A very wet train journey through the West Highlands of Scotland. Part One.

Day 1: Lancaster to Fort William.
We had looked forward to this train journey for months. I'd imagined taking dozens of fantastic photos to share. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and the skies steadily darkened as we made our way northwards on our journey to Fort William.
Things looked promising at first, as we climbed up over Shap ...

 

... but by the time we reached Penrith and Carlisle, the weather had taken a distinct turn for the worse!

 

Unfortunately the weather didn't improve much over the course of the following three days, so a lot of my photos are a little blurry to say the least! 

From Carlisle we headed for Glasgow, skirting the Western edge of the city along the banks of the River Clyde. Passing Dumbarton we then began the steep climb to Helensburgh Upper. Visibility continued to be poor, so we could barely make out the docks at Faslane, nor the nuclear submarine base near Garelochead.

The sky brightened somewhat as we left Gareloch behind and headed for Loch Long,

crossing the Mause Viaduct before reaching Crianlarich, via Arrochar and Tarbet.

Darkness was falling by the time we were crossing Rannoch Moor, so we tucked into our picnic basket as the train continued its journey towards Fort William where we would spend the night.

Day 2: Fort William to Glenfinnan

If anything, the weather was even worse on the second day of our journey. Ben Nevis was barely discernable through the heavy cloud. 

Passing Loch Eil we could see that it would certainly be beautiful on a clear day! 

Passing over the spectacular Glenfinnan Viaduct, we could barely make out the Glenfinnan Monument which commemorates the raising of the standard in 1745 by Bonnie Prince Charlie as he returned from France to head the second Jacobite Rebellion. The figure on top of the monument is a symbolic Highland Chieftan, dedicated to those who joined the Jacobite cause in 1745.  (Yes, I'm aware that's a dreadful photo!)

Pressing further north, towards Mallaig, we passed the small Catholic church of Our Lady of the Braes. The church was featured in the Burt Lancaster film "Local Hero".

Arriving in Mallaig we detrained for a while, to stretch our legs.

 

Mallaig is a busy fishing village and ferry terminal, operating year round Caledonian McBrayne services to Skye and other Inner Hebridean islands.

Eigg and Rhum, from Mallaig

Mallaig is the terminus of the West Highland Railway, so we returned to Fort William via the same route. The weather had eased up a little, allowing us to enjoy some of the scenery we had missed on the outward journey.

Deer galore!

Loch Shiel

Lochaber hydro electric and smelting plant, beneath Ben Nevis

"Neptune's Staircase" on the Caledonian Canal at Benavie

 




Returning to Fort William in the afternoon, we had some free time to explore. We caught a bus to the Commando Monument at Spean Bridge which will be in the next blog post. Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed the photos! (If you click on a photo, it should come up full-size.)