The Bigger Picture

BEN JONES highlights a summer success story - one of Britain’s luxury trains

‘Royal Scotsman’ in full swing.

‘THE Royal Scotsman’ luxury landcruise train’s 2017 season is under way.

It kicked off on April 17 with a fournight ‘Classic Tour’ taking in Speyside, Kyle of Lochalsh and the Cairngorms, and over the next few months it will once again be a regular sight on Scotland’s most scenic railways, giving its wealthy clients a taste of the best the country has to offer.

Operated by Belmond, which also runs the ‘British Pullman’ and ‘Northern Belle’ luxury trains in the UK and Ireland’s ‘Grand Hibernian’, as well as many other similar trains around the world, the ‘Royal Scotsman’ offers several different itineraries themed around different regions of Scotland, stately homes, and even a ‘Whisky Journey’ visiting the famous distilleries of Glen Ord, Glenlivet and Tullibardine.

The train also occasionally ventures south of the border, taking in Chester, Bath, Cambridge, York and Snowdonia (for a steam-hauled journey over the Welsh Highland Railway), as well as Edinburgh and Strathspey.

Despite prices starting at around £ 3,000 per person for a three-night tour, and rising to almost £ 9,000 a head for July’s eight-day ‘Grand Tour of Great Britain’, many of the trains are sold out.

GB Railfreight is in its second year providing power and crews, including dedicated Belmond red 66746. During glorious weather on May 6, the immaculate train, formed of extensively rebuilt BR Mk 1 Pullman Cars dating from the early 1960s, skirts Loch Dubh (on the Mallaig extension near Lochailort).