The Royal Scot was a British named express passenger train that ran between and , the length of the West Coast Main Line

West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...

 (WCML), with previously a portion also going to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. For many years it departed from both ends at 10:00 (mirroring the Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman (train)

The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...

on the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

). It first ran in 1862.

The Royal Scot train in steam days

From 1874, the train was hauled by LNWR Improved Precedent Class

LNWR Improved Precedent Class

The London and North Western Railway Improved Precedent Class or "Jumbo" Class is a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotive originally designed for express passenger work....

 2-4-0 locomotives. When 4-4-0 locos became available from 1897, the train was generally hauled by one of the fastest engines available. Early on this would normally be a LNWR Precursor Class

LNWR Whale Precursor Class

The London and North Western Railway Precursor Class, the second to be known by that name, was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives.They were introduced by George Whale in 1904 and 130 examples were built by Crewe Works up to 1907. Their introduction allowed Whale to phase out his predecessor...

 4-4-0, then from 1913 the LNWR Claughton Class

LNWR Claughton Class

The London and North Western Railway Claughton Class was a class of 4-cylinder express passenger 4-6-0 steam locomotives.They were introduced in 1913, the first of the class No. 2222 was named in honour of Sir Gilbert Claughton, who was the Chairman of the LNWR at that time...

 4-6-0, in each case with a change to Caledonian Railway

Caledonian Railway

The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...

 locomotives at Carlisle Citadel

Carlisle railway station

Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station whichserves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying south of Glasgow Central, and north of London Euston...

 and over Beattock Summit

Beattock Summit

Beattock Summit is a high point of the West Coast Main Line railway and of the A74 motorway as they cross from Dumfries and Galloway to South Lanarkshire in south west Scotland.- Railway history :...

 to Glasgow.

The modern and more powerful LMS Royal Scot Class

LMS Royal Scot Class

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 express passenger locomotive introduced in 1927. Originally having parallel boilers, all members were later rebuilt with tapered type 2A boilers, and were in effect two classes.-Background:Until the mid-1920s, the LMS...

 7P 4-6-0 locos took over from 1927, with an English-based engine being replaced at Carlisle by a Glasgow (Polmadie)-based loco of the same class. The train gradually became heavier, including heavy dining cars, and from 1933, 4-6-2 pacifics of the 8P LMS Princess Royal Class

LMS Princess Royal Class

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Royal Class is a class of an express passenger steam locomotive designed by William Stanier. They were Pacifics...

 took over, followed by LMS Princess Coronation Class

LMS Princess Coronation Class

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged version of the LMS Princess Royal Class. Several examples were originally built as streamlined, though this was later removed...

 locos during 1937. These engines sometimes worked the train "non-stop" throughout, but with a brief stop at Carlisle for a change of crew. Post-war, the 4-6-2 loco and crew normally changed over at Carlisle.

In 1960 the down Royal Scot had its departure time from Euston changed to 09:05. The down train was speeded up by 40 minutes and the up train by 15 minutes, for a new journey time in both directions of 7 hours 15 minutes, identical with the other two daytime named trains of the era between London and Glasgow, The Caledonian

The Caledonian

The Caledonian was a British express passenger train of the 1950s and 1960s running between and , up in the morning, due into London in mid-afternoon, and down in the afternoon, with a Glasgow arrival in the late evening...

 and the Mid-day Scot

Mid-Day Scot

The Mid-Day Scot was a British express passenger train running between and , leaving around lunchtime daily in both directions. The name was inherited by the London Midland Region of British Railways from the prewar London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

. All three trains at this period were restricted to eight coaches to save weight, and the number of passengers carried was limited to the seating capacity of the train, standing passengers not being permitted. All three ran non-stop between London and Carlisle.

The train in the diesel- and electric-hauled period

Diesel locomotives started to take over haulage of the train from the early 1960s. AC electric locomotives took over in 1966 following the electrification

Railway electrification system

A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

 of the WCML south of , with diesel locomotives continuing to pull the train north of Crewe.

By 1972 the London departure time of the Royal Scot had become 10:05, that from Glasgow 09:25, with a total journey time of 6 hours 35 minutes. It ran Monday to Saturday, and called only at Crewe and Carlisle.

Electrification to Glasgow took place in 1973-4, ending the loco change at Crewe and bringing the replacement of the early electric locomotives with the new British Rail Class 87

British Rail Class 87

The British Rail Class 87 is a type of electric locomotive built from 1973-75 by British Rail Engineering Limited . 36 of these locomotives were built to work passenger services over the West Coast Main Line . They were the flagships of British Rail's electric locomotive fleet until the late 1980s,...

s, titled Royal Scots by BR although better known as Electric Scots, in order to avoid clashing with the earlier steam locomotive class of that name.

The first stop out of Euston became Preston, for a crew change, and calls were now also made at Oxenholme and Carlisle. Traction became more mixed following the arrival of British Rail Class 90

British Rail Class 90

The British Rail Class 90 electric locomotives were built by BREL at Crewe from 1987-1990. Each locomotive weighs 84.5 tonnes and has a top speed of . They operate from 25 kV AC overhead wires and produce...

s in 1988.

The service lost its name in 2003 and there is now no equivalent special train. Instead, London-Glasgow now has an hourly (peak) or two-hourly (off-peak) service of British Rail Class 390

British Rail Class 390

The Class 390 Pendolino is a type of train used in Great Britain. They are electric multiple units using Fiat's tilting train pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-three 9-car units were originally built for Virgin Trains from 2001 to 2004 for operation on the West Coast Main Line , with...

 Pendolino units operated by Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...

with a standard overall journey time of 4 hours 31 minutes, running non-stop between London and .