We spent most of the day taking a wonderful round-trip train ride from Fort William to Mallaig on “The Jacobite” steam train operated by the West Coast Railway Co. The route follows the famous “Road to the Isles.” Especially interesting is the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct with views over Loch Shiel and the Jacobite monument where Bonnie Prince Charles raised his standard in 1745 in an attempt to regain the Throne of Great Britain for his father James Edward, “King over the Water.”

We learned that this section of the railroad will appear in the second Harry Potterr film due out in 2002; we also caught a glimpse of a train on a siding near Fort William that we were told was the “Hogworts Express.”