Jacobite Steam Railway

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The Jacobite steam train is indeed one of the greatest railway journeys of the world like the company website says. Unfortunately, information about this steam-train experience are really scarce and hard to find. People don't exactly know what kind of carriage they get when booking and the official website is very very poorly done. So I'll try to describe my experience and leave useful information and tips for who has never been on ...
...I uploaded are not only a "plus" to my review but they are strictly related to it since some issues or descriptions I will give will be linked directly to the photos I took.
I revised this review hoping to get higher rating.


==BACKGROUND HISTORY & Advertising==

"2009 is the 26th year of the return of steam trains to Mallaig. From the start in 1984 when British Rail reintroduced steam to the line ... more

JACOBITE STEAM TRAIN

REVISED REVIEW

The Jacobite steam train is indeed one of the greatest railway journeys of the world like the company website says. Unfortunately, information about this steam-train experience are really scarce and hard to find. People don't exactly know what kind of carriage they get when booking and the official website is very very poorly done. So I'll try to describe my experience and leave useful information and tips for who has never been on the train but plans to. One last note... The pictures I uploaded are not only a "plus" to my review but they are strictly related to it since some issues or descriptions I will give will be linked directly to the photos I took.
I revised this review hoping to get higher rating.

BACKGROUND HISTORY & Advertising

"2009 is the 26th year of the return of steam trains to Mallaig. From the start in 1984 when British Rail reintroduced steam to the line it was known as ‘The West Highlander’ which later became ‘The Lochaber’. West Coast Railways took over the running of this service in 1995 and gave it the much loved title ‘The Jacobite’. It continues to be an essential part of every West Highland holiday. It is regarded as one of the Great Railway Journeys of the World and was voted Top Railway Journey in the World 2009 by Wanderlust Magazine, due mainly to the stunning scenery through which you will be travelling. The 84 mile round trip will take you past Britain's highest mountain, deepest loch, shortest river and most westerly station. Quite a journey indeed! The train stops en route to Mallaig at the village of Glenfinnan after crossing the world famous 21 arch concrete viaduct, (as featured in the Harry Potter films) with its stunning views down Loch Shiel and over the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his Standard in 1745. The train stops in the station giving you time to stretch your legs and visit the museum in the station buildings.
Beyond are the villages of Lochailort, Arisaig, Morar and Mallaig. On a clear summer's day from Arisaig you can see the "Small Isles" of Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna and the southern tip of Skye. From there the train passes Morar and the silvery beaches used in the films "Highlander" and "Local Hero" "

BOOKING

Do you need to book? Definitely!
The company keeps about 24 second class tickets that you can purchase at Fort William (not sure if at the station or on the train) but you never know how many people will be there. It's more than likely that these 24 tickets will go very fast and you risk to travel to Fort William for nothing. Do not risk and book in advance.

Practically the only other option is to book through the phone paying with your credit card since they don't have an actual booking office, which is really a bad thing, as a matter of fact they charge you £1.50 booking-fee. For some reason they didn't accept my debit card / visa electron, luckly my girlfriend had a credit card and that worked fine. On the website of course they never said what kind of cards they accept.

The tickets can be sent to you by mail or either by email that you will need to print. Since my printer wasn't working and I booked on Friday for Monday (and I wasn't sure I would have received them in time) I just wrote down the reference number they sent me. Although this is not common procedure (they say you have to print the ticket or receive it by mail), I didn't have any problem on the train. I told the conductor my reference number, it was checked on the passengers list, nice and easy.

THE PRICES

For the day return the prices are:
Adults £29 second class, £43 first class
Children £16.50 second class, £21.50 first class
(the website doesn't say till what age people are considered children so you will need to ask this over the phone, I have no idea)

Class and seats

[check the pictures too]

When booking over the phone I never asked for anything else than second class. Now that I have been on the train I know better. I took the leaflet from the train that tells you the composition of the train. You won't find these information online so, if you are going to book a trip on the train these will be extremely useful:

- Coach A - 1st Class Coach - 42 seats in a 2 or 4 table configuration. Complementary tea/coffee and biscuits are served during the journey.
Definitely the most "romantic" carriage, with curtains on the windows and extremely comfortable seats. It's an open coach (no compartments) but it feels very cosy.

- Coach B - 2nd Class Open Coach - 16x4 seats (total of 64).

- Coach C - The Buffet Car - the bar is in the middle of the coach, it also has 44 seats.

- Coach D - The souvenir shop - A part from being the coach with an overpriced souvenir shop, the rest of the coach is divided in compartments with about 6 seats each. These compartments are very similar to the ones featured in the Harry Potter films, sliding doors, comfortable seats etc. Ideal for small group of people booking together (otherwise you'll have to share the compartment with complete strangers).

- Coach E, F and G - 2nd Class Open Coach - 16x4 seats. Quite modern looking inside, definitely the least appealing coaches of all. Dirty and not-looked-after old seat. Stil the cheapest of the options. I'm really not sure if the Coach D is considered 2nd or 1st class.

A & B SEATINGS EXPLAINED

A and B seatings. Now this is pissing off. I was given seats 27B and 28B. Arriving at the seats I could notice that there were 2 of everything. Two number 27 facing each other and two number 28 facing each other around the 4 seater table. No indication of which was A and which was B. This raised some discussion of which was my right seating and which wasn't, this because the other passengers wanted to seat facing the way of course. Later I thought that A and B could be identified by checking the progessive numbering of the coach seats. So when you are given an A or B number, expect troubles. To make sure which is which, check the surrounding numbers. If, for example, you have smaller numbers at the next table behind you and higher numbers at the next table in front, then you're sitting in A and facing B. Seems like I'm stating the obvious here but it's a really basic tip that will avoid real fights which might potentially ruin the trip. The conductor of course is no help in this.

The Trip, the Bad and the Ugly

The trip from Fort William to Mallaig (with stops at Glenfinnan and Arisaig) is one of the most gorgeous I've seen. On a sunny day it's really incredible. I ended up hanging out of the carriage door window most of the time, to take pictures while the rest of the passengers just remained on their seats and "enjoyed" the scenery from behind the dirty glasses of the second class coach.
The windows cannot be open really so unless you don't mind taking pictures from behind the glass (I hate it), you better off going at one of the 4 exit doors of your coach where windows are left open. Be sure that you don't hang out of it because 1) sometimes the doors are not locked so check that the snib is on 2) on the route, trees and rocks are very very close to the train and you risk decapitation.
I did take the pictures hanging outside the windows but this is strictly against the rules, I always had to watch for incoming rocks or trees... so, "kids don't do this at home".

DETAILS OF THE JOURNEY

These are the details of the journey with all the stops:

Fort William - Depart 10.20 sharp
Glenfinnan - Arrive 11.00 - Depart 11.25
[two minutes before Glenfinnan you can see the famous acqueduct from the Harry Potter films. The train slows down to let people take pictures but not slow enough, the whole experience last about 2 minutes and you will be surprised how annoying people can be. Some took their position at the open windows 15 minutes earlier and never left the place till the bridge was far and gone, not allowing other people to take any picture. I menaged to take a few only on the return.]
Arisaig - 12.06 (doesn't usually stop here)
Mallaig - Arrive 12.25.
The train return on the same route departing from Mallaig at 14.10

GETTING TO FORT WILLIAM

To get to and from Fort William is best to take a citylink coach. If booked in advance it can be a lot cheaper (a week in advance should do). It's quite a trip so you might have to wake up very early. I left from Glasgow and I'm quite sure the same bus stopped at Edinburgh along the way (if not Stirling too). I managed to get an inexpensive ticket (I think £10 per person) by booking it at the bus station a week in advance. I strongly suggest to everyone who wants to do this trip to start organizing everything at least 2 weeks earlier because especially Citylink has a dodgy booking system. If you book a day it may cost you £10, the day after £45 per person!
www.citylink.co.uk/

Glenfinnan

Glenfinnan station is very nice, the stops allows you to take some more pictures of the train from the outside, and of the station itself. It has a micro-museum which can be easily avoided, it's just a tourist-rip-off like everything else. I can't remember what it contained but it wasn't anything terribly exciting, I'm sure it was all crammed in one single room. The little station was opened in 1901 and restored in 2007. On the back of the station there are two historical train carriages, one is a sleeping car (you can't sleep in it, it's only for exhibition) and another has been turned into a bar, which gives a nice touch. Glenfinnan Viaduct is about one kilometre to the east of the station.

http://www.glenfinnanstationmuseum.co.uk/index.asp

Mallaig

is.... just ok. Personally I loved it because it was a beautiful day and we managed to see some wildlife but I understand some people when they complain that there is nothing to do or see there a part from ludicrously overpriced restaurants and fish&chips shops (with prices above £6 for a simple fish&chip), clearly due to the stream of tourists every day. The price of food was really a let down because Mallaig clearly lives upon the fishing business and I would have loved to try some fresh, genuine seafood (smoked kippers seem to be their traditional dish) but everything was far too expensive.
I ended up buying a bland sandwich and donuts at the local supermarket and enjoyed it in front of the sea where I also spotted a seal swimming. I suggest to bring binoculars.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/mallaig/mallaig/index.html

Finally.... The Experience

The experience was for me great because I simply love steam train trips and beautiful scenery but I don't deny that there are some cons... first of all the price ( way too overpriced, thanks Harry Potter! Secondly, people's attitude can really ruin your trip with shameful fights for the best seats, for the best windows for taking pictures and general rudness of those who think "I paid this ammount of money and I'll make sure I get the best out of it, not matter who I step on". I went in late September so it was mostly full of adults that thought that having a fancier camera than yours means that they can push you away to take their pictures. Plenty of American tourists and regardless what people might say about American tourists they were the only ones with some manners while the British tourists were mostly... rude (there are better words to describe them but I'll just say rude). I would suggest to go in full summer period when it's full of kids but at least you might get a cheery (and perhaps more Potterish) feel about it which is needed. However, the experience is still stuck in my mind and simply beautiful and memorable, the little inconveniencies were completely obscured by the rest. I restrained myself from posting any more pictures but I literally took photos every minute of the ride, the scenery is fantastic, the weather was great. If you ask me, afterall would you suggest it? Yes, I would definitely suggest it once... if like me you love steam train rides, and scenery trains.

Lastly, to answer a common question: Is it the same train from Harry Potter? No, that train is for films only but some carriages (see what I wrote before) are identical to what you see in the film. It's a great trip for kids and grown-ups who still love steam trains.

CONTACT INFO

http://www.steamtrain.info/
01524 737751 /737753

COACH TO/FROM FORT WILLIAM

www.citylink.co.uk/

I hope this was useful, thanks for reading it all. May you have a wonderful steam train experience like I did 

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