7 March 2011

The West Highland Line....Off To Mallaig...Hogwarts And All...

Last friday I pondered whether to get a change of scenery from Ayrshire over the weekend and decided to go on the train north further up the west coast of Scotland...Undecided on whether to go on the West Highlands line or the Kyle Of Lochalsh line I finally made up my mind to experience the former as the train left later in the morning from Ayr to Glasgow allowing precious extra sleep time in bed...

As an immigrant from England I'm noticing more benefits living this side of the border during my time here...the soon to be abolished £3 prescription charges being one and as an ageing baby boomer Scotrail's current over 55 ticket offer which entitles you to return travel anywhere in Scotland and to Carlisle for some reason for an amazing £18...this can be upgraded to first class where applicable for an additional fiver...plus the return journey is valid for up to a month from the outward travel date...

Anyway enough advertising for Scotrail...after a short stroll between Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street station and a caffiene fix from Costas I  boarded the rear 2 of 4 coaches bound for Mallaig as the front  2 were bound for Oban which were to go their separate way at Crianlarich...

Various characters including walkers,cyclists and daytrippers like myself boarded the train armed with rucksacks containing different contents...Marks and Spencers had obviously done well the previous day as their food products appeared for consumption by passengers on the tabled seating within our carriage...

Just after 8.20a.m.the diesel engines on the train roared into life and we pulled out of the station on a murky morning bound for the western highlands...Passing through Glasgow's suburbs we were soon parallel with the main A82 road to Fort William and beyond..the Erskine Bridge spanning the River Clyde disappeared quickly from view...a few stops after Dumbarton and Helensburgh the track became a single line...

The tone of engines changed as we climbed inclines...up to Garelochhead past the Faslane submarine base and onward...After Arrochar and Tarbet the train ran along side Loch Lomond as we made our way to Crianlarich for a 10 minute stop while the coaches to Oban were unattached and then departed...

Before I continue I must apologise for the quality of the images shown as photography from a moving train with reflections,marked windows,confused autofocus system and human error has its limitations...saying that I'm pleased to have some useable reference material for future paintings...

Approaching the horseshoe curve before Upper Tyndrum

I like some of you I'm sure have experienced the road journey along the A82 which touches the edge of Rannoch Moor but the train goes deep into this wild wilderness favoured by photographers artists alike...Dark brown peat bogs contrasted by silver grey rocks...burns with their fast flowing ice cold water...Due to the peat bogs on the moor the single track line is built on a foundation of tree roots,brushwood and alot of compacted ash and earth...

 Rannoch Moor


To Be Continued




Next stop after Rannoch is Corrour some 1350 feet above sea level...The adjacent station building is a scottish youth hostel but the price of staying here and associated costs from what I can gather online doesn't reflect my memories and experience of the youth hostelling movement albeit those were many moons ago...this is a very isolated place and was used in the making of the film Trainspotting I'm informed...

Corrour Station and Hostel


As the train pulled out of Corrour it was noticeable that the surrounding landscape was slowly changing...an increase in height was confirmed by the presence of the white stuff  lying on top of hills as we got deeper into the western highlands...


Loch Treig

By now we were high up above Loch Treig running parallel below on the left..orange flashes broke the awesome view...these flashes from rail engineers jackets maintaining the track...this made me think about the logistics of the maintenance in such an isolated area...the murky smirred weather was being challenged ocassionally by hints of blue sky between the darkened clouds...

The never ending Loch Treig and surrounding landscape was imaginary like viewing a model railway scene except here was I part of it...eventually we came to the end of the loch and later rounded the bend arriving at Tulloch station...

The railway track had come close to the A86 road and ran parallel...Some days later after this journey I looked on Google maps to see exactly where this west highland line had taken me..I was amazed to find how indirect it actually was and where I had been...

So on leaving Tulloch we headed down towards Fort William past Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge where I remembered the commando monument stands close to the A86 road from a road journey to the Applecross Peninsula several years ago...

Then suddenly glimpses of the cloud covered Ben Nevis mountain range came into view between the tree lined track..


Small at first then with more miles passing Ben Nevis stood majestic in size and ruggedness as we neared Fort William...



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