Harry Potter Trail, The

A moderately taxing walk which starts at Glenfinnan station, passes through a tunnel under the railway line and contours around the slope for a half-mile (1 km) to overlook the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This vantage point gives a view which has become familiar to fans of the Harry Potter films, based on the books of J.K. Rowling (b.1965), where the steam-driven Hogwarts' Express crosses over this same viaduct. In the summer, visitors can time their walk to see The Jacobite, the same train which appears in the films, pulling a tourist train over the viaduct twice daily. The Jacobite, one of only two remaining B1 Class locomotives, was built at the Hyde Park Works in Glasgow in 1947. It saw mainline service briefly with the London and North Eastern Railway, and then with British Railways, but was sold for scrap in 1968. It was saved by a group of enthusiasts from North London and restored over the next 25 years at the cost of almost £250,000.

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