'Harry Potter' train to operate over Glenfinnan Viaduct next summer

A 72-year-old steam locomotive called Lord of the Isles will haul Scotland’s “Harry Potter” train between Fort William and Mallaig next summer.

The daily Jacobite service, which doubled as the Hogwart’s Express in the movies, runs every morning from April 4 to October 28.

There will also be a daily afternoon service between May 2 and September 30.

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The heavy gradients on the 84-mile round trip over the Glenfinnan Viaduct need powerful locomotives, with the Lord of the Isles, a K1 class engine built in Glasgow being suitable for the journey.

The black 72-year-old steam locomotive called Lord of the Isles will haul Scotland’s “Harry Potter” train between Fort William and Mallaig next summer.The black 72-year-old steam locomotive called Lord of the Isles will haul Scotland’s “Harry Potter” train between Fort William and Mallaig next summer.
The black 72-year-old steam locomotive called Lord of the Isles will haul Scotland’s “Harry Potter” train between Fort William and Mallaig next summer.

The train was built in 1949 to a design credited to A H Peppercorn.

A former LMS Black 5 locomotive called The Lancashire Fusilier will also operate the service.

A spokesman for the Jacobite said: “This has been described as the greatest railway journey in the world and it is a journey of impressive extremes.

“It starts near Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, calls at Arisaig, Britain’s most-westerly train station, skirts Loch Morar, the country’s deepest freshwater loch, and the River Morar, the shortest in Britain, before arriving next to Loch Nevis, the deepest seawater loch in Europe.”

Return tickets cost £52 or £30 for children. For more details phone 0333 996 6720 or see westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip

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