I was wondering if anyone had any timetables for the line between Perth-Inverness-Aberdeen during the 90's, especilly the Highland Cheiftan, but also stopping, non stopping and limited stopper passanger services.
There was certainly a period when the Clansman and the HC both operated, but I couldn't tell you when one started and the other finished.
The HC signalled the death of the Clansman for through London-Inverness traffic, the ECML route being so much faster. The Clansman used to run direct from Motherwell to Stirling, avoiding both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Then - presumably in response to falling passenger traffic - they started routing first via Glasgow QS and then later on via Edinburgh (or was it Edinburgh first and Glasgow later on?). This was the worst of all worlds, as it just added around another hour to the travelling time to Stirling and the north.
I used to live in Stirling (and had parents in Birmingham, so used the Clansman regularly in the 80s). I can remember the Clansman being 1406 from Stirling (so must have left Inverness around 1130), arriving Birmingham at 1916 (going forward as the 1918 to Euston, hence arriving about 2100). The HC was 1030-ish from Stirling (so having left Inverness about 0800) and went forward from Edinburgh as the 1130 to Kings X, arriving about 1600. So something like 8 hours on the HC compared with 9 1/2 on the Clansman for the through trip - and that was before they started the silly Edinburgh/Glasgow shuffles!
