And if you fancy it, Click here to take the entire trip in real time This is very wonderful. It's a continous 4 1/2 video shot from the driver's cab taking you from Glasgow to Mallaig. Wild and crazy!

Judith, puzzles are fun, yes

The Puzzle of the Fairly 'ffordable Fare and the Lovely Lasting Lie-In looks intractable this time, to me at least. Someone has used up all the cheap later tickets from Liverpool to Glasgow (ideally you'd want say the 7:57 - 11:16, but is it worth the +£50?), and they have apparently done for various intermediate combinations as well. As you should be able to get seat reservations, trying to sleep on the train sounds worth a go.

On whether fares may go down later if you keep looking: from a few years of trying to optimise rail costs for mainly the Challenge and some trips in the south (i.e. not vast experience), I haven't yet seen fares go lower later on, unlike airlines, where various algorithms may be used for sales, so airfares may sometimes go lower at a later date, depending on what a particular airline does. I'd be glad to hear from others though to compare notes.

Vicky, glad that worked out

Hey! The prices came down!! £41.40 from Liverpool to Mallaig by splitting the journey. The Preston to Glasgow leg has come down from £61 to £13.

Happy now. Thanks for all the tips - but it turns out that patience was all I needed.

.... and I don't need to get up really early and I will arrive before the sun goes down. Success.

Thanks John, you've just saved me £35 on a train ticket. I'd looked at a number of combinations but hadn't got round to trying out Dalmuir.

My bank account thanks you too!