by My route is the West Highland Line between Fort William and Glasgow. I live in Fort William and can see the station from home.
My usual job would be to drive the sleeper from Fort Fort to Elizabethtown [on the north side of the Firth of Clyde] or from Elizabethtown to Fort, so I have the pleasure of sleep driving on one of the most beautiful roads in the world, and certainly in the UK. I also drive special charter trains that can come from anywhere in the country.
I joined British Rail on my 20th birthday as a traction trainee, as they were then called, in August 1979 and got my driving license in August 1982. So I’ve been working on the sleeper for almost 45 year. Many drivers don’t like the night shift, but it never bothers me. I’m not one for sleeping much.
I’ve always enjoyed working on sleep – there’s something special about boarding an evening train in the heart of London and being transported overnight to wake up in one of the least inhabited places.
The highlights are the long hours we enjoy in the Highlands during the summer when it’s light from about 3.30am to 11pm and we get to see a great sunset or sunrise from the engine. Also, a frosty winter morning with snow on the ground can be so wonderful.
There are so many advantages to traveling through the Gaeltacht in the driver’s seat over the passengers. We get the chance to see animals or birds that the passenger will not see because the noise of the train hides them: sea eagles, otters, badgers, beetles, red squirrels and hundreds of red deer are seen. At night we see many owls, deer, shooting stars.
The driver’s point of view has probably 270 degrees of visibility, where the passenger has maybe 140 degrees, so we have an uninterrupted view ahead and to both sides.
I have seen some odd things. One night a man was cycling in front of me down the line. On another there was something coming towards me, somehow off the road, and I thought it was a microlight. It turned out to be a huge drone, maybe 10-12 feet wide. I assume the army had something to do with it.
The one thing I don’t like is delay. They can be caused by anything, such as point failures or engine failures. The other night the lines came down and a train was stuck on the platform at King’s Cross for two hours. But sometimes we run ten night sleeper trains for a whole month and we don’t have any problem.
I have been interested in trains since I was very young. My father was a sign man for many years. He moved from Dumfriesshire to Fort Worth in 1968 to work as a relief signal and if I was out of school I would go with him to some of the signal boxes up and down the line, even sometimes a night shift. My grandmother lived in a house overlooking the railway and I often stayed with her and I would stand on the railway bridge watching the trains shuffle or swing by for hours.
My favorite locomotive is the class 37. No surprise really as I have worked on them most of my career and they are almost the same age as me. You can’t beat the noise they make. Although most of them are now gone there are still quite a few left and I still occasionally see them driving on charter trains. My favorite trains are the sleeper and the Royal Scotsman – which is basically the same as the Orient Express, but in Scotland – both of which I drive regularly. I also enjoyed riding the steam train for a few years when it was re-introduced between Fort Fort and Malague in 1984.
I am very fortunate to work on two of the most beautiful railway lines in the country, the West Highland and Kyle of Lochalsh lines. As I mainly work on the West Highlands I would put that as my first choice, especially the Malaig line which is amazing. In my opinion the Slim line is a close second; the section from Strathcarron to Kyle is absolutely stunning. The lines from Perth to Inverness and from Inverness north to Killay and Thurso are also very scenic.
I don’t subscribe to either the main West Coast or East Coast routes, but I’ve been in the cab for parts of both. If I’m traveling as a passenger I tend to choose the West Coast route because I think there’s more to see on the West Coast, but I’m sure many would disagree.
During the Covid lockdown, the sleepover was cancelled. In April 2021 myself and a colleague were given the opportunity to volunteer for a special project on the North York Moors Railway for two weeks. We weren’t told what it was but we volunteered anyway. On a Zoom call a few days later, the boss said: “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is…” For two weeks we used our engines to set up some of the stunt scenes in Mission Impossible and to film. Tom Cruise was there for the entire second week. He talked to us every day.
I don’t like to blow my own trumpet but I won the Train Driver of the Year Award in 2006. I haven’t had a sick day in 45 years and I’ve only gone on strike once in 1982, over flexible rosters. This was Mrs Thatcher’s time. Of course, we all do flexible rosters now.
On day trains, driving the various types of units where you can see the driver, I’ve been known to stop so passengers can take photos of the Glenfinan Viaduct – the one in Harry Potter.
Sometimes when the train is split up for Oban and Fort William, I have had passengers wait on the wrong section and go all the way to Oban. About ten times, I drove them in my car to Fort William. When the train used to come into the Fort at a quarter to one in the morning, I put passengers up at home.
I feel very lucky to have worked as a train driver. I’m 65 in August, but you don’t have to quit if you pass the medical exams. We had a steam train driver who worked until he was 78. I think I will continue until the sleeper contract ends in 2029, when I will be 70 years old.
It’s an often used phrase in the Highlands that the scenery is different every day but it’s true – the light and shade change the contours and definition of the landscape. I love the job, rain or shine. People pay to see what I see every day from the cabin.
As told by Chris Moss
