I'm wondering if it might be possible to take a looong recumbent bike (tandem length) on a train from Inverness southwards.
I'd quite like to go to somewhere in England, such as Newcastle on Tyne, Yorkshire or Cumbria, for a spot of riding and camping; ideally leaving Inverness on Friday afternoon\evening and returning either Saturday night or sometime on Sunday.
Is travel on the train doable? Would I have to remove front and rear wheels etc?
Also, perhaps England is too far for such a trip, and maybe I'll need to set my horizons to Edinburgh etc.
Tandem on Inverness train?
Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
I've just looked at the Sleeper timetable - it suggests it might be possible to hop off\on at Crewe or Preston. It's probably too expensive, but I'd be interested to know if the Sleeper is tandem-friendly.
Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
I did this journey in the summer in both directions but without my bike.
The LNER service from Inverness was an Azuma train, which has cupboards which hold 2 standard bikes vertically. There is a separate thread where transporting a tandem has been discussed along with some pictures. viewtopic.php?p=1717214#p1717214
The sleeper service has a long storage area which can store 6 standard bikes veritcally. There is a tight corner to negotiate from entering the train to the bike storage which might be a problem with a long bike. The advantage of the sleeper service is you get a long time to board at Inverness so there is plenty of time to dismantle the bike and load it.
The LNER service from Inverness was an Azuma train, which has cupboards which hold 2 standard bikes vertically. There is a separate thread where transporting a tandem has been discussed along with some pictures. viewtopic.php?p=1717214#p1717214
The sleeper service has a long storage area which can store 6 standard bikes veritcally. There is a tight corner to negotiate from entering the train to the bike storage which might be a problem with a long bike. The advantage of the sleeper service is you get a long time to board at Inverness so there is plenty of time to dismantle the bike and load it.
Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
Thanks very much. It sounds like it might not be possible to use the standard train if they had to split their tandem in half in order for it to fit.
The Sleeper seems to be about £315 each way (or £210 if you block-buy 10 journeys). It looks like there's also a 'seat only' option which is a more reasonable £75, but it could be a grim night, as it's likely I wouldn't sleep a wink before being turfed out at Preston at 4:31am or Crewe at 5:27am! I'd have to give it some thought, and gain some more experience with a few weekend 'tours' closer to home. I suppose I could do a Crewe-Preston route, or even Preston-Stirling between the early hours of Saturday and late Sunday\early Monday.
The Sleeper seems to be about £315 each way (or £210 if you block-buy 10 journeys). It looks like there's also a 'seat only' option which is a more reasonable £75, but it could be a grim night, as it's likely I wouldn't sleep a wink before being turfed out at Preston at 4:31am or Crewe at 5:27am! I'd have to give it some thought, and gain some more experience with a few weekend 'tours' closer to home. I suppose I could do a Crewe-Preston route, or even Preston-Stirling between the early hours of Saturday and late Sunday\early Monday.
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a.twiddler
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Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
Much as I love my Linear recumbent, being about the same length as a tandem, even I have to concede that it's not the most train friendly bike out there. I would certainly be interested in hearing from anyone who has used a service that can take a tandem without folding or having a separable frame, or costing an arm and a leg.
Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
The Cal Sleeper website details acceptable bicyle lengths
https://www.sleeper.scot/travelling-with-bikes/
Re: Tandem on Inverness train?
Thanks for that.
It looks like the limit is 1.8m, which rules out this particular bike. I did once take a long (but not as long as this one) recumbent on a train to Perth, but I suspect it was different rolling stock then. I tried to make my bike take up as little space as possible, so that it didn't stick out too much, but even then the guard gave it a long, hard stare and said, "You've only just made that!"
It looks like the limit is 1.8m, which rules out this particular bike. I did once take a long (but not as long as this one) recumbent on a train to Perth, but I suspect it was different rolling stock then. I tried to make my bike take up as little space as possible, so that it didn't stick out too much, but even then the guard gave it a long, hard stare and said, "You've only just made that!"