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All aboard! Fascinating photos give insight into historical luxury of Scottish sleeper trains

From first-class areas the size of studio apartments to professionally prepared breakfasts, these vintage photographs will take you back to the long lost age of railway luxury.

Incredible photos from 140 years ago when Scottish Sleeper trains were first running have been revealed in a new book, Anglo-Scottish Sleepers.

Luxury and comfort is illustrated throughout early-twentieth century photographs that show men in official uniform and hats handing white pillows to a train conductor with a ‘Rugs & Pillows’ truck behind him.

Another pictures a group of passengers having a picnic party on a sleeper train.

The book has been compiled by Church of England priest and author, David Meara, who delves into the history of the sleeper trains that first ran between England and Scotland.

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‘Railways in Britain began in a haphazard fashion, with many small private railway companies being formed in the mid-nineteenth century in an opportunistic manner and only gradually being amalgamated to form more or less coherent operators, often fighting each other for territory and customers,’ David said.

‘Some of my happiest memories of Scottish holidays as a young teenager centre around the way in which my family began the journey north to Scotland – by the night sleeper trains, which, in the 1960s, ran to over thirty destinations throughout Britain.

‘We were provided only with pillows and blankets, but there was a restaurant car on the train, so we had the comparative luxury of an evening meal served in style – with crisp linen tablecloths and British Rail cutlery – before retiring to our cabin.’

Anglo-Scottish Sleepers is published by Amberley Publishing and is available here.