Last Friday we hopped aboard the Jacobite steam locomotive, a Scottish highlands rail trip from Fort William to Mallaig and back, an 84 mile round-trip journey. The 1936 "Black 5" engine that powered our ride is named "The Lancashire Fusilier":
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| The Jacobite Steam Train, ready to depart from Fort Williams. The two oil lamps at left and right indicate it's a passenger train. |
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| This engine is based in Bury, Lancashire, England. |
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| As Jackson observed, it takes a "big pile" of coal to power the steam engine. |
West Coast Railways, a privately owned company, operates about 90% of Britain's steam trains on the main railroad lines. Each year, they run approximately 500 train journeys in various parts of the island. There aren't many steam trains around any more; mostly they're
curiosities and tourist attractions. They have been supplanted by
electric and diesel trains, partly because of efficiency and partly
because of environmental concerns.
Steam trains operate from burning fuel
— usually coal, but occasionally wood or oil
— that boils water into steam in a boiler, which powers the engine. How much steam does a steam train produce? Here's a bit of an idea:
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| The train produced enough steam that it spooked Jackson a little. |
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| Steam between the couplings of two of the passenger cars. |
This trip was all about the journey, and definitely not about the destination. Indeed, the nominal destination of Mallaig isn't worth a trip at all. Mallaig is merely the endpoint of the train line and serves as a Cal Mac ferry point to the Isle of Skye.
Why did we go? Two reasons. First, it's deemed one of the U.K.'s most scenic train rides; Britons like to declare it one of the most scenic train rides in the world. Second, Jackson is a bit obsessed with trains at the moment, and this ride is a great train experience for a kid.
Our journey was not just the train ride, but also the gorgeous 100-mile drive between our house and Fort William, which took us a little over two hours to travel. Not counting the cul-de-sac where we live, the drive was on only two roads: roughly half a mile on the street that passes our cul-de-sac, and then approximately 100 miles on the A82, called the Great Western Road.
On one end, the Great Western Road dead ends into downtown Glasgow. At the other end is Inverness in the northern highlands. Along the way, it hugs the coast of Loch Lomond, one of the most scenic lakes in Scotland; plows into the southern highlands and the magnificent Glen Coe; passes through Fort William; and then crosses the northern highlands on the western banks of Loch Ness and into Inverness.
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| Like father, like son: hash browns make us happy. Caffeine makes Kate happy. |
We arrived in Fort William about an hour before the 10:15 departure. A McDonald's was adjacent to the train station, so we stopped in for
a second breakfast.
At the station, still with plenty of time
— I'm sorta kinda hyper-punctual
—
we wandered up and down the train. Besides the engine and coal wagon,
our train had seven passenger coaches, A through G. First-class was
limited to coach A, and didn't seem to differ much from "standard class"
other than better upholstery, a lamp, and some china on the table.
Since we had a toddler along, standard class was a better choice for us.
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| First class for the fancy people. It provides you curtains, in case you weirdly want to vitiate the point of the trip by blocking the view. |
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| Standard class for the hoi polloi. Apparently, only the first class windows get cleaned. |
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Standard class puts four people to a table. So you can enjoy the view from both sides of the train, they switch you from left to right (or right to left) on the way back. You don't get to pick your seats or coach; you've gotta hope for some good seatmates. We had three female American undergrads opposite us, and an English couple straddled the two sides since they hadn't bought their tickets far enough in advance.
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| Standard class on the Jacobite steam train. |
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| Chipper American coeds and curmudgeonly English retiree proved to be excellent foils and conversationalists for each other. |
Before the train left Fort William, Kate and Jackson got to take a peek inside the engine:
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| Room for only a couple of people inside the cab of the engine. |
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| And to snap a quick selfie. |
The trip from Fort William begins near the tallest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis. The train crosses over a fantastic curved viaduct at Glenfinnan. It travels through Arisaig, which is Britain's westernmost mainland train station. The route passes close to the shortest river in Britain, River Morar, and past the deepest freshwater lake in Britain, Loch Morar. You get views of highland mountains, deep valleys, large and small lakes, forests and fields and farms, country roads, tiny villages, rocky coastline, canals and bridges, sheep and cattle and waving children. At one point you can see some of the Inner Hebrides islands such as Eigg, Rum, Canna, and Skye. At Mallaig you are next to Loch Nevis, the deepest seawater loch in Europe. Then, after spending a couple of hours in Mallaig for lunch, you get on the train and see it all again as you head back to Fort William.
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| View from train as it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct. |
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| Watching the scenery go by. |
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| Inner Hebrides islands of Eigg and Rum in the distance. |
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| Rugged highland hills, scarred long ago by retreating glaciers. |
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| A boat in one of a series of locks, called "Neptune's Staircase," on the Caledonian Canal. |
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| One of the many small lochs the train passes on its journey. |
Perhaps the most scenic spot, at least for folks
outside the train watching as it goes by, is at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Built over a series of 21 arches, it curves across a valley floor that drops away as the train emerges from the trees. You have a better view of the viaduct from the hills than you do on the train, but the view from the train is pretty awesome, too.
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| The train begins to cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct. |
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| The viaduct is significantly curved. |
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| Through various pictures and zooming in, I found 17 people in the hills taking pictures of the train as it crossed the viaduct. |
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| Leaving the Glenfinnan Viaduct. |
For more about the Glenfinnan Viaduct, see here:
On the way north, the train makes a stop for about 20-25 minutes at Glenfinnan station, which has a tiny museum about the railway and, of course, likely a requisite bagpipe busker. A little ways from the station is a monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who "raised his standard" in rebellion against the English in 1745. This Jacobite uprising was put down by the English in 1746 and was the last serious attempt by some Scots to end their union with the English
— that is, until next year in Scotland's independence referendum. (For you fans of the
Highlander movies, Glenfinnan is where the hero, Connor MacLeod, was born in the 1500s.)
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| Bagpiper at Glenfinnan station. |
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| If you're riding the train, you don't have enough time to eat at this
little restaurant made from an old train dining car, but you can make a
stop here if you drive along A830, the "Road to the Isles" between Fort
William and Mallaig. |
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| Photo of the construction of the non-reinforced concrete Glenfinnan
Viaduct during its building between July 1897 and October 1898. |
The train arrives in Mallaig around 12:20 pm, just over two hours after its departure from Fort William at 10:15. If you're returning to Fort William, you have until 2:10 before the train heads back. There's not much to see or do in Mallaig other than dine at one of the restaurants and perhaps take a gander at the ferry service to the Isle of Skye.
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| View of Mallaig from the pier. |
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| Caledonian MacBrayne ("CalMac") ferry boat arrives from the Isle of Skye. |
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| Shops in Mallaig. |
We spent our time having a seafood lunch and wandering. You can get a sense of a town from its bookstores. Here's Mallaig's:
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| I'm guessing the selection might be...sparse. |
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| Expending some energy before the return to Fort William. |
This train ride is now also known as the "Hogwarts Express." Why? Well, the train and its railway provide most (possibly all?) of the exterior shots of the train in the
Harry Potter films that takes Harry and the gang to school. The Glenfinnan Viaduct appears in three of the
Harry Potter films. The "traditional compartment" coaches, featuring closed compartments for riders, are shown in a number of the films. (Those coaches cannot be reserved by riders but are available for folks without tickets who arrive early in the morning in hopes of getting a seat.)
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| Only one coach per train has the traditional compartments. |
If you're riding the train hoping for a Harry Potter experience, you're going to be disappointed. Although those films greatly increased the popularity of the ride
— during the summer they have added a second train each day
— there isn't much Harry Potterish stuff. Except, of course, for many of the riders who have come to take a Harry Potter pilgrimage.
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| We were fortunate enough to have Harry and Hermione ride on our train. |
We didn't ride the train because of its Harry Potter connections, though that was a nice bonus. We loved the books and have seen the movies, and we look forward to sharing them with Jackson. Instead, our goal was to provide our train-loving toddler a great ride. We succeeded. He got up close to a steam train just like the toys (wooden, Duplo Lego, etc.) he has at home. He enjoyed having a bench, table, and large window to amuse himself while riding. He could stand or sit or lie down, eat snacks, play with toys, color, read books, and do puzzles on the iPad. And he really did take a few minutes here and there to enjoy the scenery. Since we've been home, Jackson has talked about his train ride every day.
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| The Hogwarts Express. |
Riding the Jacobite steam train was a treat for Jackson and for me and Kate. At a cost of 33 pounds for each adult, and 19 pounds for Jackson, it wasn't cheap. But I'm guessing we'll ride again next year, too.
