I suspect that has something to do with me having to fund my rail travel myself now!

As an aside, I bought a book listing some closed railways that are now cycle and/or footpaths around the country so I've started doing some of those. I dragged the kids out on the "Stop line trail" between Ilminster and Chard last week - cue much teenage muttering and "I can't be away from the Xbox for more than two minutes" grumbles.

[PhilWakely]

If you are on the West side of Scotland, Oban is worth a visit and the train journey from Crianlarich is good too.

Back in 1990, the wife and I enjoyed the experience of a coach tour to the western Highlands - based at Fort William. One of the day trips was to Oban - an easy trip by road. I managed to persuade the coach driver/courier to let me catch the train back from Oban to Fort William. He thought I was mad, choosing a four hour train trip instead of a one hour coach ride! I am glad I did though as it was one of the most enjoyable train trips I've ever made in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). I also kept a cine camera rolling for the entire trip.

The following day, the coach went to Mallaig and - yes, you guessed it - both me and the wife caught the train back from Mallaig to Fort William instead of the coach!

[BerkshireBugsy]

<Snipped>

I also kept a cine camera rolling for the entire trip.

</Snipped>

Younger members of the forum may need to Google "Cine Camera"

[PhilWakely]

Younger members of the forum may need to Google "Cine Camera"

Video 8 mini cassettes to be precise 

[Western Pathfinder]

Fort William seems to be coming up quite a bit! Indeed, it is on my list too.

I am hoping to visit Scotland for my honeymoon this summer and we are planning to train as much as we can as whisky the rest. My list is something like:

London Euston
Fort William
Mallaig
Somewhere else in Scotland (any suggestions?)
Across the west, I would like to visit Salisbury this year - it has been a while.

If you are on the west coast have a look at Oban

[BerkshireBugsy]

OK I know the OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) suggested "5 places to visit" but on reflection I would like to visit all stations which are covered by the current OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") program before the overhead works make their appearance - accepting that in some cases it is too late. Ideally I would like to get a photograph of "before" and "after". Could be a team project in the making

[Steve Bray]

And if it helps anyone, Virgin East Coast have a "Superfly" Sale on (until 8th January - book by 9pm) with one-way Standard Class tickets from London to Leeds and York from ^5; also Newcastle and Edinburgh for higher fares. Special offers on 1st Class also. Travel this Spring, but for all T's & C's see their website

[JayMac]

I'm taking advantage of that sale to visit the National Railway Museum in York next week.