In Britain, the words "rail replacement bus" are not good words to hear.
It means the train you wanted to take isn't going anywhere,
and instead everyone is going to have to get on a slow and lumbering bus
that will take at least twice as long and be so much less comfortable.
If you've already left the first station,
then the rail company is required to get you to your destination...
but there's no rule to say how fast.
Rail replacement buses are the train traveller's nightmare.
Which is why I was surprised to learn that, for just a few days,
things were happening the opposite way around:
here, between two remote villages in the lowlands of Scotland,
there is a very rare sight: the bus replacement train.
The normal schedule here is to run every weekend, usually from Easter to the end of September.
The bus replacement service was an idea that was born out of some discussions
between some villagers and the volunteers on the railway,
and then once we realised there would be enough volunteers to run this week,
we devised a timetable, and we've now got a daily service for this week.
The B797, the tiny road between Leadhills in South Lanarkshire
and Wanlockhead in Dumfries and Galloway,
is shut for resurfacing. The diversion takes about 45 minutes by road...
but by luck, there happens to be a volunteer-run, narrow-gauge railway between the two.
There's all volunteers, there are no paid employees at Leadhills at all.
We all just give up our time for free.
Tomorrow, I'll be the guard, but today, I'm the driver.
And we cover all of the different roles.
It's being used by people going to the doctor's surgery,
for people commuting to work at the Museum of Lead Mining.
And a few other places besides.
And yes, it looks a little bit ridiculous.
But you know what? It works.
And it's not often you'll find that a disruption to your journey
can actually make your day better.
The response has been great so far this week.
The villagers are enjoying it, and we've also had a few extra tourists
that we wouldn't normally get on a weekday coming to see us.
So it's good publicity for the line,
and it helps the villagers!
Thank you to everyone at the Leadhills and Wanlockhead railway!
If you're watching this video on the day or so after it goes up,
there may still be time to travel on this service!
Details and a link are in the description,
along with the dates when they're running steam trains on the track this summer.
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