I haven't been on a (mainline) train in probably 30+ years. Sound like I'm not missing much!
(I say "mainline" because there's a steam railway in our town, so I do take a ride on that occasionally, especially when they have 'guest' trains, such as the Flying Scotsman).
For longer journeys, I have occasionally looked at train prices and timetables, largely for amusement. It usually works out to be at least as expensive as travelling in the S8, and slower too. With all the added inconveniences and unpleasantries of getting to/from stations, changing trains, travelling with strangers and not having my car when I get to the other end, train travel is just a non-starter for me. Maybe if they were (much) cheaper, faster and more reliable -- like they seem to be in most of continental Europe -- I'd probably be tempted to use them more.
I did come very close to taking a train in October this year, when I drove up to Glasgow for the annual gearbox service at Mackie Transmissions. After the service we toured Scotland a little and stayed for a couple of nights in a place called Musselburgh. We decided to visit the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on one of the days, so I figured we'd give the train a try and leave the car at the apartment we'd rented. I bought the tickets and was actually quite looking forward to it. After a 1-2 mile walk to the station however, we arrived to find that the line was closed for maintenance and that no trains were running so we had to jump on the replacement bus service
Edinburgh was rather eventful that day though. About an hour or so after we arrived, we began seeing a people carrying banners and Scottish flags. Just a few at first, then couple of hours later we heard approaching bagpipes and beating drums as tens of thousands of people began marching down the Royal Mile towards us. Turns out we had chosen to visit the Royal Mile on the very day that thousands of Scottish independence supports had chosen to make their protest:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ond-referendum
It was a very high-spirited and friendly protest, and such an incredible sight to see. It was like a Tsunami of thousands of blue flags, pouring down the Royal Mile. We decided to follow and walk down with them to the Scottish Parliament buildings, trying our best not to look too English
