Vintage observation car on the Strathspey Railway is the inspiration for a modern version

Transcript

00:0060 years ago railway observation cars were common on Scotland's Highland network but

00:23could they be in for a comeback?

00:26I'm Alistair Dalton, the Scotsman's Transport Correspondent. I'm in here in Aviemore to

00:32take a trip on the Strathspey Railway with a classic observation car from the 1930s that

00:40operated across the West Highlands in the 1950s and 60s and could provide the inspiration

00:48for a new version for the future.

00:54Welcome to the original Highland line. My name is Ian Lamb, I'm a railway historian

01:00and do a lot of writing particularly on preserved railways up and down the country. You've got

01:05to go back to the Halcyon days before the Second World War when Britain seemed to be

01:10more affluent and so on and everyone wanted more than just a local train journey. The

01:16great railway designer there was a gentleman called Sir Nigel Gressley and Gressley's best

01:22known because of the Flying Scotsman and particularly his A4 Express locomotives. And

01:30they were beaver tail shaped in the front to give the opportunity of speed really more

01:37than anything else. But to make it a proper train he decided to build these coaches in

01:441937 and connect them to what he called the Coronation Express which went from London

01:52Kings Cross to Edinburgh twice a day. And these coaches eventually at British Railway

02:00days were painted in this colour and at the end of that time they decided to move them

02:08to the Scottish region. And when they were moved to the Scottish region they ran between

02:14Glasgow Queen Street and Fort William to Malik and were very very popular. Allied to

02:23that was the other observation car which originally was on the Devonville train down in the south

02:33east of England, south west rather. And from that they put that on the Kyle line from Inverness

02:40so both trains came together to encourage people to visit Skye. Lucky me to be probably

02:52in one of the best carriages of this train and to serve and to make coffee and tea and

02:58to talk and to communicate with people that's what I do. You know I love people and usually

03:07I meet very warm and welcoming conversations and talks and that's what I call happiness. And the

03:17views I call them like if I'm in paradise because they're amazing probably most beautiful in the

03:23world wherever I've been before and I've been to many countries before. I think people look

03:29forward to riding on it and it's quite unique so yes seems to be getting more and more popular.

03:37What sort of difference does it make to the enjoyment? Well I think it's an extra attraction

03:44that's very valuable rather than just riding on a train you're riding on something a bit

03:48different with some history. Interest in railways I think this would be very popular a modernized

03:55version as opposed to this art deco design. The Jacobite train from Fort William to Malik

04:04which has gone international and not least of all the Royal Scotsman train also although it's a

04:13veranda as against an observation car. But the principle is the same people really love seeing

04:20from the rear of a train as they're going along the whole scenery opening up and compared with

04:26the original engine it might have been wonderful rushing past the Berwickshire coastline at 90

04:33mile an hour but there's something really fine to be going along sedately in such wonderful

04:42scenery on the Strathspey railway.