20 August 2013

The Jacobite Steam Train, aka Hogwart's Express


The Jacobite steam train starts in the town of Fort William, Scotland. The train only runs from May to October in the morning.  In the peak summer months from June to August an afternoon train is added.
 
 We drove as quick as we could from St. Andrews to board the steam train by 2:30.  By the time we got to Fort William we were cranky and hungry and a fit occurred by one of my children that left us a little embarrassed as we left our B&B.  Ugh!  We walked and ate sandwiches and found the train station to be double the distance I thought it was.  Grr!!  Not a good start!
 
We finally got to the station and were met by a long line.  I'm not extremely organized and am known to do things very last minute, but even I was going crazy by the lack of order of getting on this train.  Once the gate opened it was a mad dash.  IPhone in hand, opened to my email that held my receipt, we found our seats and I tried not to worry.  About 20 minutes later a very mellow conductor came through and didn't even ask for a ticket/receipt!  It seems they follow the honor system. 
 
If you ever have a chance to ride the train, I highly recommend choosing seats numbered with the letter "f" at the end, meaning you will be facing forward, "b" seats mean you'll be facing backwards.  And I highly recommend sitting on the left side of the train going and the right side returning as it's got most of the scenery.

We finally relaxed a bit and began enjoying our ride.  For some reason my little guy was still moody, but he had is Harry Potter wand ready for the ride!  What a face!


We did a lot of this!


 However, it is very difficult to get good pictures when you're in a moving train and have to snap fast before the shot is gone or a tree gets in the way!  


Glenfinnan was our first stop and where the famous viaduct is located.  It was used in the Harry Potter movies.  Gorgeous!!




The train ended in the town of Millaig, a quaint little fishing village.  Reminded me of my fishing days every summer in Homer, Alaska!


If there is ever a next time I'd like to drive up to Millaig and either spend the night or take a ferry over to the Isle of Skye!
We then got on the train and went back the way we came and saw all the beauty once more.

As we were crossing the viaduct we saw this deer in the field below.  What a treat!

We had a great time!  A gorgeous part of Scotland worth seeing by steam train!
Have you been to Scotland?  Would you like to visit?
I'm linking up with Travel Tuesday & Instagram Travel Thursday.

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