Glenfinnan Viaduct

The Glenfinnan Viaduct carries the single-track West Highland Line in a long curve across the valley of the River Finnan at the head of Loch Shiel, and it is hard to imagine a railway placed more beautifully. Twenty-one semicircular arches, each spanning 15 metres, march across the glen at a height of about 30 metres on a sweeping curve, for a total length of 380 metres. Built between 1897 and 1901 by Robert McAlpine and Sons, it is the longest concrete railway bridge in Scotland. McAlpine, nicknamed Concrete Bob, chose mass concrete, with no steel reinforcement at all, because the local schist was so hard to work; his son Robert ran the job at 28.

Below the viaduct the valley opens onto the waters of Loch Shiel, and at its head stands the Glenfinnan Monument. This 18-metre tower, designed by James Gillespie Graham and built in 1815, marks the spot where Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, raised his standard on 19 August 1745 and launched the last Jacobite rising; a statue of a Highlander was placed on top in 1835. From the slopes above, the curve of arches, the column and the loch fit into a single view that has become one of the defining images of the Highlands.

The line runs between Fort William and Mallaig, and it was built to link the west-coast fishing ports with the rest of the country. Today ScotRail trains from Glasgow cross the viaduct year-round, and in summer The Jacobite steam train makes the crossing too. That steam train played the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films, beginning with the Chamber of Secrets in 2002, which is why so many people now climb the hillside to wait for it. The viaduct also appears on the Bank of Scotland ten-pound note and in the 1969 film Ring of Bright Water. A long-told tale says a horse and cart fell into one of the piers during construction; scans eventually found them, but in the Loch nan Uamh viaduct further along the line.

Getting there

Glenfinnan lies roughly halfway between Fort William and Mallaig; Fort William is about 21 km away. Glenfinnan station, on the West Highland Line, is right beside the viaduct and has a small railway museum. The nearest large airport is Glasgow (GLA), about 128 km away.