The Jacobite

Thursday, August 19, 2010
Mallaig, Scotland, United Kingdom
Tickets were virtually sold out so we arrived at Fort William station by 8.25am and stood in the queue. We were the third family. Half an hour later, the steam train puffed into the station and we got the last but three tickets. By this time the queue was maybe ten families long, so not everyone was successful. We had tickets, but we didn't have seats. We got the little half-bench bum-perches in the buffet car, meaning we had to assume a kind of tortuous stress position for the two and a half hour journey each way.

We took a quick look round Fort William before the train left at 10 .20am. The scenery is the big draw on this route and, despite the occasional shower, the views were stunning. I tried to take pictures through the window, but they weren't very good. They varied between 'look at my lovely reflection' and 'oops, I missed it and photographed a bush instead'.

The engine was called The Great Marquess, and the train was known as the Jacobite, but the kids were only interested in the Hogwarts Express. It crossed the Glenfinnan Viaduct, as seen in the flying car scene in the second Harry Potter movie. Then there was a half hour stop at Glenfinnan station to allow the tourists, i.e. us, to look round the tiny museum, buy a souvenir and give their loose change to the young bagpiper trying to raise cash for his university education.

Back on the train, we got some more scenery on the way to Mallaig. We did see Eigg and Skye through the mist, their shapes phantasmal on the horizon.

Mallaig is a fishing village, famous for kippers . We stood on the dock and ate our sandwiches in the rain. The kids bought some gifts and I got to check my e-mails. There wasn't much to do. In the end, we found the fisherman's mission and their secondhand bookshop, which certainly kept Donny amused on the journey back.

The scenery was just as scenic on the return journey, if not better in the occasional patch of sun. Donny read her book, and made herself more and more comfortable, until she was actually lying down on the bum-perch. I stared out of the window and wished I had a seat. Mel informed Neil, the chief caterer, that his price-list was all wrong because he had labelled it all as p instead of £. He tried to buy a very cheap bottle of champagne for 25.00p but Neil pointed out that he was underage.

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