The Thoughts And Travels Of A Geezer On A Harley ……………………………………… Looking at the World Through Teenage Eyes, But With The Cunning, Guile and Wisdom That Comes With Age!
Dookes is not a great drinker. This is partly a result of age, I just can’t consume any volume of beer without being at most three steps away from a toilet these days, plus I really don’t like how alcohol disrupts my sleep pattern.
That said, I do occasionally enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail, BUT…it has to be a damn fine glass of wine or a proper classic cocktail. I want none of that silly paper umbrella and sparkler “Pornstar Martini” nonsense, nor wine that could alternatively be used as paint stripper! I work on the basis that if I am going to suffer later, then the cause needs to be incredibly worth it!
Earlier this month, I was amused to notice that some bright individual had designated this week as “World Negroni Week.” Amused because it does seem to me these days that there is always some sort of “World _____ Week/Day” (fill in the blank as you see fit) doing the rounds. Now as you might expect. “World Parsnip Day” or “International Air Frying Week” doesn’t really cause me much excitement, but as a Negroni is one of a very small few cocktails that I REALLY like , my attention was grabbed!
OK, Dookes, all very interesting, but what exactly is a “Negroni?
Well, its very simple really, it’s a drink made of equal measures of Gin, Orange Bitters and Red Vermouth, stirred together in a glass with a couple of ice cubes and served with a slice of orange or simply a twist of orange peel. It’s a lovely aperitif.
The Negroni
The origins of the drink are a little clouded, but it is thought to stem from Northern Italy where a popular “Apero” is the “Milano-Torino”; Campari (in Milan) or Amaro Cora (in Turin) and Vermouth Rosso. The drink become a bit diluted by American tourists in the early 20th Century who added soda water to it, causing the local bartenders to call it an “Americano.” The story is that a Count Camillo Negroni, by all accounts a somewhat flamboyant, but dubious character, was in the famous Casoni Bar in Florence and asked for a bit more punch to his “Americano” so the bartender swapped the soda water for gin. By all accounts was a hit and people started asking for “one of Count Negroni’s drinks”, and that was simply shortened to a ‘Negroni.”
All that nonsense aside, when I saw the “World Negroni Week” headline, it did make me think when I last had one…and I honestly couldn’t remember!
To remedy that state of affairs, I have decided that this evening Dookes H.Q. will raise a glass to the wonderful concept of “World Negroni Week.”
I’ll be mixing mine with equal 25ml measures of:
Aatta Gin, a local gin to us and a delightful birthday gift last year from my mate “Vifferman.” Martini 1872 Bitter. Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino Vermouth di Torino.
Aatta Gin
As I said at the beginning, it has be be good stuff for Dookes! Cheers!
“So, join me for a drink, boys We’re gonna make a big noise”
Catch you soon, Dookes
PS I have no affiliation/association with any of the products listed in this post, other than as a paying consumer.
Well, my night on the Caledonian Sleeper is over, time to report on the experience.
As I said in my previous post, internally the train was spotless and my cabin, though a tad compact was very adequate. With two people in it though I feel that you would have to choreograph your moves as it really could be a bit cramped!
We departed Inverness bang on time and effortlessly slipped into the Highland darkness. The train follows the Highland Railway mainline through Aviemore to Perth, Gleneagles and Stirling before taking a left for Edinburgh, where the portions from Fort William and Aberdeen are attached. There were quite few station stops and as a result the ride was a bit jerky! Equally the attachment of extra carriages and a locomotive change at Edinburgh was, unavoidably a bit sleep interrupting!
The Mark 5 carriages rode well, very well in fact on the higher speed sections of line, particularly the West Coast Mainline South of Carstairs all the way to London Euston. On the Highland Mainline though they suffered with a lot of bogie noise and vibration. It does strike me these days that rolling stock design engineers seem to be able to manufacture vehicles that only do one thing well, but are incapable of coping with a variety of conditions…just a thought.
Inverness. Waiting departure.
The bad news was that due to signalling track circuit failures in the Partick area, our train was delayed by 95 minutes waiting for the Fort William portion; not a major issue for me for my onward journey, but I’m sure that some people might have been annoyed. On the plus side though, Caledonian Sleepers give a very generous refund for this inconvenience so I’m really not complaining and you can’t blame the train operator for the infrastructure owner’s shortcomings!
A point I made in my previous post about top speeds was quite pertinent and noticeable with our delay. By using a combination of stopwatch and GPS, I was able to see that we travelled along at a steady 87mph, the top speed of the locomotive. Now allowing that the Caledonian Sleeper is timed at 80mph, the maximum possible recovery of lost time in running can only be less than 10% with a 7mph excess over timing; I guess thats the price you pay for using a class 92 locomotive that was originally designed for freight work.
Journey’s end at Euston.
A light breakfast of coffee, fruit juice and a sausage bap was served to me in my cabin and was very enjoyable.
Yes arrival at Euston was late, but on the plus side avoided the infamous London “rush hour!”
As regular Blogonaughts will know, railways have always played a big part in my life. I grew up with a railway engineer father and subsequently spent a long part of my working life running railways. More often than not, I’ve also lived within earshot of a railway line… except for the last twenty something years in Cornwall. New Dookes H.Q. here in Caithness has returned to the status quo; when the wind is right we can hear trains!
Now please don’t get to think that we are kept awake at night by endless trains pounding the steel rails. No, we live a couple of miles from the Far North Line; a wonderfully bucolic railway that gently meanders for 168 miles linking Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, to Wick and Thurso at the extreme Northern end of Scotland. As the name suggests, it is the most northern railway in the United Kingdom. It’s not so much “InterCity”, more “Inter Village” and pretty small ones at that! The line is totally single track, with numerous passing loops. Speeds are generally not high, due in part to the somewhat tortuous nature of the route and its lighter construction., but that’s ok, there is so much lovely scenery to enjoy!
The line was built in stages starting from Inverness to Ardgay in 1862, to Golspie in 1868, Helmsdale in 1870 and to Wick and Thurso in 1874 . Each section was constructed by different companies that each subsequently ceded operations to The Highland Railway. The line was built to generally avoid major civil engineering works; there are no tunnels and only a couple of large viaducts, for the most part the route traces the contours of the land and as a result takes a somewhat roundabout course to reach is destination. By road from Inverness to Thurso is 110 miles, the train takes an extra 50 miles! Prominent amongst the railway’s sponsors was the 3rd Duke of Sutherland, who not only had his own station at Dunrobin Castle, but his own private train that he apparently greatly enjoyed driving! He sounds like the sort of chap I would have got on well with!!
It is fair to say that the line has never been very profitable, indeed it has often be in danger of partial or total closure. Busy periods during the two World Wars saw heavy traffic to the Royal Navy bases in Northern Scotland whilst the boom in North Sea oil exploration in the 1970’s saw some increase in construction traffic to the deep water anchorage at Invergordon, along with a nearby aluminium smelter. Generally though freight has declined now to virtually nothing, whilst passenger traffic numbers are really sustained by tourists during the summer period. The stations between Dingwall and Inverness do however see some use by passengers commuting into Inverness. The line is today heavily supported by the Scottish Government who recognise its value to local communities.
I first rode the Far North Line over 40 years ago, in those days the service was provided by locomotive hauled trains and there was a lot of parcel and mail traffic that had to be manually loaded and unloaded at the various stations. Today the trains are diesel sprinter units solely dedicated to passengers as the mail and parcels have disappeared to road hauliers. To me the modern trains are not a great improvement as they are noisy, the seats lack comfort and the toilets are a tad smelly, but they are more economic to operate and maintain; if that helps to keep the line open, then I’m all for it!
I’m riding the whole length of the line today, from Wick to Inverness, taking in the short branch to Thurso. I’m in no rush, just as well, I leave Wick at 12:34 and arrive in Inverness at 17:08 with my onward sleeper connection to London leaving there at 20:45; this like so many of my trips is about the journey, not the arrival!
Both Wick and Thurso stations share a common and for a rural railway, an unusual feature, a rather delightful overall roof; though as each only cover around 80 feet of platform not many carriages can fit inside! At Wick the train generally has one vehicle under the roof, but at Thurso the train normally stops outside. Thurso is the most Northerly railway station in the UK.
Thurso
Eighteen miles from Wick the trains stop at Georgemas Junction where the short 6 mile branch diverges to Thurso. All trains go to Thurso. Georgemas also has a freight terminal where spent nuclear material form the decommisioned Dounreay Power Station is transhipped to for transport to Sellafield for processing.
Georgemas Junction and Nuclear Flask Train
The bit of railway from Georgemas to Thurso always reminds me of a model railway, it winds around a lot, crosses the river and finally climbs into the terminus almost in the heart of the town. The trains briefly pause whilst the driver changes ends and then we are off again back to the Junction. Another direction change at Georgemas and it’s Inverness here we come..in a few hours time!!
First we climb to the highest point of the route at County March Summit, where we cross from Caithness into Sutherland. It’s a bleak landscape here, crossing the famous Flow Country, the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, a peatland dotted with bog pools creating a priceless habitat for wildlife and special flora, covering about 1,500 square miles (4,000 km2). It’s not the place to be when the weather is bad or if you are ill equipped.
Snow fences in the Flow Country.
From the train we see the remains of old snow fences, built in an attempt to reduce the impact of the harsh Northern winters; tales of trains stranded in deep snow are legendary here!
Forsinard
From Forsinard through Kinbrace and the gorgeous Strath of Kildonan.
Strath of Kildonan
On towards Helmsdale, the line enjoys stunning mountain views, before hugging the North Sea coast to Golspie, where shortly after it takes a turn towards the West and begins a large loop inland through Lairg.
The railway covers 40 miles on this loop, with stations at Rogart, Lairg, Invershin, Culrain and Ardgay, reappearing next to the coast just North of Tain, amazingly only about 11 miles South of where it looped inland! There have been many attempts and suggestions to build a “cut off” line to avoid the inland route, but to date neither the money nor political will has been forthcoming.
For me the most interesting feature of the Lairg loop is Invershin Viaduct, which crosses the Shin river with a single 230 feet (70 m) span.
Invershin Viaduct. Photo courtesy Graeme Smith.
From Tain the line follows Cromarty Firth to Dingwall, junction for the line to Kyle of Lochalsh. Dingwall is easily the busiest station on the whole line, a busy market town, now quite a dormitory for Inverness.
Dingwall
Reopened stations at Beauly and Conon Bridge, either side of the passing station at Muir of Ord, point to a more progressive approach by the Scotttish Government to its rural rail services. Skirting Beauly Firth the line approaches Inverness and after crossing the Caledonian Canal at Clacknaharry Swing Bridge, then the River Ness viaduct it glides above the rooftops then arrives at the terminus at the capital of the Highlands, Inverness.
Journey’s end, Inverness.
The Far North Line is one that you don’t ride if you are in a hurry, but it is one to ride if you want to fill your soul with wonderful memories.
I’m off to grab a bite to eat, then overnight on the sleeper and wake up in another country! Catch you soon,
Hogrider Dookes 