Scotland By Train

An hour and 20 minutes out of Glasgow, as the train approaches the station at Arrochar and Tarbet, the gentle landscape outside the window suddenly changes.

Loch Lomond appears, rushing streams tumble beneath the tracks and the rugged Arrochar Alps loom up. We’ve crossed the invisible border into the Scottish Highlands.

Over the next four hours the train will sweep past snow-topped mountains, waterfalls, lochs and glens, ruined abbeys and castles, across a desolate moor, over a heart-stopping 100-foot-high viaduct, then along the rocky Atlantic Ocean shore to its terminus at the fishing town of Mallaig, gateway to the Isle of Skye.

Taking the train along the West Highland Line is an excellent way to see the fabled Highland scenery. The train rides above the road, commanding sweeping views from large picture windows, and goes where no car road can go--across empty Rannoch Moor. Also, it liberates the traveler from navigating the left side of the narrow, twisty Highlands roads in a car.

A dozen or so tourists were taking the West Highland Line with us. We all had plenty of room, settled into the train’s upholstered seats, and spread maps, snacks and cameras out on the Formica tables.

Although not mentioned in any of the standard guidebooks, the West Highland Line is a favorite with train buffs and tourists.

It follows a route much traveled in the imagination, past Loch Lomond’s bonnie banks and Rob Roy’s cave, over “Kidnapped’s” escape route, past the glens that hid “Brigadoon” and stole Robert Burns’ heart, through a land famed for fierce clan feuds, tartan kilts and bagpipes.

It was this line, built during the Victorian railway fever, that first conquered the savage terrain of the Highlands and opened it to the rest of the world.

Two engineering marvels stand out: the track laid across Rannoch Moor’s 20 square miles of peat bog, track that floats on a mattress of tree roots, brushwood, earth and ashes, and the 100-foot-high Glenfinnan Viaduct that sweeps in a vast horseshoe curve around mountain-ringed Loch Shiel and the little Bonnie Prince Charlie monument far below.

The Highlands region is still remote and sparsely settled, and retains its own vocabulary for the dramatic scenery: the misty, U-shaped valleys are called glens, the magically lit, finger-shaped lakes are called lochs, and the jagged, cloud-topped mountains are bens.

These bens are small mountains. The highest is Ben Nevis near Ft. William, at 4,406 feet the highest in Britain. But scale can deceive. The mountains rise sharply from sea-level lochs and look enormous.

For train buffs and other travelers, the highlight of the West Highland Line is the 2 1/2-hour ride from Ft. William to Mallaig through a landscape of rugged majesty, thick with lochs, glens and mountains, down to a rocky, irregular coastline as wild as the highlands.

It is on this stretch of track that special tourist trains are hauled by an antique steam locomotive, whose haunting whistle and clacking wheels evoke a glamorous black-and-white movie past.

BritRail operates its steam-hauled excursion train in high season, May to September; this special train requires reservations that can only be made in Britain. If you happen to be traveling by car through Scotland, you can still take the Ft. William-to-Mallaig leg by rail. I’ve done it both ways. The view is better from the train.

In addition to BritRail, two luxury train tours take the West Highland route, steam-hauled from Ft. William to Mallaig.

Abercrombie & Kent’s Royal Scotsman, a refurbished antique train comparable to the Orient Express, carries 28 high-paying passengers on a champagne journey, while Capricorn Tour’s West Highlander, a spiffed-up first-class sleeper train, offers 140 passengers a more modest alternative.

It’s truly a shame to miss the Isle of Skye, but if necessary, the West Highland Line can be traveled round trip in one very long day (15 hours from Edinburgh, 13 from Glasgow), with half an hour layover in Mallaig.

On arrival in the island’s thriving fishing port, day-trippers race across the road to the fish shop to buy oak-smoked Scottish salmon or Mallaig kippers, reputed to be the world’s best, then wander out onto the pier to watch the seals.

For those who stay the night, there’s little to do but sit by the hotel fire with an ale and watch the sky change colors over the sea, then climb the hill to the pub for some fish and chips.

From Mallaig it’s a half-hour ferry ride to Skye. In summer a car ferry makes several trips a day. By mid-October there are one or two no-car ferries a day, weather permitting. Stay in touch with the ferry office: Our 12:30 p.m. ferry left at 11 a.m. in advance of a predicted gale.

Plan With Flexibility

That’s why this trip requires both careful planning and flexibility. Transportation is sparse but designed to mesh: The noon train would have made the 12:30 p.m. ferry.

BritRail’s Highlands and Islands Travelpass comes with a thick book of train, ferry and bus schedules that became our trip bible.

Faced with the prospect of a gale and no ferry, we worked out an alternate itinerary that went by train and bus north to Kyle of Lochalsh, where the five-minute ferry to Skye runs all day and rarely succumbs to the West Highlands’ notoriously soggy weather.

In Skye, traveling via rental car is recommended (bus travel can be frustrating). The mountain and coastal scenery is stunning.

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The two luxury trains--Royal Scotsman and West Highlander--are alike only in that both are tours of the Scottish Highlands. Otherwise, the experiences offered are different.

Aboard the Royal Scotsman the passenger is a guest on an elegant private train of the Edwardian era.

During the day most people sit in antique armchairs in a 1912 saloon with glass-fronted bookcase, writing desk and birch walls, or in the 1863 windowed observation car with its curving art nouveau lines.

Even the most modest sleeping compartments--the singles--have washbasins and bed tables of burnished wood. Amazingly, there are showers and hot water on board.

Excellent nouvelle cuisine is offered. French Champagne, single-malt Scotch and tea is available, and is included in the fare.

The excursions provide good glimpses of Scottish life. A typical one visits the Cameron clan chief, who greets guests in full kilted regalia and welcomes them into his ancestral home living room.

The train’s nurturing Glaswegian guide, who can be persuaded to sing familiar Scottish folk tunes, is a definite plus.

Guest pay well for this unusual journey. For three days it’s $1,590 to $1,850 per person; the four-day northern and eastern tour, $2,400 to $2,810, and the six-day Scotland tour, $3,990 to $4,690. The train operates out of Edinburgh beginning Tuesday and continuing through Nov. 16.

The Flying Scotsman’s West Highlander trip covers a lot of ground, including the route of the Royal Scotsman. After a night in London, passengers board in London for an overnight journey to Scotland, spend the second night at a hotel in Ft. William and the third night en route.

The last night is spent in London. The cars are refurbished BritRail trains from the 1950s, with standard 1970s sleeping cars (no showers).

Passengers have reserved seats during the day and are served meals at their seats. The food is good and plentiful.

The five-day trip, which begins in London and includes three days on the train, costs $895 to $965 per person. It started operating this season in late March, continuing through Oct. 4.

Capricorn’s Highlander train takes the northern route all the way to John O’Groats, and is operable from April 26 through Oct. 11; the fare is $965-$999.

Both trains travel the Ft. William to Mallaig track hauled by an antique steam locomotive.

For more information on the Royal Scotsman, contact Abercrombie & Kent International, 1420 Kensington Road, Oak Brook, Ill. 60521, toll-free (800) 323-7308.

For more information on the West Highlander, contact Capricorn Tours, 15 Penn Plaza, 415 7th Ave., New York 10001, (800) 426-6544 or (212) 239-8372.

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During the high season the sun sets as late as 10 p.m. in the Highlands. Heather blooms in August and September. Pack for rain and temperatures colder than England.

Our four-day itinerary was Edinburgh-Mallaig-Isle of Skye-Kyle of Lochalsh-Inverness-Edinburgh and proved a good introduction to the region. The Highlands and Islands Travelpass for 1989, good for train, bus and ferry in the Highlands, costs $95 for seven days, $123 for 14 days during the summer peak season ($60/$83 off-peak, March through May, and October).

The Travelpass is sold in the United States by Scots-American Travel Advisors, 26 Rugen Drive, Harrington Park, N.J. 07640, (800) 247-7268. You can get the invaluable Travelpass book of train, ferry and bus schedules when you have your pass validated in Scotland.

A BritRail pass good for train travel throughout Scotland, England and Wales is $179 for eight days, $259 for 15 days in economy class.

The steam train excursion from Ft. William to Mallaig (June to September, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; May to October, Thursdays) requires reservations that can be made only in Britain, at any mainline BritRail station. The Travelpass does not apply; the fare is about 7 one way, 11 round trip, children half price. During the off-season there is no Sunday train to Mallaig. For more information on ScotRail, contact BritRail at (213) 624-8787

Recommended accommodations:

The Marine Hotel, Mallaig, Inverness-shire PH41 4PY (single about $25 U.S., double $41, breakfast included). This is a decent, modest hotel. Be sure to have Mallaig kippers for breakfast. B&B; choices are posted on the bulletin board at the train station in Mallaig.

The Arisaig House, a gracious country hotel, is about 40 minutes from Mallaig by car or 20 minutes by train. It’s open April through October. Book through David B. Mitchell & Co., 200 Madison Ave., New York 10016, phone toll-free (800) 372-1323 or (212) 696-1323 (double with breakfast, 112 minimum; an excellent dinner adds about 25.