Time to spare whilst we waited for the "Highland Chieftain" to arrive. We had our coffee and bun which our friends at TPEx failed to supply and the lady in the cafe gets a bonus mark for offering to put an ice cube in the black coffee to assist in cooling it to a drinkable temperature...small gesture that was very welcomed by the older and more experienced grumpy one. I personally like my coffee white :-)


Again why did they remove the thru lines here as well....it means some big old dirtyfreight trains have to rumble along the platform lines if passing thru the station. Thankfully most are diverted around the avoiding lines giving the spotters(sorry enthusiasts) something to see in the distances from the south end of the station.

So what did we have to be grumpy about here.....well the big one was the very late platform change for the 125 we were expecting. Even as the train was visible in the distance the boards were showing our platform which was free of any waiting train. Then the quick switch and all the passengers, many elder or struggling with luggage had to leg it to the new platform. Some people had been waiting a long time in the right spot to ensure they could get on first to bag their seat...all plans now abandonded in the scrummage to just get on.

6/10.......would have been 5 without the ice cube but no platform change would have made it "seven"