What it’s like to drive a train on the most scenic railway in Britain

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 normal work would be driving the sleeper from Fort William to Helensburgh [on the north side of the Firth of Clyde] or from Helensburgh to Fort William, so I have the pleasure of driving the sleeper on one of the most scenic routes in the world, and certainly in the UK. I also drive special charter trains which can originate anywhere in the country.

I started with British Rail on my 20th birthday as a traction trainee, as they were then called, in August 1979 and was passed for driving in August 1982. So I’ve worked on the sleeper for nearly 45 years. A lot of drivers don’t like the night shift, but it’s never bothered me. I’m not one for sleeping much.

I’ve always enjoyed working on the sleeper – there’s something special about boarding a train in the evening in the heart of London and being transported overnight to wake up in one of the country’s least inhabited places.

The highlights are in the long hours we enjoy in the Highlands during summer when it’s light from around 3.30am till 11pm and we get to witness spectacular sunsets or sunrises from the locomotive. Also, a frosty winter morning with snow on the ground can be equally spectacular.

Travelling through the Highlands in the driver’s seat gives me so many advantages over passengers. We get the opportunity to see animals or birds the passenger won’t see because the noise of the train sends them into hiding: sea eagles, otters, badgers, pine martens, red squirrels and hundreds of red deer are fairly regular sightings. At night we see lots of owls, deer, shooting stars.

The driver’s vantage point has probably 270 degrees of visibility, where the passenger has maybe 140 degrees at best, so we have an uninterrupted view ahead and on both sides.

I’ve seen some odd things. One night I had a guy cycling in front of me down the line. On another there was something coming towards me, some way off the track, and I thought it was a microlight. It turned out to be a massive drone, perhaps 10-12 feet wide. I assume it was something to do with the military.

The one thing I don’t like is delays. Anything can cause them, like points failures or locomotive 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 sleeper trains a night for a whole month and don’t have any problems.

I’ve been interested in trains ever since I was very young. My father was a signalman for many years. He transferred from Dumfriesshire to Fort William in 1968 to work as a relief signalman and if I was off school I would go with him to some of the signal boxes up and down the line, even the occasional night shift. My granny lived in a house looking onto the railway and I often stayed with her and would stand on the railway bridge watching the trains shunting or speeding past for hours.

My favourite locomotive to drive is the class 37. It’s not surprising really as I worked most of my career on them and they are pretty much the same age as I am. You just can’t beat the noise they make. Although most of them are gone now there are still a fair few left and I still get an occasional turn driving them on charter trains. My favourite trains would be 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 driving the steam train for a few years when it was reintroduced between Fort William and Mallaig in 1984.

I’m very fortunate to work on the two most scenic railway lines in the country, the West Highland and Kyle of Lochalsh lines. Because I primarily work on the West Highland I would put that as my first choice, particularly the Mallaig line which is stunning. The Kyle line in my opinion is a close second; the section from Strathcarron to Kyle is breathtaking. The lines from Perth to Inverness and Inverness north to Wick and Thurso are also very scenic.

I don’t sign either of the West or East Coast Main Line routes, but I have been in the cab for parts of both. If I am travelling as a passenger I usually choose the West Coast route as I think there’s more to see on the West Coast, but I’m sure plenty would disagree.

During the Covid lockdown, the sleeper was cancelled. In April 2021 myself and a colleague were offered the chance to volunteer for a special project on the North York Moors Railway for two weeks. We were not told what it was but volunteered anyway. On a Zoom call a few days later, the boss said: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it is…” For two weeks we used our locomotives to set up and film some of the stunt scenes in Mission Impossible. Tom Cruise was there for the whole of the second week. He spoke 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’ve never had a day off sick in 45 years and I only went on strike once in 1982, over flexible rostering. This was the time of Mrs Thatcher. Of course we all do flexible rostering now.

On day trains, when driving the multiple unit types where you can see the driver, I have been known to stop so that passengers can take photographs of the Glenfinnan Viaduct – the one in Harry Potter.

Sometimes when the train has split up for Oban and Fort William, I’ve had passengers stay on the wrong section and go all the way to Oban. On about ten occasions, I’ve driven them in my car to Fort William. When the train used to come into Fort William at a quarter to one in the morning, I’ve put passengers up at home.

I feel really lucky to have worked as a train driver. I’m 65 in August, but you don’t really have to retire from the job if you pass the medicals. We had a steam-train driver who worked till he was 78. I think I’ll carry on till the sleeper contract ends in 2029, when I’ll be 70.

It’s a much-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, whether it’s raining or sunny. People pay to see the things I see every day from the cab.

As told to Chris Moss