IT seems a shame that today's trains don't bear such romantic names as 'The Royal Scot'.

The '10am Glasgow-London express' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

While the Flying Scotsman raced up and down the East Coast mainline, The Royal Scot had the West Coast route all to itself, between Glasgow Central and London Euston.

Launched in 1862, the service featured a swish dining car and made only one stop, at Carlisle, to change engines. With just eight carriages, and no standing passengers, travellers were whisked in luxury between the two cities in around eight hours.

The two trains which ran later in the day were called The Caledonian and the Mid-day Scot.

The service lost its name in 2003 and there is now no equivalent special train, Today, Virgin runs the East Coast route to London.