A Day Trip to North-east Scotland Coast

**cessna152towser** · 18th January 10, 01:44 PM

An early rise on Sunday morning to drive to Glasgow to join the bus for a trip to the north-east coast.

After picking up more passengers in Perth our next stop was Dundee.

Ready to leave Dundee from where we would follow the coastal bus route via Broughty Ferry, Carnoustie and Arbroath, all the way to Montrose.

A group shot with friends from my Scottish Young Photographers group on Flickr, taken during a pause at East Haven.
Alasdair MacCaluim, with the long dark hair, standing next to me, is a Gaelic language officer to the Scottish Parliament.

Arrival in Montrose, where we had an excellent three course lunch followed by coffee in the Park Hotel.

Montrose Basin, looking inland. The railway viaduct crosses the mouth of the Montrose Basin which is a larger circular area which fills with sea water at high tide and is mud flats at low tide. Motion blur tells us that the train was travelling onto the viaduct at some speed.

We visited the local vehicle restorers group where we found this 1985 Leyland Tiger

I wasted no time in trying out the cockpit of the Leyland Tiger.
More to follow shortly.

**cessna152towser** · 18th January 10, 01:57 PM

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Our next call was at the grand old country railway station of Bridge of Dun, to which Queen Victoria travelled in the nineteenth century. The station was on the old main line from Glasgow to Aberdeen via Forfar, and was a junction for the four mile branch line to the town of Brechin but now hosts only the Caledonian Railway, a heritage railway which runs from here to Brechin.

Here is one of the Caledonian Railway's locomotives, "Old Fettercairn"

I entered Old Fettercairn by the faraway door from where I followed Alasdair in a dark and claustrophobic clamber through the engine room, during which I became jammed at one particularly narrow point, (must lose weight!) and we eventually re-appeared at the nearer cab end. The locomotive is a deisel-electric, in which a deisel powered generator creates electricity to drive the electric traction motors. This photo was taken with flash in the darkness of the engine compartment. Passing through a deisel locomotive from one end to the other while wearing a kilt - does that qualify as a new kilted activity for this forum?

Another deisel locomotive was working with a track ballasting train.

I was invited along for a ride in the cab.

Darkness was falling by the time we reached the other end of the line at the grand Victorian terminus station at Brechin. The glass canopies over the platforms were demolished a few years ago at the behest of the Health and Safety people but the metal columns which supported the canopies still stand.

And so, after a stop for an evening meal in Dundee it was time to head for home.
That's all folks.

**nloken** · 18th January 10, 02:31 PM

Wonderful pictures, good sir! Thank you for sharing!

Looks like a great little trip, and getting a ride along in a locomotive sure does put some icing on that cake..

**Highlander31** · 18th January 10, 02:40 PM

Nice photos, Alex. You always take us on such interesting trips. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable in an engine compartment in a kilt.

**Ozark Ridge Rider** · 18th January 10, 02:40 PM

Great pictures, Alex. I really enjoy your posts.

Dan

**northernkilter** · 18th January 10, 02:44 PM

Nice pictures Alex, specially like the close ups of the Class 37 in BR blue and the Class 33 in 60s green and white stripe, not so much the Canadian Class 66 lol, no offence to any canadians, nice kilt hope the white socks didnt get too mucky.