TO THE MAINLAND'S REMOTEST PUB

Leaving Fort William, the railway line splits at Mallaig Junction. We take the left.

Next stop, Banavie, in 1961 (Ben Brooksbank).

The signal box and swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal iin 1972.

Corpach station, NBR.

The Caledonian Canal enters the sea at Corpach. Ben Nevis looks down on proceedings.

In 1745 the Jacobite Rebellion began at Glenfinnan. This monument commemorates the event.

Here's the little chapel close by.

Glenfinnan station is a passing point and used to have a nice NBR signal box.

156 467 arrives at Glenfinnan.

Just beyond the station, the famous viaduct, built by "Concrete Bob" and seen in a Harry Potter film.

The scenery on the Mallaig Extension gets wilder as we approach the coast.

There was once another signal box at Arisaig.

Morar station is the penultimate one.

And so, to Mallaig, with the Isle of Rhum beyond.

NBR 4-4-0 no. 487 is seen at Mallaig shed circa 1905.

Now it's 1934 and LNER 9406 is in charge of a fish train.

Mallaig station once had its own signal box.

Here's the station around 1970 (Les Flint).

27 004 at Mallaig in 1979.

62005 arrives at Mallaig on its regular run in 2003.

Plenty of fishing boats still use Mallaig harbour.

The lifeboat stands ready.

The Armadale ferry arrives from Skye.

We take the little mail boat up Loch Nevis and soon approach Tarbert.

Here is the hamlet of Tarbert and its little chapel.

After a look at the head of Upper Loch Nevis.....

.....we head for Inverie, on the mainland, but with no road access.

The mail boat has arrived at Inverie.

In front of us is a pub! The Old Forge! Closed at the time of writing, but will re-open soon. News here.

Tomorrow we'll be departing from here.

The route can still be followed on this map.

 

PASSING THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN

We leave the Isle of Mull behind and hit the mainland again at Connel Ferry, on the old Callender & Oban line and junction for the closed Ballachulish branch.

An LMS 4-6-0 calls at Connel Ferry in 1939.

The branch once crossed the loch by means of this cantilever bridge, now used solely by road traffic.(Memestorm - Creative Commons License).

At Ballachulish there was a ferry across Loch Leven. 

Ballachulish Ferry had its own station (Ben Brooksbank).

Here's the main station at Ballachuish, the end of the line (Ben Brooksbank).

A local independent, MacConnachers, was based in Ballachulish.

Highland Ominbuses, succesor to MacBraynes, served the small town.

Gaelichbus later had its depot here.

This fabulous little bus was found in Glencoe village (Les Flint).

Some scenes in the Pass of Glencoe.

The Falls of Glencoe and some rapids nearby.

We run alongside Loch Leven.....

....and soon arrive at the head of the loch at Kinlochleven. Here we find Atas Brewery, during a Crookham Travel trip in 2003 (Ron Parkin).

Atlas beers are still brewed, but no longer here. The nearby Tailrace Inn is still going, but no longer serves the Atlas beers.

As the crow flies, the route to Fort William passes by Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain.

Fort William sits below, at sea level.

Fort William's station was built by the North British Railway.

 

LNER 9490 is seen "on shed" at Fort William.

A "Beavertail" observation saloon at the old loco shed in 1964 (Les Flint).

Diesel and steam were present two years later (Les Flint).

More pictures by Les Flint, outside the station, with plenty of MacBrayne's buses.

BR built a new station, at the other end of town.

Preserved LMS 5407 leaves the new loco sidings at Ford William prior to taking up a trip to Mallaig,

Highland Omnibuses served Fort William.

Highland Omnibuses became Highland Country for a while.

Rapson's later took over.

This is the last we'll see of Gaelicbus.

Right, that's it for now. The next post will see us getting really remote. Follow the map here.