Interested in a Luxury Sleeper Train Journey? Here’s What It’s Like

Even before I’ve had a drop of Champagne with my four-course meal, I’m teetering on my heels. I’m dressed to the nines in a floor-length gown, making my way down a wood-paneled hallway that could be straight out of Downton Abbey, though it happens to be on a moving train. The Belmond Royal Scotsman is gliding along at 65 miles an hour through the rolling Highlands of Scotland, rocking me gently until I make it to the cozy safety of my red velvet seat in the dining room.

There, at a long table set with custom china for half the train’s guests—about 16 of us—I’m served hand-harvested scallops and a tender cut of beef. It’s a country mile from the usual bag of chips and can of Coke I’d scarf down on a train trip, I think to myself, admiring how the suit-wearing waiters can refill tall crystal flutes with precision, never spilling a drop. Then it occurs to me: Getting back to my stateroom is going to be even harder.