Thanks everyone for the comments.

I got a seat from Doncaster and I was sat next to a lovely older lady from Cumbria for whom my heart bled. Like me, she had stood from London and she was in her late 60s, suffered with rheumatoid arthritis and the walk from Euston to Kings Cross was really difficult for her.

She only ventures out of Cumbria once a year to go to London and was facing a 90 minute wait for a Northern Rail train at Newcastle. She told me this was her one trip away from the north-west a year and booking first class was the way to make the journey bearable.

For those who asked, the train guard was trying to storm through making the minimum fuss. To be honest I couldn't blame him. I met friends at Waverley who had been in Standard, on the floor for the whole journey. We had a good chat on the train back to Glasgow.

And as for the booze, I decided to stick to soft drinks on the train on Friday night, but a bar was certainly available.

I have to say Virgin on Friday night was very, very good.