I am under no illusion about the transitory nature of what I do for a living. I fully buy into the “tomorrow’s fish and chip paper” view of daily journalism. But just every now and then my words have made a small — and in this case — enduring difference.
It was 30 years ago while staying with friends Hugh and Jane on the west coast of Scotland that I learned of British Rail’s planned axing of the Fort William sleeper service — arguably Britain’s most romantic train journey — as part of the privatisation ordered by John Major’s government.
The lairds and Lords of the Highlands and Islands were up in arms, I was told, as it would mean the end of their expensable first class overnight trips back to their estates on a Thursday night after a hard week snoozing on the red benches.
As House of Lords correspondent of The Times (incidentally, one of the best jobs in British journalism) I felt honour bound to publicise this afront to my friends in ermine.
In contemporary parlance the resulting article “went viral” with every newsroom in the country scrambling to send their own reporters on the service before it disappeared for ever.
The hue and cry led to some extra subsidy coins being found down the back of the ministerial sofa and the service was reprieved from transport death row on September 14 1995. And it has been running six days a week ever since.
And so almost exactly 30 years on, and to mark the anniversary, my wife Sonia and I found ourselves at the end of gloomy platform 1 at Euston station ready for the 570 mile trip north on what is now badged the Caledonian Sleeper.
First impressions count and it is a shame that such a glorious adventure of a journey starts on such a downbeat note in the grubby and rather depressing surroundings of London’s most unlovely terminus.
Still, mustn’t grumble. And once shown to your cabin by the cheery attendants in their forest green uniform livery things pick up.
Fortunately the rackety old Mark 3 rolling stock — really showing its age by 1995 — has long been put out to pasture and replaced in a £150 million glow up undertaken by private operators Serco.
The new carriages, launched in 2019, have in-cabin shower pods and, in a first for the Fort William sleeper service since it was launched in 1873, some double beds.
But if standards have gone up, so have the prices. A double bed cabin now costs an astronomical £520 one way, including breakfast — but not dinner. More than a grand for a return. Strewth. But people are paying. The doubles are booked out months in advance.
A cabin with twin bunks is now £435. The cheapest option, sitting up seats, comes in at £118 for two — but I do not recommend it.
Caledonian Sleepers argue that you are saving two nights hotel accommodation — with your transport thrown in, so the real cost compared with travelling by plane say, or driving, is not extortionate.
True, and it is an infinitely more pleasurable experience than slogging up to Luton airport, say, for the flight to Inverness, or the very long haul by car up the M6 and beyond.
The cabins are certainly cosy. We saw one Spanish couple trying to shoe horn their bulky suitcases into the space having arrived at Euston straight from Gatwick. Goodness knows if they had room to lie down and sleep.
There is only limited space in the Club Car, so the advice from old hands is dump your stuff in the cabin and grab a table as soon as you get on board.
Only passengers travelling in double or en suite cabins are guaranteed a table in the Club Car — and those in the seated accommodation cannot access it at all, although they can order food and drink to be delivered to their carriage.
The Club Car interiors — designed by Edinburgh-based Ian Smith in a pleasing palette of beiges and blues — has a choice of booths or swivel seats by the window.
There is a convivial hum as we pull out of Euston at the appointed hour of 9.15pm, Fort William bound. I have done the journey many times but this blissful moment never palls.
First glass of wine of the evening on the table, dinner on the way and the capital slipping behind with the Scottish Highlands waiting at the other end of the line.
And the food is good, a big improvement on the rather boil in the bag experience of the old days. I had Macsween’s Haggis with neeps, tatties and whisky sauce — just to get in the mood — at £14 while Sonia opted for Belhaven smoked salmon crème fraiche quiche, priced at a pretty reasonable £8. A half bottle of Chateau des Antonins at £18 also helped put London out of our minds.
Thence back to the cabin where complimentary bottles of water and a bar of Mackie’s honeycomb chocolate (essentially a posh Scottish Crunchie) awaited.
By the time you wake, you are well into the Highlands, a rolling tableau of lochs, mountains and forests
It can be a bit of a game of Twister getting ready for bed in the confined space of the cabin but once settled on the Glencraft mattress — made by the supplier to the Balmoral estate apparently — all is well.
People react differently to the swaying and rumbling of the train as it powers through the night heading for the border. Some say they cannot sleep a wink, I find it incredibly soporific and soothing.
I certainly slept through the jolting interruption of the nocturnal uncoupling of carriages – different parts of the train then head on their merry way to Inverness and Aberdeen - outside Edinburgh in the small hours.
By the time you wake — and this really is the magic part — you are well into the Highlands, a rolling tableau of lochs, mountains and forests now the view from your bed.
I would like to be able to say at this point how much I enjoyed the shower in the tiny wet room cubicle attached to the cabin. Sadly, water came there none.
When I raised this rather disappointing failing with the steward he fessed up to a small but sometimes crucial technical flaw. It turns out each water tank supplies neighbouring pairs of cabins. If the occupants of your twin ignores the notice to use water sparingly and enjoy a lengthy hose down then the other cabin can be left, literally, high and dry. So thanks for nothing G4. Hope you enjoyed your sloosh, because there was not a drop left for muggins here in G3.
So it was unshowered, we made our back to the club lounge for breakfast, where I tucked into scrambled egg and smoked salmon and Sonia enjoyed mini strawberry granola with the incredible vista rolling past.
After 12 hours on the train we pulled into Fort William, where a splendid lounge for sleeper travellers does provide the showers with unlimited water that we missed on the train.
No matter. It is a fabulous trip and every Londoner should try it. It is doubly satisfying for me. Without that piece written 30 years ago it is just possible the Fort William sleeper would have long gone to the great shunting yard in the sky.
