The cool thing about his route is you get the ECML, MML, a sprinkle of the WCML and the GWR, all in one trip.

Epic trip, quite a journey. Deserves many likes and comments, just for spending 13 and a half hours on a Voyager!! Fantastic work, well done, great channel 🚂😊

I used to take a previous incarnation of this route back in the early 90s. In my teens the family lived in Aberdeenshire. Parents still do. They have a holiday cottage in SW Cornwall, and I took the train rather than the back of the car crammed full of luggage, dog and sister. It was an HST running to Edinburgh, then across to the west coast line through Carlisle and on to Birmingham where it was much the same to Penzance. Not to expensive with a young person's railcard, and ridiculously cheap once you claimed your refund for the inevitable delays.

Wow, that was indeed an epic trip. Thanks for the video. I'm in the US, and wish we had more and better passenger train service here. I've traveled around the UK with a BritRail pass, and want to do that again. My longest UK train journey was from York to Penzance - in first class, about six years ago. It was comfortable - and memorable thanks to the guy across the aisle who drank too many bottles of wine along the way, and kept getting more impaired with each one. Fortunately for him he was traveling with his very well-behaved dog. I enjoyed interacting with the dog. 😂

Great trip report! I wouldn’t fancy 13.5 hours with that seating. I traveled 14 hours on Amtrak but they have big seats and you could kick your legs out and not touch the seat in front!

Fascinating, and well done for enduring such a long trip on a Voyager! My first trip on this Cross Country journey was back in 1989 when, at that point in its history, it ran only between Penzance and Edinburgh. I did the reverse to your trip. Getting to Penzance was a feat in itself from the Lincolnshire Coast, meant I set out the previous evening via Grantham and the ECML, and a hair raising ride in a black cab from King's Cross to Paddington. Here I took the Night Riviera, although in seated accomodation, to Penzance. "The Cornishman", as it was then called, was ex Penzance at 0923. I was lucky as this was an HST set at this time. Even so, very busy throughout. A few fun and games as a passenger beside me had something in the luggage rack leaking vinegar which proceeded to drip on the table until I managed to get a member of staff to sort it. Also got diverted at Newcastle via Carlisle. Outskirts of Edinburgh, one of the local Ned's in the outskirts decided to take pot shots with an air rifle, shattering the window where I had recently moved from. Very late into Edinburgh and a sprint up the stairs to get to St Andrew Sq bus station just managing to get the last coach to Perth! Years later I would also do the longest National Express route 336 from Edinburgh to Penzance, an epic overnight trip that didn't reach Penzance until teatime the following day. Think even a Voyager would be better 🤣 Did you stop at the Station Hotel in Aberdeen? I did this on another trip years later. Although it had bad reviews, I really enjoyed it, even though some of the furnishings in the room looked almost antiques!

You absolute madman. You did the whole thing!

You deserve a knighthood for doing this. 13 hours on a voyager with those seats. 👏🏽 👏🏽

What an outstanding video and a great commentary! Getting all those facts and information in at the right places must have been no easy undertaking and I really appreciate the effort. I aspire to take this trip one day in 2023. Thank you and safe travels!🚅

I’m a member at the Starcross Yacht Club you pass at 31:22, one of the great joys of being out on the water is when the steam train thunders down the same track. If you’re very lucky you can sometimes also have the twin seat Spitfire taking passengers out and around in the area.

It is SUCH A HUGE SHAME that the UK railways are SO INSANELY EXPENSIVE to use - any class anywhere. My entire family just loves trains, but we are only using buses OR OUR OWN CARS! Such a shame. 😒 But thank you for the excellent video! 😃 Really appreciated. 🙂🙂🙂 I so wish our family could one day use trains in the UK as we always used in Finland, my country of origin, where the train ticket prices are a tiny fraction of the UK ones. Thanks again for the great video about what our family would like to use but can never afford. 😒

On a recent trip from Inverness to Aberdeen I was delighted to find an HST rostered for the journey. Quite an improvement on the 158s.

That was epic! Bravo great trip.

An outstanding video and informative commentary, so thank you! I have been on CrossRail from Derby to Truro, and the 4-coach train was overcrowded for most of the journey. Still the best way to get to Devon and Cornwall!

I've done the Bristol to Newton Abbot stage of this journey sat on the floor of a ram packed train, overcrowding was a big problem

Great video, Cadburys at Bournville is actually an operational factory, they make dairy milk and some of the other ‘block’ type chocolate there. As you walk round the factory you can smell the molten chocolate in production, sometimes depending on the wind you can smell it from the station. Cadbury world is on the back of the factory and part of the ‘tour’ goes through some of the production facility.

An excellent, well-presented video. That was quite a journey!

The only thing I like about the voyagers is that they are finally reaching the end of their service life.

I've always wondered where the crew changes take place so your commentary is really helpful. Thanks for this. Epic train journey. Also, very interesting facts along the way, thanks. I'll be crossing this line in a few places on a bike ride tomorrow 😊 PS as a very small child on the annual summer holiday journey from Leeds to my grandparents at Weston-Super-Mare, and then back again, I have vague memories of the bankers on the Lickey pushing our steam hauled train up the incline - my train-mad dad used to love it!!!

You certainly could do with a polarising filter in front of the lens to minimise window reflections. Most enjoyable video all the same, thank you! 🥰

Interesting! I had no idea you've grown up in Sheffield, I live in there for nearly 8 years, great city and very important for the UK railway network! nice video and thank you for going into a 13+ hrs train for us! cheers!

Great video mate. Plenty seen on the long journey which was good. Looks like you enjoyed yourself.

I go on this line all the time but not all the way from Scotland to Penzance just from Birmingham to Nottingham it’s amazing we can see it all through your channel

The structure you see across the River Plym is an 18th century grotto carved into rock above the Saltram Amphitheatre, in the grounds of Saltram House, which is a National Trust property. I think there are worries about the safety of the surrounding rock, so am not sure how close you can get to it these days.

Maybe a comment worth making is that Avanti class 221s tilt, but XC ones don't - the tilt mechanism was removed to save maintenance costs

Worked as a driver for British Rail back in the early 90s and I'm pretty sure it was this service that used to run up through Manchester/Bolton/Preston at the time and I ran this train a number of times(as memory serves from Stockport to Preston)... it was crazy how many times it was re crewed en-route(I was based out of Manchester Victoria and the train didn't even go there!).

Madness these days to do ANY InterCity journey in a suburban train like this - even for 20 miles. For Penzance - Aberdeen I would demand NOTHING LESS than the comfort and charisma of 10 Mk1s, including a Restaurant Car with full Kitchen. Privatised railway is taking us ALL for a scam ride with these crap "trains". On this journey in these units, I would have got piles by the time I arrived at Bristol Parkway.

Some 48 years ago I used to catch what I think was a similar service, the 1240 from Plymouth to Aberdeen, on a Friday, But only as far as Exeter St Davids, it was always standing room only.

I am so glad i have youtube premium or i be watching so many adverts, great video and you are a natural travel guide, you know your stuff.

Cracking video, the short ride from St Erth to St Ives is a beautiful line

So scenic and interesting...Many Thanks... I look forward to other Video's.

And the best thing is we can see this journey multiple time

That would be an amazing route for sleeper trains

I do a generous stretch of that journey a couple of times a year between Taunton and Darlington or sometimes York and back - ultimately to Middlesbrough! Teign the river and Teignmouth are pronounced Tin and Tinmuth and the Tamar bridge - which some Cornish folk believe links Cornwall to England - is pronounced Taymar!

Great Video As a photographer may I suggest you try a polarising filter as this will remove most of the window reflections when shooting from inside the carriage.

Lovey little nod to Chesterfield, thank you. I'm Chesterfield born but now live in Dumfries so I always appreciate a glimpse of home and that good old spire

brilliant video I really enjoyed the trip 😀 Thanks

Some beautiful things to see, some not so beautiful. But that's life. The commentary had a slightly laconic tone at times, bu that's perfectly understandable given the 13+ hours it took. You are quite the hero! There was a time when I would have welcomed such a challenge, but as I am now 20 (x4) years old I'll pass on this. Being a foreigner I had no idea how beautiful southwestern England is. Some of the branch lines in this area must be more beautiful still. any chance you could explore them? I still think of Flanders' & Swan's son about them. It's quite wistful. Well done and thanks!

Crossing the Forth you see my old (and favourite) ship. A lot of good friends would still have been there. Brings back happy memories.

Really enjoyed this video. thanks!

Worth mentioning that the white ship at Penzance is the ferry to the Isles of Scilly MV Scillonian.

Hope you managed to get up and walk around the train during your 13.5 hour journey. I have been on the train but from Sheffield to Cornwall. The best of scenes are in Devon between Exeter and Newton Abbot. Most of the slow time on the train is wants you reach to the Southwest region which I like because it's Cornwall and Devon.

I’ve seen one going to Aberdeen from Penzance before when I went down to Dawlish I saw it pass the start of this month so I think there is one both ways but still great video and very brave 😂 but looked like a lovely journey

Very interesting and informative, Well done!

Love to travel by train; we used the Cross Country services twice last summer, from Penzance to Birmingham. Such good memories.

thanks for posting,really enjoyed it.

Enjoy the ride.

Wonderful Trip.. Love to take this Train ride.

I live in Aberdeen and I use to take the train to see my sister in Ilfracombe I would take the train to London change at London to go to St. David's Exeter then on to Barnstaple where her husband would pick me up on to Ilfracombe it would take me all day to get there but I loved it taking the train.

Thoroughly enjoyable, great video

Tyneside Mail Centre has a rail platform and a spur, that will explain the RM train stabled in the sidings.

Great video because i've been there and i can say i realy miss these trains. I don't understand why people hate these trains.

32:44 That's just an old archway located on the walk that goes around the grounds of Saltram (one of the many old estates run by the National Trust).

Great video, very informative

Just found and subscribed. Nice video. Full of little tidbits of info. I await more from your channel.

I travelled by train around most of the UK back in 1986 / 87 & 1991, i believe back then i was travelling on British Rail., and i was on the Intercity125. Before leaving my homeland of New Zealand, i purchased from my travel agent what was known as a Britrail pass., for a month's use on any British Rail Train. I enjoyedf watching this video you made, you've done a awesome job in presenting this video., and this video brought back a lot of memories for me!.

Yes you can travel that journey for 13/1/2 hours on one train. So just imagine doing it from Thurso which is farthest north railway station in UK, but you will have to change at Inverness.

Going from Wakefield to Tiverton on one of these was just chaos. The trains are very short and then they decide to slice it in half at Birmingham??? Had to cram into the carriages with all seats taken and just managed to nab one at Cheltenham (still 40+ minutes stood up). Absolutely dreadful, much prefer an LNER or TransPennine to these.

Nicely done. Thanks. I hope you get more subscribers so you can travel in first class. That makes a more enjoyable trip for the viewers. Eating and drinking on the train is always interesting.

Over 13 hours of torture! Before the Voyager trains were introduced I enjoyed train travel from Bristol to the north, but now I always fly to Scotland (it's usually cheaper!). Even when Virgin operated Cross Country one of their managers admitted to me that many of their long distance passengers had been lost to planes.

That’s some journey. Might use this as it did stop at kirkcaudy the nearest major station in my old town to go to my new home in Sheffield.

Good job with the video, that's some trip. I've lived at both ends of that journey. Btw upon leaving Plymouth, it's pronounced "Tay-mar" for the River and Bridge 😉

I used to drive across the Tamar bridge, and it was quite difficult to not stare at the rail bridge whilst driving!

I remember that was a daily service when I studying in Aberdeen over 10 yrs ago....time flies...

despite all the hate towards voyagers, I don’t mind them that much. yes, they may be a little uncomfortable, but it’s nothing compared to an IET

Good one... Enjoyed watching the ride

Jeez mate, you're a braver man than me to do that trip!

Thank you allowed us to see the country with you

Bloody hell. ABZ station has changed a bit from when I was last there in the late 1980s/1990's. Did the run from ABZ to Plymouth and back once to join a ship at Devonport in 1987, which was a Class 47/Mk2 rake; and then came back from Culdrose, breaking the journey from Redruth to Bristol, then to Newcastle, Edinburgh and back to Aberdeen. A bloody long way. Not sure I'd have made it on one of those rattly voyagers....

Cool! I noticed that you mentioned the fact about Stonehaven signal box. I edited Wikipedia to say that after I visited the box for real!

It is still planned to electrify the Forth Bridge by 2035 however, between then and now, the Forth Bridge will be a part of an unelectrified section of the temporary discontinuous electrification plan. Design work is underway for OHLE for the Forth Bridge, however as you can understand, it is extremely complicated given the listed status of the bridge, and it's status as a World Heritage Site. It is likely that a low profile clamp like conductor rail will be used to hold a traditional conductor wire, which will be sympathetically designed and painted to cover the main spans, while low profile wire span will be used on the approach viaducts. Chances are the Forth Bridge will be an entire OHLE section of it's own, allowing a very minimalist, high tension, single wire overhead system to be used, instead of the traditional Catenery Wire, Dropper, Conductor/ Contact wire combination. Return wires would be directly attached to the bridge on the inboard side so as not to be seen.

Berwick Newcastle Durham and Darlington are all my north east bread next time I’ll be travelling to York will be a few weeks time in order to commence my trip to Hull

Good grief! An hour and a half to Manchester on a voyager is bad enough. Awful trains. Will be glad to eventually see the back of them!

Always doing the section from York to Birmingham going to and from uni and it's always packed with nowhere to put luggage especially if boarding at Birmingham, normally a bit less busy at York but that changes at Leeds or Sheffield normally.

I regularly end up using this service for travelling between Bristol and Cornwall, and only once has it not been a stressful, cramped, overcrowded experience. If I can use GWR, I will always opt for them instead, even if it sometimes means an extra hour on the train! After looking through the comments, I am glad to see that I am not the only one with the same opinion of Cross Country trains. 😅

I loved your commentary❤️

Lol, he was very lucky to have nice weather in Scotland.

Did this in 2019, when it ran on weekdays. Took an advance first class ticket, still wasn't cheap.

Great video In 2019 what for Exeter to Aberdeen and only 15 minutes late in Aberdeen because of a signal just south of Aberdeen

I,ve traveled a few times on a Voyager from Liverpool to Cambridge I thought how comfortable they were a tad noisy but not excessive.

Great video mate! I'm doing this end of this month however It's 35 stops for me

I’ve done this trip many times because I live in Penzance and my family live in Aberdeen

My local main station Aberdeen. I have to pull you up on when you were leaving Dundee! It is the Tay bridge for dundee. We have the dee and the don. And on the other side of the train leaving dundee before you go over the tay bridge, you can see Dundee airport. On the dundee-glasgow line you pass dundee airport.

Great video . Very interesting goes near me in Sheffield 👍

Excellent

Just imagine if you did this Journey on an IET with the ironing board seats. The voyagers aren't that bad of a train it's all personal taste. Sadly, the HST's will go within the year I'd think as the XC franchise is ending in October 2023

Awesome video buddy from Alan Shelley in Lowestoft

cheltenham spa is where a train broke down coming home from holiday down in devon it was raining and the windsheild was broken so we all waited for a train to go paddington and took like 30 mins - 1 hour

Very good video

Nice video midland London

I have done Aberdeen to Plymouth/Truro, and back more times than I can remember.

I use these sometimes for local journeys within Cornwall. The thought of going all the way to Scotland or indeed anything more than 50 miles os unthinkable. Cramped uncomfortable seats no buffet. Etc. Modern trains are technically more advanced but have gone backwards as far as passenger comfort and facilities. The reworked IC 125s now running as 4 coach units on GWR are way more comfortable and smoother than these.

You are unironically a madman for even considering undertaking this 🤣 Great video as always!

20:21 Also Neville Hill keep CrossCountry HSTs as well

I am currently making plans to do this. Am I right in saying that Cross Country only do the full nonstop service Aberdeen to Penzance on a Saturday? Also hello from one Sheffielder to another.

The rumbling the train makes sounds like my washing machine!

Great Video! I think Avanti's 221s will go to CrossCountry probably to fix the overcrowding problem at places like Birmingham New Street etc.

Manyyears ago now I did London up to I Ithink Inverness when moving house. My car travlled in style! There was a couple l who do this trip often just for the trip. A bar on the train etc. I booked s eleeper which helped.

I like voyagers. I've been on voyagers from Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads and I've also been on voyagers from Bristol Temple Meads to Paignton

07:57 You can see the stumps of the old bridge that fell down right next to the new bridge supports