The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
It’s one of the world’s greatest railway journeys, and video footage reveals the best possible view of it – from the driver’s cab.
The mesmerising film shows a driver’s-eye view of a ScotRail train making its way along an incredible 42-mile section of Scotland’s West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig.
The journey on the line, completed in 1901, kicks off with a show-stopper – Ben Nevis. Britain’s highest mountain (1,345m/4,412ft) looms over Fort William as the train arcs away to the west.
A few minutes after departure, the line crosses the Banavie Swing Bridge, which is located at one end of ‘Neptune’s Staircase’, the longest staircase lock in Scotland, which raises the Caledonian Canal by 19m (62ft).
The train then skirts eight-mile-long (13km) Loch Eil prior to the majesty of the 1,250ft-long Glenfinnan Viaduct, which crowns one end of picturesque Loch Shiel.
Mesmerising footage shows a driver’s-eye view of a ScotRail train making its way along an incredible 42-mile section of Scotland’s West Highland Line from Fort William (above, with Ben Nevis to the right) to Mallaig
This still from the ScotRail video shows the departure point – Fort William railway station
The 21-arch, 30-metre-high (100ft) bridge was completed in 1901, but it was 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie in the Harry Potter franchise, that brought the bridge to the world’s attention.
In the movie, we see Harry and his friend Ron Weasley in a flying Ford Anglia car being chased by the Hogwarts Express as it puffs over the viaduct.
The bridge returns in Harry Potter three – The Prisoner of Azkaban – with the train grinding to a halt on the bridge on a stormy night as the terrifying ‘dementors’ go on the attack.
A few minutes after departure, the line crosses the Banavie Swing Bridge
The train skirts eight-mile-long (13km) Loch Eil prior to the majesty of the 1,250ft-long Glenfinnan Viaduct (above)
The Glenfinnan Viaduct was completed in 1901, but it was 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that brought the bridge to the world’s attention
Glenfinnan Viaduct’s Harry Potter debut in the Chamber of Secrets movie, with Harry and his friend Ron Weasley in a flying Ford Anglia car being chased by the Hogwarts Express
By the time viaduct appeared in the fourth Potter installment – The Goblet of Fire – it was a celebrity among concrete constructions.
Next comes cute Glenfinnan Station, the most westerly station in mainland Britain – Arisaig – and the jaw-dropping Loch Eilt.
Harry Potter fans may recognise Loch Eilt from The Prisoner of Azkaban – Hagrid skims stones across it, and one of its tiny islands, Eilean na Moine, is used as the final resting place of Dumbledore in the last Potter movie, the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
The line hugs the shoreline, with the A830 – ‘The Road to the Isles’ – hugging the one opposite.
Prior to Mallaig on the ‘Iron Road to the Isles’ the train goes past lochs Ailort and Nan Uamh – they’re easy on the eye, too – with the line and the A830 twisting around each other before arriving neck and neck at Mallaig, a few hundred metres from the harbour.
Cute Glenfinnan Station (above), precedes the most westerly station in mainland Britain – Arisaig
The line hugs the shoreline of Loch Eilt, which Harry Potter fans may recognise from The Prisoner of Azkaban and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The line hugs the shoreline of Loch Eilt, with the A830 – ‘The Road to the Isles’ – hugging the one opposite
The line was completed in 1901 and in places twists around the A830
The video was posted to YouTube by ScotRail, where it has been viewed over 37,000 times and praised by dozens.
User ‘AndrewG1989’ said: ‘Wonderful video – Scotland is an amazing country to visit and explore.’
And ‘Alisonsimpson125’ wrote: ‘Great video, ScotRail – the scenery is absolutely beautiful.’
For more on the Fort William to Mallaig service visit www.scotrail.co.uk/train-times/fort-william-to-mallaig. To see the full-length original video click here.
The viaduct over eye-catching Loch Nan Uamh, which lies just south of Mallaig
The line arrives neck and neck with the A830 at Mallaig (above), a few hundred metres from the harbour
The Glenfinnan Viaduct is the most famous highlight of the line from Fort William to Mallaig
