West Highland Line - West Highland Line

West Highland Line

The West Highland Line is a largely single-track, non-electrified, railway line from Glasgow above Fort William to Mallaig with a branch after Oban. Most of the time it leads through remote landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and is considered to be one of the most spectacular railway lines in Europe. It has largely lost its role as the primary means of transport since this part of the Highlands has been developed through efficient and mostly more direct roads. The route of the line is very winding, and the substructure does not allow high speeds. Their single track forces frequent waiting times for countermeasures. Nevertheless, the West Highland Line is still a visitor attraction, a longing destination and, last but not least, a film set.

history

At the end of the 19th century there were only a few blank spots left on the British railways. One of these was the north west coast of Scotland and the Highlands. As early as 1860, Inverness had a connection to the Highland Railway on two routes, from the east (Aberdeen) and from the south (Perth), but there was still no access from the west across the Highlands. The Great Glen offered itself from a topographical point of view, but for this the railway would have had to reach Fort William at its southern end.

The Callander & Oban Railway opened up Oban from Callander in 1890 and thus an important ferry port to the Inner Hebrides. It began with the further construction along the coast to the north. Elaborate bridge structures to cross Loch Etive and Loch Creran had consumed the company's capital, so that further construction at Ballachulish, where a bridge had to be built over Loch Leven, stalled and finally got stuck - 20 kilometers from Fort William.

Another consortium was formed from the North British Railway to build a railway line into the Northwest Highlands, to shorten the railway distance between Glasgow and Inverness, but also to attack the lucrative Inverness monopoly of the competition. The challenges were not only the adverse topography, but also the competition from other railway companies and the operators of the shipping lines. In this way, the mighty shipping company lobby succeeded in preventing the construction of the railway line along Loch Lomond (the West Highland Line had to move west over Loch Long). A railway through the Great Glen was never completely built in the end. The route of the West Highland Railway towards Fort William, however, had to cross the Grampians mountain range north of Crianlarich; the route across the coast was already blocked by the competition. A route through Glen Coe was ruled out due to high gradients for technical reasons, so only the route through the almost deserted Rannoch Moor and the northern bypass of the Ben Nevis massif with the approach to Fort William from the east remained. In 1894 the line was completed after five years of construction to Fort William, in 1901 to Mallaig. The attempt to continue the line to Inverness failed due to the resistance of the shipping companies and the competition of the Highland Railway, the West Higland Railways had waived the further construction towards Inverness in exchange for the Mallaig concession. A local consortium tried to build a line between Spean Bridge and Fort Augustus, but had to give up after ten years of operation for economic reasons.

Ultimately, none of the railway lines in this part of Scotland met economic expectations - the imbalance between the construction effort and the lack of freight and passenger traffic was too clear. When all railway lines in Great Britain came to the test in the 1960s and a commission under the ex-manager Richard Beeching recommended streamlining the railway network (due to massive cuts too Beeching Ax called), the rail traffic between Callander and Crianlarich and between Oban and Ballachulish was discontinued. The actual West Highland Line, however, was retained, contrary to Beeching's plans. Only a few stops on the way were dropped.

Today the railway is part of the network of Scotrail, which will be operated by the Dutch railway company Abellio from May 2015.

Travel preparations

Special steam train "The Jacobite" on the Glenfinnan Viaduct
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  • West Highland Line
  • Environment map

The train takes just under four hours for the Glasgow - Fort William route, and around five and a half hours for the entire route to Mallaig (around three hours to Oban). Monday to Saturday three pairs of trains from Glasgow to Oban (one on Sunday) and three pairs of trains from Glasgow to Oban / Mallaig that are winged in Crianlarich (two on Sundays). In addition, a sleeper train from Glasgow to Fort William runs from Sunday to Friday, with connections to Edinburgh and London.

From Fort William, steam-powered special trains run daily on parts of the route in summer The Jacobite known (in the slipstream of Harry Potter in recent years also as Hogwarts Express marketed). Muggles who want to dig deeper into their pockets are looking for the Royal Scotsman, a luxury train that makes rail cruises across Scotland.

Tickets are available at the normal rate (without a specific train connection) at the larger stations at the counter or machine, online, by telephone (0330 303 0111, daily 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) or on the train from the conductor. There are discounted tickets in advance with a specific train connection on-line. In second class, a one-way ticket Glasgow - Oban costs around £ 25, Glasgow - Mallaig around £ 35. The trains are currently only in second class. Seat reservations are possible.

You can take your bike with you free of charge. Pre-registration by phone on 0330 303 0111, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily. Most of the stations have bicycle parking facilities.

Only a few train stations are handicapped accessible. These are the busy train stations in the Glasgow area (Glasgow Queen Street, Dalmuir, Dumbarton Central) and the Oban, Fort William and Mallaig head stations, which are also staffed. Most of the small on-the-go stations are not handicapped accessible.

Route

Route

The description is divided into the sections Glasgow to Crianlarich for all trains, Crianlarich to Oban, Crianlarich to Fort William and Fort William to Mallaig for the respective train parts, in each case in the direction of travel from Glasgow. The links to the stations lead to the station descriptions of the network operator National Rail, which contain detailed information on the service facilities, location sketches, etc.

Glasgow to Crianlarich

(to Arrochar and Tarbet view mostly on the left, then mostly on the right)

Glasgow Queen Street

  • 1 Glasgow Queen Street.0 km. The station consists of an above-ground terminus, from which the trains to Highland, Edinburgh and Stirling leave, as well as an underground through station, where trains from the (north) west stop and partly cross the city center of Glasgow towards Bathgate and Edinburgh.
The trains of the West Highlandline use the terminus. The route initially runs underground a little to the north, then turns west and reaches the Firth of Clyde through the Glasgow suburbs behind Partick. The West Highlandline shares the tracks with the electrified North Clyde Line, a suburban connection to Helensburgh. The journey leads through densely built-up commercial and residential areas with (left) occasional views of the Clyde.

Dalmuir

  • 2 Dalmuir, 16.1km. In Dalmuir Station there is a possibility to transfer to the suburban trains of the electrified Glasgow suburb network, also from / to Glasgow Central.
The route continues parallel to the Clyde through industrial areas and under the Erskine Bridge. After a few kilometers the train arrives Dumbarton, an industrial town in the suburb of Glasgow with around 20,000 inhabitants. Just before the next stop in Dumbarton Central, look to the left Dumbarton Castlelying on a rock in the Clyde.

Dumbarton Central

Shortly after Dumbarton train station, the line crosses the River Leventhat drains Loch Lomond. Behind the bridge, the railway branches off to the right Balloch off at Loch Lomond; in the direction of travel you can with luck Ben Lomond (974 m), see the southernmost "Munro" (these are the mountains above 3,000 feet that make the hearts of Scottish hikers beat faster) before the train disappears in a short tunnel. The train continues along the Clyde with occasional views of Port Glasgow and Greenock on the other bank. Shortly before Helensburgh the West Highlandline branches off to the right from the electrified main line. From here the line is single-track and not electrified. It turns first in a northerly direction, then in a northeastern direction and passes the city, increasing in height to the east and north.

Helensburgh Upper

  • 4 Helensburgh Upper, 41.0km. The Helensburgh Upper train station, the smaller of the two train stations in the city, is located above on the northern outskirts, about one and a half kilometers from the center. Helensburgh, 15,000 inhabitants, is a late Baroque planned town with a checkerboard street pattern.
The train continues above the city in a north-westerly direction and also holds the height. He now leaves the Clyde and follows northwards the Gare Loch, which you can see again and again on the left. The landscape changes to a typical highland landscape, becomes more mountainous, boggy, less cultivated land, lots of pasture. The mountains get higher on both sides of the bay. At the end of this bay you can see the facilities of the naval base on the left Faslane Bay, in which, among other things, the British nuclear submarine fleet is stationed. Shortly afterwards the train arrives at Garelochhead station.

Garelochhead

  • 5 Garelochhead, 51.9km. The train station is on the eastern edge of the small town (1,300 inhabitants). Garelochhead is the southernmost station on the line with the standard structure of the West Highland Line stations: two-track with an island platform and a station building on it with a hipped roof ("Swiss Chalet Style").
Behind Garelochhead, the route crosses, partly in a cut, the promontory that separates the Gare Loch from Loch Long. The next free view of the sea on the left is already to Loch Long, which the route now follows. A pier with a deep water port for oil tankers and oil storage comes into view before the train follows the partly freshly reforested Glen Mellan for a few kilometers and the view of Loch Long is blocked by the ridge of Craggan Hill. At the northern end of Glen Meelan, the train loses a bit of height and passes that (right) Glen Douglas Ammunition Depot, one of the largest ammunition depots in the British Army. On the left, despite some afforestation and trees along the way, the view of Loch Long opens up again, now with the spectacular backdrop of the Arrochar Alps on the other bank. Sticking out of the sea Ben Arthur ("The Cobbler") (884 m), with its rocky summit region a popular mountain for hikers and climbers and the Munros Beinn Narnain (926 m) and, briefly seen in the background, Beinn Ime (1011 m). The route runs above the village of Arrochar, then turns east and crosses the isthmus between Loch Long and Loch Lomond.

Arrochar and Tarbet

Arrochar and Tarbet platform
  • 6 Arrochar and Tarbet, 69.2km. The Arrochar and Tarbet train station is located almost in the middle between the eponymous villages of Arrochar on Loch Long and Tarbet on Loch Lomond, which are each about two kilometers away.
The train reaches Loch Lomond around 50 m above the shore, so that (from here view on the right), despite the rather wooded route, one always has views of the lake and the opposite shore. Half right in the background crowns again Ben Lomond the scenery. Soon the hotel complex will come from on the other side of the lake Inversnaid Before the train crosses the four meter-thick pressure pipes of the Sloy pumped storage plant, the turbine hall of the power plant is located on the right side of the lake. The line sinks towards the north end of Loch Lomond almost to sea level, only the A 82, the main connection road between Glasgow and the Highlands, is still between the railway and the lake.

Ardlui

West Highland Line and A82 in Glen Falloch
  • 7 Ardlui, 82.1km. Ardlui is a small place at the mouth of the Falloch into the lake. The train station is close to the Ardlui Hotel and a bungalow complex with a harbor for pleasure boats on Loch Lomond. The train often stands longer at Ardlui station to wait for the opposite train to cross here.
The route now follows the wooded Glen Falloch and climbs continuously. The A 82 and the hiking trail also run parallel in the valley West Highland Way. Settlement is becoming increasingly sparse, there are only a few farmsteads to be seen. In a sharp right-hand bend about halfway, the route crosses a side valley on a high bridge that leads almost 40 m above the valley floor. The train is slow because of the curve, but it is easy to miss the bridge as the route leads through densely forested area. Shortly before Crianlarich the train changes to the river system of the River Fillan, which drains over the Loch Tay into the North Sea and crosses the "Scottish Watershed", topographically however extremely unspectacular here.

Crianlarich

  • 8 Crianlarich, 96.2km. They once crossed at the Crianlarich train station Callander & Oban Railway and the West Highland Line. But since the branch towards Callander has been closed (and has long since been dismantled), the X became a Y. The train parts to Oban (front part) and to Fort William / Mallaig (rear part) separate here, which are offset a few minutes go on. Crianlarich (200 inh.) Is a transport hub that benefits from its geographical location at the meeting of Glen Dochart from the east, Glen Falloch from the south and Glen Fillan / Glen Lochy from the northwest, which enables a comparatively easy crossing of the Highlands (t) en - even today not only the West Highland Way, which follows an old military road, but also the main connecting roads and the only railway line between the Lowlands and the west coast run along here. Crianlarich is surrounded by around a dozen Munros and is therefore a place often frequented by mountain hikers with a few places to stay overnight and stop for refreshments.

Crianlarich to Oban

(View to Dalmally mostly on the right, Dalmally on the left until shortly before Taynuilt, then on the right again)

Glen Finnan with Cononish Viaduct in the foreground, route to Ft William on the opposite slope, Beinn Dorain on the left
The train follows Glen Fillan and parallel to the A82 and stays on the west bank of the river. On the opposite slope you can see the route to Fort William, which is gradually gaining height there, in Tyndrum it is already 50 meters higher. The grassy massif of the towers behind it Beinn Challuim (1,025 m). The mountain range of des rises in the background on the left Ben Lui, shortly before Tyndrum opens the valley of the Cononish Rivers, in which, a little above, Scotland's only gold mining has been operated in previous centuries and again since 2011.

Tyndrum Lower

  • 9 Tyndrum Lower, 104.2km. Tyndrum Lower station is the closer to town of the two Tyndrums stations (because the line splits here or there were historically two competing railway companies, Tyndrum with its 170 inhabitants has two stations). The lower station, like the other stations to Oban, has outer platforms; it was another railway company that was building. Tyndrum itself is a mixture of supply base and truck stop with shops, petrol stations, with the character of a caravanserai, despite the spectacular landscape all around, no place to linger.
The route now changes to Glen Lochy, which drains to Loch Awe; the watershed is just before the small lake Lochan na Bithe train passes on the left. The A 85 road, which branches off from the A 82 in Tyndrum, runs parallel. To the left you have the mountain range of des, which is quite rocky in the higher part Ben Lui (1130 m), which itself is mostly covered by foothills or afforestation and only appears in the background when you are almost over.

Dalmally

  • 10 Dalmally, 123.5km. Dalmally station has two outside platforms and serves the small town of the same name.
Kilchurn Castle
The route runs parallel to the road (A85) and the River Orchy (right). Shortly after the train passes under the A 819, the view along the opens to the left Loch Awe, third largest lake in Scotland. On a peninsula at the confluence of the Orchy into the lake, the mighty ruins of the can also be seen on the left Kilchurn Castle, which secured this strategically important point for the Campbells of Breadalblane since the end of the Middle Ages. This castle has been abandoned since the middle of the 18th century and has been falling into disrepair in front of a magnificent mountain backdrop. The train crosses the River Orchy and turns in a left curve in a south-westerly direction. Together with the A 85, it now follows the banks of Loch Awe at the foot of the Ben Cruachan (1126 m), a massif consisting of various mountains.

Loch Awe

  • 11 Loch Awe, 127.9km. The Loch Awe stop originally only served a luxury hotel, the Loch Awe Hotelwhich is right next to the train station. Since then, a few houses and a campsite have been added to the hotel, which still offers an upscale stay. The actual place, consisting of two dozen houses, is one kilometer to the southwest.
The route continues along the lakeshore and passes (on the right) the settlement Lochawe and the one built in the 19th century St. Conan's Kirk.

Falls of Cruachan

  • 12 Falls of Cruachan, 133.1km. The Falls of Cruachan stop is an on-demand stop with a side platform. The conductor must be informed of the stop request in good time. Anyone standing on the platform gives the incoming train a clear signal. The breakpoint is next to the Cruachan Power Plant, a pumped storage plant that uses the Cruachan Reservoir, built in 1959, halfway up the mountain as the upper basin and Loch Awe as the lower basin. The turbine hall is located in a cavern in the mountain and can be visited, the visitor center is located directly next to the power plant building.
The train follows the increasingly narrow branch of Loch Awe, which runs into the River Awe transforms. Since 1959, the water level of the lake has been regulated here with an outlet structure. The narrow point at the outlet of Loch Awe bears the name Pass of Brender. It is not a pass in the classic sense of a watershed, the River Awe flows from here into the ocean, but it is a narrow passage that was the scene of a battle in the Middle Ages that Robert the Bruce won against local clans. Locally Bridge of Awe The valley widens, which was previously barely wide enough to accommodate the railway and road (still the A 85). After a few kilometers, the train reaches the small town of Taynuilt.

Taynuilt

  • 13 Taynuilt, 142.4km. Taynuilt station has two outside platforms and two tracks that allow train crossings. It is close to the resort Taynuilt with around 800 inhabitants. Taynulite is almost at sea level on Loch Etive. The most important sight is that Bonawe Furnace, an iron smelting furnace that is over 200 years old, about a kilometer north of the train station. Here, at the narrowest point of Loch Etive, there used to be a car ferry.
The railway line now runs with more or less distance to the south bank of Loch Etive to the west with beautiful views of this deeply cutting fjord and the mountains on the opposite bank.

Connel Ferry

Connel Bridge and Falls of Lora
  • 14 Connel Ferry, 153.3km. Connel Ferry station is single-track with an outside platform. It is located on the southern edge of the village Connel. The addition of "Ferry" to the name comes from the time when a ferry crossed Loch Etive here. The branch line to Ballachulish, which was closed in 1966, branched off at Connel Ferry station.
Shortly after the train station you can see the mighty steel construction of the Connel Bridge At the time of its construction in 1903 the bridge was a cantilever bridge, the railway bridge with the second largest span in Britain after the Forth Railway Bridge. This bridge once carried the railway line to Ballachulish, today it is a single-lane road bridge with traffic lights. They cannot be seen from the train Falls of Lora, Rapids at the outlet of Loch Etive (below the current bridge) that change direction with the tides.
The railway line now leads away from the water and runs through flat, hilly foreshore. The railway circumnavigates Oban in a large arc to the east and south and reaches its terminus in Oban from the south.

Oban

Oban Railway Station with McCaig's Folly in the background
  • 15 Oban, 163.3km. The station Oban is a terminus station right in the center and directly on the harbor quay. So you have short distances to the ferries to the Hebridean Islands, namely to Rubbish. Oban is a busy transportation hub and commercial center. There are numerous hotels, restaurants, pubs, shops, a whiskey distillery. From there you have a beautiful view of the city and the harbor McCaig's Folly, visible from afar on a hill.

Crianlarich to Ft. William

(View mostly on the left)

After the track branches off to the left in the direction of Oban, the train crosses the Fillan river and gradually gains height on the opposite slope; in Tyndrum it already runs 50 meters above the valley floor. The A 82 and the Oban route run parallel in the valley; Especially in the trains going south you can often see the other part of the train zooming in parallel. The valley of the Cononish River opens up to the left, in which, a little above, Scotland's only gold mining has been operated in previous centuries and again since 2011.

Upper Tydrum

  • 16 Upper Tyndrum, 103.8km. The Upper Tyndrum train station is on the hillside above the village and can be reached via a steep serpentine road. Since two competing railway companies historically built in Strath Fillan, Tyndrum with its 170 inhabitants has two railway stations. The upper station has the inner platforms with a station building in the "Swiss Chalet Style", which is empty here. Tyndrum itself is a mixture of supply base and truck stop with shops, gas stations, with the character of a caravanserai, despite the spectacular landscape all around, no place to linger.
The route rises on the wooded slope of the Meall Buidhe (653 m), later des Beinn Odhar (903 m) slowly. It crosses again the rather unspectacular watershed between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean into the water system of the Orchy River. He almost rises Beinn Dorain (1,076 m), which appears on the left in the panorama after a curve. This curve is part of a wide horseshoe-shaped curve with two bridges spanning the valley of the Allt Kinglass, Tributary of the Orchy, bypasses so that the railway can maintain its altitude. In the treeless landscape, this opens up great panoramas. The train finally bypasses the Beinn Dorain and then follows the River Orchy, still parallel to the A 82 and the West Highland Way, and reaches the Bridge of Orchy station.

Bridge of Orchy

  • 17 Bridge of Orchy, 116.3km. The Bridge of Orchy station, island platform with station building, corresponds to the standard structure. The station building is managed by a hikers' hostel. Otherwise there are still a few houses in the area, a hotel with a public pub and restaurant.
Train in the direction of Ft. William on Rannoch Moor. In the background Beinn a Chreachain and Meall Beag (right edge of the picture)
On the left you have a view of Loch Tulla as the route climbs continuously. Behind Loch Tulla, the parallel A 82 turns away to the northwest, the railway line follows its own path in the Bachtal des Water of Tulla Direction Rannoch Moor with almost no traces of settlement. Only 50 kilometers further she will be accompanied by a public road again. On the right rise a row of Munros, after the Beinn Dorain der Beinn to Dothaid (996 m), Beinn Achladair (1,038 m), Meall Buidhe (973 m) and Beinn a Chreachain (1,079 m). The railway crosses the Scottish Watershed again, here in an inhospitable moorland. The construction of the line almost failed here, gravel and tracks sank into the moor again and again, no stable subsoil far and wide. It was only possible to stabilize the route by partially digging out the peat soil and creating a "floating" foundation made of a meter-thick package of sticks and ashes. In the further course, new afforestations have defused the original impression of the wilderness a little. Nevertheless, it remains one of the wildest landscapes in Britain that the railway crosses here (which did not prevent the railway engineers from building an alternative point in the middle of the moor in preparation for heavy train traffic).

Rannoch

Rannoch station
  • 18 Rannoch, 141.2km. Organ music, screams, a battle ax waving in the fog, gelatine dripping from the ceiling - Joseph Beuys must have been impressed by the backdrop of the Rannoch Moor and his impressions of this performance Celtic (Kinloch Rannoch) implemented. Rannoch Station, four houses, a hotel that operates the station building as a tearoom in the summer (good luck to the operators of this location), that's it. But daily sleeper train to London. A single track road leads from the east; over them you could be 60 kilometers away Pitlochry to reach. To the west there is a hiking trail that reaches Kingshouse Hotel after 25 kilometers, some of which are very boggy.
On a clear day you can see the mountain groups that surround the Rannoch Moor plateau: Shiehallion to the east, the mountains of Glen Lyon to the southeast, the Orchy Mountains to the south and the mountains of Glen Coe to the west with the characteristic pyramid of the Bouchaille Etive Mhor (Admittedly, these days are rare). The railway line rises again after the station and that happens Rannoch Station Viaduct, the largest bridge on the route to Fort William, which spans a high valley on eight pillars. Kilometer after kilometer no sign of settlement; even the zealous afforestation no longer exists. Mighty safety fences against snowdrifts, even a section of the route completely built over with an artificial tunnel, remind you that it can get really winter here too. On the left a small lake Lochan a Chlaidheimh, by the way, nothing but untouched wilderness.

Corrour

Corrour stop (required stop). Daily except Sat. 2025 o'clock free of charge to London
  • 19 Corrour, 152.9km. With Corrour Station, the train not only reaches the highest station in the British standard gauge network, 408 m above sea level. It's probably the most bizarre stop, not just since the movie Trainspotting served as a backdrop. It is also the most remote and not accessible by public roads, the nearest road is 15 km to the east. There are two buildings at the train station, one of which is a quarter and (with advance booking) a restaurant. About a kilometer away is the youth hostel at Loch Ossian and the country house at the other end of Loch Ossian Corrour Lodge. This lodge was also the reason to build a train station. In exchange for permission to use the Corrour Estates land for the railway, the landowner, a wealthy Glaswegian landowner and parliamentarian, got a train station for his hunting estate. Corrour still has a free train connection to London, even if Corrour is a demand stop for this train.
Loch Treig seen from the train
To the right from the train station you have a view over Loch Ossian to the mountain range of the des Ben Alder. Shortly after the train station, the line reaches am Corrour Summit its highest point at 414 m above sea level and crosses the Scottish Watershed for the last time. Shortly afterwards the train turns onto the southeast slope of the Loch Treig a. As if on a model railway landscape, you can see the lake, the lake and the few houses from Lochtreighead down with the twin peaks of the Stob Coire Easain (1,115 m) and Stob a 'Choire Mheadhoin (1,105 m) on the opposite bank and the mountains of the Mamores and the Nevis Range on the horizon. It then goes down continuously a good 100 meters in altitude to the level of the lake that the train reaches before its northern tip. Loch Treig, a natural lake, was dammed up in the 1920s after the construction of the railway line, which made it necessary to relocate the railway with the construction of a short tunnel in the northern area of ​​the lake. Loch Treig is part of the Lochaber Hydro Project, which is used to generate hydropower for the aluminum smelter in Fort William. Water from the River Spean is dammed further east in Loch Laggan and fed to Loch Treig via a tunnel pipeline. Another 24 km long tunnel leads from Loch Treig through the Ben Nevis massif in the direction of Fort William, where a pressure pipe runs from half the height of the mountain to the power station on the smelter site. Behind the dam, the train follows River Treig and passes through reclaimed land and the first farms for the first time since Bridge of Orchy. At the confluence of the Treig in the Spean River the train makes a sharp left turn and turns west. Immediately afterwards, she arrives at Tulloch train station.

Tulloch

  • 20 Tulloch, 169.0km. Tulloch is a double-track station with outside platforms. The station building is now used as a hostel. The train station is somewhere in the middle of nowhere, there are only a few scattered houses in the area. At least there is a public road again, from Tulloch the A 86 runs parallel to the railway.
The train now follows the course of the river downwards River Spean, which (left) in a deeply cut gorge (Monessie Gorge) runs and shows numerous rapids and even a waterfall (after the intersection of the small road to Inverlair in a sharp left curve). But since a lot of the water from the Spean has been diverted for the hydropower plants of the aluminum smelter near Fort William, the river has been significantly defused, and the trip here is most likely worthwhile after heavy rainfall or when the snow melts. Dennoch gehört die Fahrt entlang des Spean zu den landschaftlchen Höhepunkten der Strecke. Das Tal weitet sich nun etwas und gibt nach links den Blick auf die Berggruppe des Aonach Mhor (1.221 m), frei, hinter dem sich Ben Nevis, der vor hier noch nicht sichtbar ist, versteckt.

Roy Bridge

Blick von Roy Bridge auf Aonach Mòr
  • 21 Roy Bridge, 178.2km. Der Haltepunkt Roy Bridge ist ein einfacher Seitenbahnsteig an der eingleisigen Strecke ohne Stationsgebäude. Er liegt mitten im gleichnamigen Ort.
Die Bahn folgt weiterhin dem Tal des Spean, das ins Great Glen übergeht. Grüne Weiden, Land unter dem Pflug, Bauernhöfe, Siedlungen, welch ein Kontrast zu noch wenigen Minuten zuvor. Im Hintergrund links schiebt sich allmählich die steile Nordseite des Ben Nevis (1.344 m, höchster Berg Grossbritanniens) hinter Aonach Mhor hervor.

Spean Bridge

  • 22 Spean Bridge, 183.5km. Der Bahnhof Spean Bridge, zweigleisig mit Aussenbahnsteigen, liegt im Süden der gleichnamigen Ortschaft. Im Stationsgebäude befindet sich jetzt ein Restaurant. Spean Bridge ist ein Verkehrsknoten im Great Glen, hier zweigt die A 86 Richtung Nordosten von der A 82, die dem Grat Glen folgt, ab. Früher zweigte hier auch eine Stichbahn Richtung Fort Augustus ab, die allerdings seit dem 2. Weltkrieg stillgelegt ist. Der Ort wird überragt von der 6 Meter hohen Bronzestatue des Commando Memorials, 1 km nordwestlich (Blick rechts), das an die in der Region während des Zweiten Weltkriegs ihren Einsatz trainierenden Alliierten Truppen erinnert.
Die Bahn rollt durch das weite Tal auf ihre (temporäre) Endstation Fort William zu. Links weiterhin am Horizont die Kulisse von Aoanach Mhor und Ben Nevis, rechts kurz hinter der Ortschaft Torliundy, das keine Bahnstation hat, in parkähnlich gestalteter Landschaft ein opulenter Landsitz im Stil viktorianischer Zeit, das Inverlochy Castle Hotel, heute ein Fünf-Sterne-Hotel. Kurz vor Fort William links das Werksgelände der Lochaber Aluminium Smelter, die die reichlich sprudelnde Wasserkraft der Highlands nutzt, zwei massige Pipelines kommen aus dem Berg. Rechts, am Ufer des River Lochy, das Inverlochy Castle, eine Burgruine aus dem 14. Jh., die die Flussmündung des Lochy ins Loch Lochy sichert und die schon manches Scharmützel in der schottischen Geschichte sah. Dann fährt der Zug durch die Aussenbezirke von Fort William.

Fort William

  • 23 Fort William, 197.5km. Der Kopfbahnhof von Fort William liegt am nordlichen Rand des Stadtzentrums, das von hier aus fussläufig erreichbar ist. Züge nach Mallaig wechseln hier ihre Fahrtrichtung. Fort William ist die grösste Siedlung an der Westküste der Highlands, Verkehrsknoten, Einkaufs- und Handelszentrum und Basis für Wanderungen und Skizirkus rund um den Ben Nevis- insgesamt als Stadt eher praktisch als schön.

Fort William bis Mallaig

(Aussicht meist links)

Die Strecke nach Mallaig, der sagenumwobenen historischen Viehtreiberroute "Road to the Isles" folgend, wurde Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts als Erweiterung der West Highland Line gebaut. Die kommerzielle Erwartung war, einen schnellen Transport für Heringsfänge zu ermöglichen.
Nach Verlassen des Bahnhofs Fort William in nordöstlicher Richtung zweigt die Strecke nach Mallaig links von der Highland-Strecke ab, passiert rechts das Inverlochy Castle und kreuzt den River Lochy kurz vor dessen Mündung ins Meer. Die Fahrt geht über ein, teilweise rückgebautes, Gewerbegebiet und Wohngebiete auf dem flachen Schwemmkegel des Lochy nun in nordwestlicher Richtung.

Banavie

  • 24 Banavie, 201.2km. Der Haltepunkt ist ein einfacher Seitenbahnsteig und liegt am Nordrand der Siedlung Caol. Nach rückwärts öffnet sich der Blick zum Ben Nevis.
Unmittelbar hinter dem Halt Banavie quert die Bahn den Caledonian Canal, den schiffbaren Wasserweg, der das Great Glen Richtung Inverness quert. Nach rechts hat man den Blick auf die Neptunes Staircase, eine Schleusenkaskade aus acht Schleusen. Gebaut Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts, heben sie Schiffe um insgesamt 20 Meter auf das Niveau des Loch Lochy an. Der Zug beschreibt weiter eine Linkskurve und erreicht in westlicher Richtung nach kurzer Fahrt den Bahnhof Corpach. Durch die geänderte Fahrtrichtung taucht Ben Nevis in Fahrtrichtung links hinten auf.

Corpach

  • 25 Corpach, 202.8km. Der Halt in Corpach, wieder ein einfacher Seitenbahnsteig, liegt zwischen der Ortslage Corpach und dem Loch Eil, einem tief ins Land gezogenen Meeresfjord, dem der Zug noch eine Weile folgen wird.
Der Zug passiert links das HMS St. Christopher, ein ehemaliges Ausbildungszentrum der Marine im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Er verlässt dann den (nach Highland-Standards) dicht besiedelten Speckgürtel von Fort William und erreicht, immer am Nordufer des Loch Eil entlang und parallel zur A 830, den Halt Loch Eil Outward Bound.

Loch Eil Outward Bound

  • 26 Loch Eil Outward Bound, 207.6km. Der Haltepunkt Loch Eil Outward Bound, ein Seitenbahnsteig an der eingleisigen Strecke, ist erst in den 1980er Jahren (nach kaledonischen Zeitskalen also vorgestern) gebaut worden, um die gleichnamige Internatsschule anzubinden.
Die Strecke folgt weiter dem Loch Eil, das am Bahnhof Locheilside endet.

Locheilside

  • 27 Locheilside, 213.6km. Der Haltepunkt Locheilside ist ebenfalls ein einfacher Seitenbahnsteig an der eingleisigen Strecke und wird nur auf Verlangen bedient ("Request Stop"). Ein Aussteigewunsch muss vorher dem Schaffner mitgeteilt werden.
Glenfinnan Viadukt
Die Strecke verlässt einige Kilometer hinter dem Stop das Meer, Loch Eil endet hier, und steigt leicht an. Die Berge rechts gehören zum Knoydart, einer der am Wenigsten erschlossenen Landschaften der britischen Inseln. Weite Teile des Gebiets sind nur zu Fuss oder, an der Küste, mit dem Boot erreichbar. Links öffnet sich der Blick über den langgezogenen Binnensee Loch Shiel. Etwa einen Kilometer vor dem nächsten Bahnhof quert der Zug in einer weiten Linkskurve die wohl beeindruckendste Brücke der Strecke - das Glenfinnan Viaduct. Diese Bogenbrücke mit ihren 21 Pfeilern aus massivem Beton war eine Pionierleistung des Bauunternehmer Robert McAlpine, Spitzname "Concrete Bob" mit dem damals noch neuen Werkstoff. Glenfinnan Viaduct ist spätestens seit seinen Auftritten in den Harry-Potter-Filmen und dem dampfbetriebenen "Hogwarts Express" bei Muggels und Zauberern gleichermassen bekannt und vielgeknipstes Fotomotiv. Links vor Loch Shiel erhebt sich das Glenfinnan Monument, das an den gescheiterten Jakobitenaufstand von 1745 erinnert, der von hier seinen Anfang nahm.

Glenfinnan

  • 28 Glenfinnan, 224.1km. Der Bahnhof Glenfinnan besteht aus zwei Gleisen mit einem Innenbahnsteig mit Stationsgebäude. Der Bahnhof liegt oberhalb des Ortes, der aus ein paar verstreuten Häusern besteht. Im Stationsgebäude befindet sich ein Museum zur Geschichte der Bahnstrecke.
Links an der vor malerischer Kulisse gelegenen Glenfinnan-Church vorbei folgt die Strecke einem Seitental des Glenfinnan mit steilen Bergen zu beiden Seiten. Nach zwei kurzen Tunneln in kurzer Folge erreicht die Strecke das Loch Eilt rechts und verläuft am Südufer des Sees, während die Strasse am Nordufer bleibt. Am Ende des Loch Eilt folgt die Strecke dem River Ailort und erreicht am Loch Ailort wieder die See.

Lochailort

  • 29 Lochailort, 239.0km. Der Halt Lochailort, mittlerweile zu einem Bedarfshalt herabgestuft, besteht aus einem Seitenbahnsteig an der eingleisigen Strecke. Das Ausweichgleis ist zurückgebaut. Der Halt bediente ein Landhaus mit ein paar verstreuten Häusern, Lochailort House, das kurz hinter dem Halt links für einen Moment zu sehen ist.
Hinter dem Halt macht die Strecke ein Rechtskurve und passiert einen kurzen Tunnel. Kurz danach, links, die pittoresk liegende Kirche Our Lady of the Braes, die als Dorfkirche von Pennan ("Local Hero") Filmruhm erlangte. Dahinter die Meeresbucht Loch Ailort. Der Zug passiert weitere kurze Tunnel und quert, die parallele Landstrasse mal rechts, mal links, die kleine Halbinsel Ardnish mit einem kleinen See rechts, bevor er am Loch Nan Uamh erneut das Meer (links) erreicht. Kurz vor dem Halt in Beasdale kommt der Zug aus einem (kurzen) Tunnel direkt auf die Brücke Beasdale Viaduct.

Beasdale

  • 30 Beasdale, 246.6km. Beasdale ist heute ein Bedarfshalt, bestehtend aus einem Seitenbahnsteig. Es befinden sich nur ein paar verstreute Einzelhäuser in der Umgebung des Haltepunkts.
Die Bahnstrecke passiert nach einem weiteren kurzen Tunnel den Landsitz Arisaig House, der links kurz zu sehen ist mit dem zum Meer abfallenden Park. Er kürzt dann erneut erneut eine Halbinsel ab, quert den Borrowdale und den Larichmore auf Betonviadukten und erreicht den Bahnhof Arisaig. Über das Loch nan Ceall geht der Blick (links) hinaus aufs offene Meer mit den Inseln Rhum (mit den hohen Bergen, der mittelgrossen Insel Eigg und der kleinen Insel Muck.

Arisaig

  • 31 Arisaig, 252.3km Arisaig ist der westlichste Bahnhof im britischen Eisenbahnnetz. Die Abende mit oft spektakulären Sonnenuntergängen können lang werden, die Sonne geht 25 Minuten später als in Greenwich unter. Der Bahnhof Arisaig hat zwei Aussenbahnsteige mit Ausweichgleis und Stationsgebäude. Der Bahnhof liegt nordöstlich und etwas oberhalb des kleinen einstigen Fischer- und mittlerweile Urlauberdorfes.
Der Zug dreht nach Norden und verbleibt auf dem Höhenzug, der Loch Morar (östlich; kurzzeitig rechts zu sehen) vom Meer trennt. Damit meidet er das tiefer gelegene Schwemmland, so dass man immer wieder (links) den Blick hinaus aufs Meer mit den Inseln hat. Er kreuzt den wassererreichen River Morar, Überlauf des gleichnamigen See. Loch Morar ist der tiefste See Schottlands und beherbergt ein Seeungeheuer, Morag (naja, vielleicht). Der Mündungsbereich des Morar hat ausgedehnte Sandstrände, die u.a. in Local Hero als Filmkulisse dienten.

Morar

  • 32 Morar, 259.5km. Der Halt in Morar besteht aus einem Seitenbahnsteig an der einspurigen Strecke. Er liegt am südlichen Ende der Häuserzeile, die den Ort ausmacht.
Die letzten zwei Kilometer vor der Endstation Mallaig verläuft die Strecke direkt an der Küste.

Mallaig

Bahnhof Mallaig - Endbahnhof der West Highland Line
  • 33 Mallaig, 264.3km. Der Kopfbahnhof in Mallaig liegt direkt am Fährhafen und mitten in der Kleinstadt. Mallaig ist ein Fährhafen für die Inneren Hebriden, vor Allem nach Skye (Armadale) und die kleineren Inseln Rhum, Eigg und Muck. Ein weiteres Fährschiff fährt nach Inverie auf dem Knoydart und Tarbet, zwei Orte auf der britischen Hauptinsel und dennoch nicht mit Strassen erschlossen.
Mallaig hat auch eine beträchtliche Fischereiflotte, ist aber arm an touristischen Highlights. Ein Ort des Transits.

Literatur

  • John Thomas (1965): The West Highland Railway. Newton Abbot: David and Charles (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-7153-7281-5 .

Weblinks

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