Scotland and the Lakes. Holiday 2011. part V

Wednesday : As the weather was somewhat inclement we stayed at home and 'pottered'  It has lashed down with Heavy Rain all night and continued for most of the day but is has stopped in time for our train journey this evening . As we are traveling first class we have made smoked salmon sandwiches and have some miniature bottles of wine to wash it down along with fruit cake.

 Our special holiday treat was the journey on the Jacobite express a proper full size stream engine with Pullman coaches.

The real treat is traveling first class !  With our own table and lamp, curtains and a heater. Coffee was served on the way out and on the way back with biscuits and fudge .

    Is that Harry Potter ?  I wonder ?

In spite of the rather damp beginning the train windows dried out and most people got a good view . We had traveled the road on the previous day and as the road runs parallel and very close to the track, we had the advantage of having taken pictures from the coach  and knowing where the best vantage points would be along the way .

Oh look the Train has a tender behind

 Now for some Trainy pictures for you railway buffs

This is the train that is featured in the 'Harry Potter' films and the scenes over the viaduct are well known .

So there was an unseemly scramble for places to take pictures of the train traveling over the viaduct .The smoke was billowing in the wind and blowing back into the carriage windows . some people tried to get to the doors windows but they were either to slow and or the restricted space was overcrowded and by the time they were in postion we were past the point of view.

But after the excitement every body .[well most people] forgot that the train passed over the viaduct on the way back, and we were now the last carriage not the first.as on the way out .So I had the window to myself, of course the light was not in my favour but I did get some shots. as you can see .

One piece of romance was when the guard presented a young lady with a bouquet of flowers as her boyfriend proposed to her .

But this is a different 'Bird' a nest builder none the less. Must have supreme confidence in the railway timetable  definitely not a 'Virgin'

Having arrived in Mallaig [again] at around 7.30 p.m we found it was closed . Now such is the demand for  the train trips, that this year, for the first time they have decided to run an evening special and we made history by being on the first of these 'Jocobite night flights' so to speak.

In their exuberance and excitement at putting on these extra trains, somebody forgot to tell Mallig we were coming .So several carriage loads of people from the far flung corners of the empire  [Luton. The Wirral. Essex . Japan . America etc.]  found they had money to spend and nowhere to spend it ! The excitement was obviously to much for some and so the lifeboat was launched

The Chip shop was open though as the boats had just come in with a fresh catch of chips and stuff.

But we did enjoy our smoked salmon sandwiches and wine 'en route'