Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March 2008. Nearly 21 months old now, running around and into...
Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March 2008. Nearly 21 months old now, running around and into everything! Not been on Ciao for a while, been busy with Melissa and part time work, hope to be back on here soon. 091209.
Member since:22.04.2001
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The viaduct in the picture is famous for featuring in the Harry Potter films where the Hogwarts express travels.
Inevitably, this means that the train now attracts tourists from all over the world as the Harry Potter train.
Therefore booking is essential to get on it. We booked the day before and when we got there they were turning people away.
JACOBITE STEAM TRAIN ++++++++++++++++++++
The track runs from Fort William to Mallaig and is an 82 mile round trip. The journey passes through some fantastic countryside and old stations, coming to stop at Mallaig for around 1.5 hours. This is long enough to have lunch, which is about all you can do in Mallaig anyway!
COST +++++++
Adult Day Return £27 (First Class £40) Child Day Return £15.50 (First Class £20)
The train leaves Fort William at 10.20am and arrives at Mallaig at 12.25pm. It then leaves Mallaig at 14.10pm and arrives at Fort William at 16.00pm.
The train runs from 29 May to October 13th - Monday to Friday and Sundays 28th May and July 23 to 27 August.
The only difference with First Class appeared to be that they
give you free tea and coffee and the carriage is smaller with no table.
I would not recommend paying the extra to sit in First Class.
ROUTE +++++++
The route is described as one of the great railway journeys of the world. It's an 84 mile round trip which takes you past some impressive scenery. It starts near the highest mountain in Britain - Ben Nevis, then on to Britain's most westerly mainland railway station - Arisaig. Then we go on to the deepest freshwater loch in Britain which is Loch Morar, and the shortest river in Britain which is River Morar and then it finally arrives next to the deepest seawater loch in Europe - Loch Nevis.
The train also stops on the way to Mallaig at the Glenfinnan Station, which is where Bonnie Prince Charlie allegedly raised his standard in 1745. You can get off and visit the station museum for 50p, but we did not bother as the train only stops for 20 minutes.
Then comes the "world famous" 21 arch Glenfinnan viaduct, which has been used in the Harry Potter movies, and has spectacular views down Loch Shiel.
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.
Then the train passes Morar which is famous for its silvery beaches which were apparantly filmed in the films "Highlander" and "Local Hero". (I haven't heard of Local Hero, but am going to dig out my copy of Highlander to see if I can spot it).
The train then arrives at Mallaig. This has the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry which travels across to Skye and is a fishingvillage. There is not much to do in Mallaig, a few gift shops, Spar, Co-op, RNLI shop, and several eating places.
MY EXPERIENCE ++++++++++++++
We got on the train at Fort William having been ripped off for £55.25 the previous day, being 2 x £27 plus a "booking fee" of £1.25 for paying by credit card over the phone. We had to collect our tickets from the train itself. Lots of people were being turned away for having the audacity to turn up without a ticket! They were told to book for the following days trip.
We got onto the train to find that somebody had put their bags in our seat numbers to reserve them. So seeing as everybody is given a ticket with seat numbers on it, we threw these up onto the luggage rack. When the bag owners arrived, they were not amused at "their" seats having been taken. I showed them our ticket and explained that everybody is issued with a seat and that they should find theirs.
The carriages feature tables with four seats around them, 2 facing forwards and 2 facing backwards. We were forwards facing on the trip out (which meant we were backwards facing on the trip back).
Each table had a route guide on it and an explanation of the train that might be used that day. The route guide was very useful as it gave you points to look out for, so you could see where you were on the journey.
The train had a buffet car, selling crisps, sandwichs, coffee and soft drinks, at reasonable prices. It also had a souvenir car, which cashes in on the Harry Potter thing.
The train slows down on the viaduct in order to take pictures and it is indeed a fantastic sight.
We experienced steam at first hand, when we went through the tunnels and were left choking as the smoke came in through the door windows. On the return trip the train could not get up the hill and had to go back to make another go at it.
Mallaig is pretty average really, your average fishing port really. We had some lunch in a cafe and wondered around the shops but it was quite difficult to kill 1.5 hours there and we were glad to get back on the train again.
HARRY POTTER ++++++++++++++
Apparantly the West Coast Railway Company which runs the trips, supplied the engine and carriages for the Harry Potter films and the more recent films used some of the line for filming, especially the viaduct.
The foreign tourists went mad over the Harry Potter connection and were snapping away like mad with their cameras.
WOULD I RECOMMEND IT? ++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes I would because the scenery is fantastic. If you have kids they will love the whole Harry Potter thing, which we couldn't have cared less about. Don't expect too much of Mallaig and you won't be disappointed!
Somebody said that they took the normal train for a fraction of the cost and saw the same scenery. They said once on the train it could be any old train. True to a point, but we had the real steam experience and it was nice to see the old train with the smoke blowing out and to hear the noises that you only get with steam.
The only downside is the cost. At £27 per adult it is not cheap, but it is a nice day out when the weather is good.
CONTACT +++++++++
WWW.WESTCOASTRAILWAY.CO.UK
TELEPHONE: 01524 737751
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL
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Sep 11th, 2006
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