“What is worn under your kilt, sir?” asked the lassie.
“Why, nothin’s worn under me kilt, lassie. Everything is in fine working order.”
Ahhhhhhh the anticipation of
stepping on board a grand and majestic train and wondering being on board this
charming anachronism-a private luxury train-will be like.
Inside, passengers settle in for
the evening, enjoying perfect touches of comfort and luxury, echoing that of a
romantic, bygone era. The new journey
commences, the heart flutters momentarily and one is not sure what to expect.
The Royal Scotsman is a
touring train that winds its way through the Highlands at a leisurely pace and
stops for side trips off the train. The
trip combines the idiosyncrasies of train travel with the pleasures to be found
in the Scottish countryside.
Inaugurated in 1985 as a joint
venture The Royal Scotsman is a well-heeled train buff’s dream come true. Originally the day-cars were beautifully
restored antiques. The dining car was
the oldest operating in the world and the varnished teak and mahogany saloon
car was built as a family car in 1912. Decorative
details-crystal sconces, silver saltcellars, fabrics of tapestry, polished
brass fittings and fold-down sinks, framed antique etchings-conveyed a Belle
Epoque sense of privilege. The carriage
leases ran for five years and it was a success – the train won the Queen's
Award for Export. After the initial five-year period the decision was taken to
purchase outright a different set of carriages, designed to the owner’s
specifications. Ten Pullman carriages were bought and transformed by a
specialist woodworking company in Bournemouth. This second rake of carriages
replaced the first in May 1990.
Choose your journey; they all depart
from Edinburgh. The romantic landscapes
that appear beyond the windows are soft and lovely-gold and russet moors alive
with deer, silvery lakes, pastures of black faced sheep, small farms, rural
villages, and patches of bright purple heather everywhere.
The weather is capricious in
Scotland which makes for an ever-changing backdrop. Thick gray clouds that open up to patches of
blue sky give way to brilliant sunshine, which turns to a smooth pearl-grey
sheet of clouds, which yields to rain, all in a morning.
Enchanting as the countryside is,
it would probably not make the days on board engrossing. What keeps the journey from becoming tedious,
if not claustrophobic, and makes the journey so appealing, is the full schedule
of off-train excursions to towns, distilleries, and houses of note made interesting
by the guide with lilting brogue and an irrepressible enthusiasm for his native
land. He is the motherload of Scottish
history, anecdotes, myths, and colloquialisms.
When glancing through the memory book signed by passengers at the end of
the trip, it is the crew that is praised again and again.
Though most of the passengers
enjoy after-dinner drinks and conversation on the train, be intrepid and
venture out onto the country lanes to raise a wee dram or two of single malt
whisky-Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glenfarclas, and Laphroaig-with the locals. Pubs offer a distinct change from the
rarefied atmosphere of the train and a chance to talk to the local Scots, if only
about their preferences in malt whisky. Invariably some crew members appear,
out of their uniforms and in their blue jeans, and in the spirit of democracy
we imbibe or shoot pool side by side until the bartender’s hearty, “Drink oop, drink oop, bar’s closing’.”
By the last night of the trip a
sense of camaraderie has developed. And
as the candle burns down, and talk turns to future trips, most feel the happy
nostalgia of partners in a shared experience that has lasted just long enough.
