Rail Rover: Scotland in 1970s

The Rail Rover ticket for Scotland in the 1970s and 1980s had the grandiose title ‘Freedom of Scotland’ – for the ever-growing group of diesel enthusiasts in the 1970s, it was a gift from the gods. Possibly less successful in its original purpose, which was to entice tourists, to the railway enthusiast it was more than a train ticket. Armed with a week’s worth of clothes, toiletries, camera, tripod and the blue Scottish timetable, this ticket was also the overnight accommodation, ideally in corridor coaching stock between Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh – or occasionally the risky option to Carlisle that could end up in oversleeping to Preston or Crewe! An army of rail enthusiasts set out in pursuit of the exotic machines that were never seen south of the border, unless you lived in Carlisle, and found a realm of unexpected consequences.