The Royal Scotsman
The Flying Scotsman was a famous steam locomotive and passenger train service that ran between Edinburgh and London, providing the first ever non-stop service. In 1934 it set the world record as the first steam locomotive to reach 100 mph. This is the heritage predecessor of the Royal Scotsman, a Belmond five-star luxury sleeper train that travels through the Scottish Highlands. This service began in 1985, using Edwardian style carriages that brought back the opulent legend of overnight train travel and fine dining.
Our journey lasted three days and two nights. The train consists of an observation car, two dining cars, a spa car, four suite cars, and two service and crew cars. The observation car had an open veranda for outside viewing.
Excellent Staff and Tour
The quality of service was evident the moment we arrived at the Balmoral Hotel, located next to the Waverly train station. The Balmoral Hotel is the initial meeting venue for the Belmond train experiences. We were met by two employees of the company we booked with who, on approach, greeted us with our names even before introduction.
We departed from Edinburgh’s Waverley station, reaching Inverness, then heading back south along the North Sea coast. Our route took us through the Cairngorms National Park. The theme of the trip was a whisky tasting tour, including a bar with over 50 malt whiskies and a distillery tour at the Strathisla Distillery in Keith, known for the famous brand Chivas Regal. We also spent an afternoon at the Rothiemurchus Estate, where lunch was made from locally sourced ingredients.
The Crew that Run the Royal Scotsman
The entire crew, including the locomotive engineer, are employees of Belmond, with two exceptions. West Coast Railway Company provides the haulage crew for the main journey under contract, and the private Strathspey Railway supplies the locomotive engineer for the overnight stop at Boat of Garten. We transferred to the Strathspey line for that first night’s stay.
I spent time with our conductor, Graham, learning more about his responsibilities and how rail operations work in Britain. I came away impressed with the quality of the track grading. Every segment of our travel ran smoothly and level. The one exception was the instruction to keep our windows closed in transit, since the vegetation along some stretches grows close enough to the tracks to scrape the cars and send bits of foliage through an open window. Graham explained this as a result of reduced trackside maintenance in recent years.
Fellow Travelers
I met Alistair, a fellow passenger on the train, who was there with his wife celebrating his 50th birthday. He is a railfan and a model railroader. We spent time on the observation car veranda watching the scenery go by and chatting about railroading. There was yet another train buff on board named Phil. We sat next to Phil, Alistair, and their spouses at dinner one evening. Not only was Phil a train fan and model railroader, but he is a World War II history buff. Obviously, the dinner time passed quickly as we discussed these interests together.
There were couples from all over the world, including newlyweds from Thailand, a single woman from Singapore, sisters from Taiwan, a couple from Austria, father and son from Germany, two couples from Belgium, France, and several couples from the US. We enjoyed meeting and talking with most of them. One couple was from the Chicago area. We finally had a chance to chat with them at the hotel during the departure process.
Final Night
On our final night in Dundee, the train stopped at the station platform. The fiddlers who had played throughout dinner stepped off with us and taught the group two traditional folk dances between the tracks. We closed the evening singing Auld Lang Syne on the platform before returning to the train.
From the attentiveness of the staff to the finish and decor of the carriages to the carefully planned excursions, this was rail travel unlike anything we had experienced.
