Fort Williams...and Harry Potter

Ben Nevis - on a beautiful day!

Fort Williams is a small town on Loch Linnhe, a beautiful place

Loch Linnhe - in the rain...

with gorgeous mountain scenery. However, to keep all that green, it has one of the highest rainfall records in the country. It is famous for the presence of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland (Britain too, for that matter)

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As an Outlander fan, it is the location of Fort William, the fort that Claire is taken to in the first Outlander book. For the Harry Potter fan…there’s the Hogwart Express…otherwise know as the Jacobite train. It does indeed travel over the famed bridge as Harry and friends are carried to Hogwart School of Wizadry. The car(s)

for the set were crafted from older coaches but they do include a car on the train that is in the style used in the movie (and you can ride there - for a fee) as well as a small store that, of course, sells memorabilia for both the Jacobite and Harry Potter experience (have to be sure to have something for everyone).

I did make a discovery on this trip. In the movie, the classic train scene shows the train heading out towards Hogwarts, the steam locomotive pulling it across the iconic bridge. Tried to catch it on the way out and while I got the bridge, I never did get the engine included. On the way back, I once again had the opportunity, capturing 3 shots of the engine with a couple of the cars. I was ecstatic…until I realized why they never show Harry returning on the train…the engine pulls the train backwards on the return trip! If you look closely, the train is led by the coal car, with the engine following…