We rode the Jacobite Steam train when in Scotland. This train was made famous by the Harry Potter movies, where it was featured as “The Hogwarts Express”. In fact, the train was featured in TWO of the Harry Potter movies, the first, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (released in the US as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s” Stone) and the second movie, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”.

The train is very real though and the ride is described as the “greatest railway journey in the world”. The “journey” and is an 84 mile round trip From Fort William to Malaig, a small town on the very west coast of Scotland.

The trip takes you past a list of impressive extremes. Starting near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, it visits Britain’s most westerly mainland railway station, Arisaig; passes close by the deepest freshwater loch in Britain, Loch Morar and the shortest river in Britain, River Morar, finally arriving next to the deepest seawater loch in Europe, Loch Nevis!

The Jacobite Steam Train stops on the way to Mallaig at the village of Glenfinnan, the location of the viaduct is that the train crosses over.
Today, the train ride and the famous viaduct are (extremely) popular tourist attractions, The Harry Potter franchise certainly helped with that as was clear by the huge amount of Harry Potter merchandise on offer in local gift shops.

The Glenfinnan Viaduct

The day before our ride, we went to the “lookout” where we can see the Jacobite Steam Train crossing that viaduct. The railway publishes a timetable listing the times the train can be seen making the crossing. There are 4 times per day this happens as the train runs twice a day and returns along the same route.
We arrived with ample time for the crossing, but found an overwhelming amount of tourists already there! Bus loads fulls of them! Did I mention this was a popular tourist attraction?

The best views of the train crossing (the pictures you always see in the brochures) are only possible after a hike up the hill and using a long telephoto lens. We had the lens, but the hike was too strenuous and lengthy so we had to make do with the shot you see here.

The Jacobite Steam Train ride

The next day we actually took the ride. We booked tickets well before we even left the US – and we were glad we did as there were no tickets available anytime during the week were in Fort William!

When we arrived, we were somewhat perplexed to see there was no Steam Engine. Instead, there was a diesel locomotive and we later learned that the smoke from the steam engine had caused some wild fires along the way due the the dry conditions. The fire department had requested they not use the steam locomotive until they had some rain. This did not dampen our enthusiasm however so we got on with high expectations.

When we boarded, the couple next to us offered us a small bottle of champagne. They had done the ride before and came prepared (unlike ourselves) with some delightful refreshments and were kind enough to share!

The ride was indeed “spectacular”, passing through some absolutely beautiful Scottish scenery. The following video shows a bit of that.

The train stops at Malaig, a small fishing town on the West Coast of Scotland. We had an hour and a half there, perfect for some lunch. We found a cozy pub and ordered some food. Fish and Chips for Linda and Haggis and “Neeps” for Albert.

After lunch and a nice stroll through the town, we headed back and re-boarded the train for the return trip.

The train also passes the silvery beaches of Morar, a location where other famous movies like “Highlander” and “Local Hero” were filmed.

A delightful day!