Scotland Day 5

American tourist move of the day: expecting the taxi driver to know where the apartment complex was (OK, he did, but it took a map to jog his memory – in my defense, I had made sure I HAD the map).

The morning was largely taken up by the return to Glasgow. Sixty miles without knowing the base speed limit for sure was a little easier the second time, but not much.

In Glasgow there were two targets of opportunity: St. Mungo’s religious museum, and Lordship House, a medieval house still standing as a museum.

St. Mungo’s was a disappointment, one of the few in all of Scotland. While there were some interesting artifacts it was clear that political correctness was the order of the day. The most egregious example was a room supposedly dedicated to the history of religion in Scotland. Seven religions were mentioned (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hindi, Sikh, and two others I forget)… and given almost painfully even weight. Paganism, which ought to have been at least mentioned as a precursor, was not mentioned at all. One of the notable artifacts was oddly nonreligious: a turnshoe; the same sort of shoe I’ve made as an SCA project.

Lordship House also could have been better, but at least gave a good feel of a medieval residence (upper class, of course, but still useful), including a room with reproduction furnishings and fittings. Just walking through the house was a valuable experience for the development of my SCA persona.

In the afternoon, the time came to shift base to Edinburgh, where the wedding that was the official reason for this trip (and also the driver for its timing) was being held. I chose to do this by train.

I’ve ridden thousands of miles on trains in the US, including commuter rail, tourist, railfan special events, and of course Amtrak, but I’ve never been on a train outside the US. It was no surprise that Scotrail had features that were completely familiar. It was only a little bit of a surprise that they had their own unique imprint.

First off, it really brings home the scale of things. Glasgow is on the west coast of Scotland (admittedly via a notable bay) and Edinburgh is on the east coast. The trip between them took well under two hours, including a number of stops. A similar crossing in the US takes three days. To FLY coast to coast in the US takes longer than to do the trip by rail in Scotland. Nor is the corridor between them as urbanized as, say, the US Northeast Corridor (Boston to DC, give or take). Train service, however, is comparable – fast, regular trips (weekday departures were every hour or so).

Regular seating, however, is similar to ‘club car’ style or seated 1st class in the US. This is an odd contrast with commuter-rail style mid-car exits (no vestibules). Appropriate enough for what would be, in the US, a commuter rail service rather than the long-haul routes that Amtrak generally runs.

The service was on time, a smooth ride, and generally comfortable. I saw freight traffic only once which would have been an odd scarcity on a US long-haul route or even most commuter rail nets. Based on track layout and such I’m guessing that was probably typical for the Glasgow/Edinburgh route.

Scottish Taxis appear to be a distinct breed. This day was my second trip in one (two trips later on were much the same). The frame is that of a large car or small SUV, but the passenger area has a flat floor between a forward facing bench and a set of fold-down aft facing seats. The flat space looks big enough for a wheelchair, and is quite convenient for loading luggage. This style appears even more dominant than the Ford Crown Vic in the US (even before the Prius Revolution). It is an excellent design for the vehicle’s basic function, though I imagine the adrenalin junkie cab drivers in many US cities would find it rather clumsy in comparison to their regular vehicles, especially the ex-police cars which never had their pursuit packages fully removed. I nevertheless believe the design would have merit in the US, especially for airport service and for our increasing mobility-challenged population.