All language subtitles for The Worlds Most Scenic Railway Journeys Series 3 Part 2 West Highland Line 1080p

Escape with us on a legendary voyage

through
the western Scottish Highlands

as we pass through some of
the world's most spectacular scenery

en route
to the glorious Isle of Skye.

It's a little ice-age gem.
It's absolutely astounding.

On this incredible journey,

we travel through landscapes steeped
in folklore and myth...

It just oozes history.

You get the smell of that
in your body

as soon as you come up here.

..pass through an ancient landscape
of hills and lochs...

..a land filled
with tradition and story.

It was a way of life
very close to the land
and to nature.

Oh, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

We'll meet the people who live and
work along this special railway...

It is the most gorgeous place
up here.

Everyone's in awe
when they come off the train.

..before we arrive
at our enchanting destination.

Skye has an atmosphere
that I have never encountered

anywhere else in the world.

This is no ordinary railway journey.

This is one of the most scenic
railway journeys in the world -

Our journey begins in Glasgow,

It's a world-class cultural gem,

The city's latest architectural
highlight is Queen Street station

It's here at precisely 12.23
each weekday

that passengers board
an unassuming train,

a Class 170 diesel-engine Turbostar,

WOMAN: Ladies and gentlemen,
the front two coaches are
for stations to Oban

and the rear four coaches are going
to Fort William and Mallaig.

Our four-carriage train soon weaves
its way

It's a route whose passing landscapes
inspired poets and writers

and is a favourite

of veteran rail ambassador
and railway afficionado John.

It's extraordinary
how the journey unfolds

and the train takes you to places
that the roads cannot reach.

It's also, in a sense, a journey
that keeps on developing.

The first leg
of our 200-mile journey takes us

Stopping at Ardlui
we then journey north

through the remote Western Highlands,

pulling in at Upper Tyndrum,

then Corrour,
Britain's highest station,

and Fort William,
home to the country's tallest peak.

Finally we cross
the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct

before arriving at our destination,
Mallaig,

30 miles into our journey,

..with salt-water Loch Long
on one side of the tracks

At the heart
of this 720-square-mile wilderness

Loch Lomond contains
over 30 separate islands,

a miraculous ancient landscape

So we've just passed over
the Highland Boundary Fault

and this is where two plates over
thousands and thousands of years -

40 million years, in fact -
came crashing together

Albeit over a long period of time,

One of the islands near
the southern end is Inchcailloch,

a protected gem
unchanged for decades.

You just never know
what you're going to see.

I thought I was about to see
my first otter

and it turned out it was a squirrel.

All this woodland here is
Atlantic oak woodland,

which forms part
of the Celtic rainforest.

The conditions here are ideal.
It's wet and mild

and it has really, really good
air quality,

which makes the perfect conditions
for growing not just these trees

but all these mosses and lichens,

which gives it
this really lush appeal.

At the top of island,
Pinus sylvestris or Scots pine.

These rare trees are a living remnant

of Scotland's
original temperate rainforest

that first grew here
almost 10,000 years ago.

I think this is
one of my favourite views
in the whole of the national park.

It means peace to me.

I see such a big landscape,
such a lot going on in it,

all the different habitats

and the associated wildlife
and people that are inside that -

Far below, our train weaves its way

through mile after mile
of dense woodland

that surrounds the loch.

The forests are back now.
Oh, yeah - now the forests are back,

so that's nice.

So Tarbet is the Gaelic for "the
place where they drag the boats",

so if you come to a place
called Tarbet

it's usually on an isthmus,
a narrow piece of land

between two lochs.

And this is no exception
because this Tarbet lies

It's from here in days gone by

that Viking raiders would launch
their boats

Local wild swimmer Bev won't be
taking on the loch dwellers

but she will be trying
to conquer water

that can reach
as low as four degrees Celsius.

Going into the water may
be considered the worst part

but it's also
the most exciting part.

We call ourselves
the Callander Coven,

er, because there's three of us
mostly swim together

Warm water, I think we call...
It's OK. Or it's braw.

When it's not OK, well, there's also
a lot of swearing at times.

Some days in the depths of winter
you do question your own sanity

It's incredible.

You're submersed in one element
completely

and then you look at the landscape -

You're so in tune
with every one of your senses.

You're listening, looking, feeling

because you're always in
that moment.

It's musical.

Even when the weather is grim
and dreich and misty,

On really calm days
when the loch is still

and the wind is blowing in the west,

you'll hear the train
just working its way up the track

Next, our train journeys north,
deeper into the Trossachs,

to enter a landscape steeped
in history, legend and folklore.

We're 70 miles into one of the
world's most scenic railway journeys

Our final destination is Mallaig
and the Isle of Skye.

Our journey continues on

through the northern reaches
of the national park,

stopping at Ardlui and Upper Tyndrum,

home of one of Scotland's
best-kept geological secrets,

So we're now climbing out
of the Loch Lomond system of rivers

and we're now in
the country of Rob Roy MacGregor,

who was Scotland's favourite bandit,
a sort of Robin Hood character,

By the time our train pulls in
to Ardlui,

The station itself -
an ancient Gaelic name

that means high ground
of the calves -

echoes a sweeping landscape beyond

That'll do, Jess. That'll do.

Fergus is the last farmer
in his valley

to still follow crofting traditions

that date back
to the era of Highland clans.

Stay there. Good girl.

Stay there, Jess.
I don't need you in here just now.

Now, ladies,
let's have a look at you.

How are we doing?

Easy.
Steady now, steady now, steady.

There we go.
Ah, you're a fine-looking bunch.

Fergus keeps
traditional Highland breeds

on his 500-year-old Ledard Farm.

It just oozes history

and you get the smell of that
in your body

as soon as you come up here.

It's closer to the soil.
Your senses are much stronger.

Celtic people tend
to be close to the supernatural.

Some years ago we had
a festival featuring New Zealand

and we brought
the Maori concert party

to do all their singing and dancing
and all the rest

and with them came a holy man

and he was tattooed from
his forehead to the tip of his toes.

And when he was up here, he said,
"Take me to the fairy knowe,
the fairy hill."

Now, as soon as we got up there
he started to get excited

and he produced a kind of
whistly thing and he was playing it

and then he said, "I can see them."
I said, "You're joking."

He said, "Look at the tree.

"There on the tree
on the left-hand branch,

"the main one, you'll see them."

Now, we couldn't see anybody but
the branch, and there was no wind,

was going up and down
as if people were sitting on it.

And he said,
"They're laughing at us.

"Now they've jumped over
to the other side."

And the branch on the other side
started going up and down.

So we were a wee bit freaked out
at this.

The Trossachs haven't just made
a fine home for fairies.

They were also the stomping ground
of Scotland's own Robin Hood,

Rob Roy MacGregor.

During the 17th century,
the young clansman took refuge

in the wild forests
that surround Fergus's farm.

As a young man he even used the barn
that still stands here today.

Jess. Come on, Jess.

Okey-dokey, here we go.

So this is MacGregor's barn

and, of course, young Rob came
in here in October 1689

to be welcomed and introduced
to the company of men.

That was the standard thing
at harvest time,
the feast of the Hairst Kirn,

when young men who'd turned 18
joined the company
of their fellow men.

And, of course,
the buzz at that particular dinner

was the battle that had been fought,

involving fifty MacGregors
from here, including Rob Roy,

the Battle of Killiecrankie.

So everybody was talking about
that battle

and indeed the chairman
of the evening invited Rob

to give a wee account of the battle.

So he stood up as a young man
and he gave his account

of the Battle of Killiecrankie
as he saw it.

Six centuries on, Fergus plays
a traditional folk song

with his son, Gregor,
that honours this heroic saga,

outside the same barn
where young Rob Roy once grew

from child to man.

Ooh, I'll take a seat here.

100 miles into our journey,

Upper Tyndrum, that serves a nearby
rural town, population less than 200,

at first appears to be
a quiet, ordinary-looking station.

But passengers alighting here will be
blissfully unaware

that inside
a grey, A-listed waiting room,

lies a clue
to the country's shiniest secret.

On a quest to find it,
exploration geologist Charlie.

Scotland is really rich in gold.

There's actually some records
of gold being found

as early as the 1600s

and that is where they found
gold nuggets in rivers.

But it's not always easy
to find gold here.

And Tyndrum station is really useful
for us

because it's right in the middle
of quite a prospective area.

But not every station in the world
has its very own Lara Croft

on platform one.

In the summer
we get lots of walkers coming past.

They always want to know
when the train's coming,

can they buy a ticket from me,

but, unfortunately, no,
I'm not the ticket office

so I can't issue them anything.

When not redirecting lost passengers,

Charlie is out on site,
deep inside the Cononish Mine,

which they believe sits on top
of a huge vein of gold.

But only by investigating
thousands of core samples

drilled down to 200 metres
will Charlie be able to find

the best place to extract the ore.

I'm just going to spray them
with water.

Sometimes we get really great pieces

and there can be
as much as five, ten, 20, 40,

50, 60 grammes per tonne of gold.

Worldwide that would be considered
a really high-grade deposit.

Leaving behind
Tyndrum's hidden bonanza,

our train now winds its way slowly

through one of Scotland's
remotest landscapes

Every time you lift your head up
and look out the window,

it's something different.

Really incredible.
Really mesmerising.

Yeah, it's definitely picturesque.

We were just saying
that's the probably the best view

that I've ever seen from a train
my whole life so far.

During the 19th century,

the challenging mountain terrain had
discouraged

the building of a railway here.

But when construction on
the West Highland Line finally began

in the 1890s,

the dirty work was left
to seasonal migrant labourers,

the navvies.

Many were from Ireland,

3,000 navvies and more
who worked on it

found it very, very difficult

because we didn't have mechanical
shovels in these days, excavators.

It was mostly done by hand.

They worked
in atrocious winter conditions

and, of course,
there were many accidents.

When darkness fell,
they lost their way

By the time
the construction had reached

the steep valley
five miles north of Tyndrum

the railway money had run out

and building a one-mile long bridge
across marshy ground

was far too expensive.

So they decided to go round in
a horseshoe shape over two viaducts

to get to Rannoch Moor,

a big feat of endurance

It's now crossed
the second of the two viaducts

at the entrance to Glen Lyon.

It will run round the flanks
of this mountain

And when our train
eventually reaches Rannoch Moor,

passengers are greeted with
one of the most spectacular scenes

on any railway journey in the world.

It's just got complete scenery
both sides of the carriage.

We're halfway through one of the most
scenic railway journeys in the world,

the West Highland Line in Scotland.

It's a five-hour voyage
from Glasgow to Mallaig.

This is meant to be
one of the most beautiful
train journeys in the world.

I didn't know what to expect

and it's just quite a stark contrast

to what you're used to
on a train journey.

You'll be in like a green field
or in a forest

Our train now shoots through

the wild interior
of the western Scottish Highlands

to stop at Corrour,
Britain's highest station,

Rising to over 1,200 feet,

Rannoch Moor is an upland plateau
surrounded on all sides

Its sweeping views have come
to define the elemental beauty

of the Scottish Highlands.

Less well known is
the moorland's secret kingdom

..some of which can be accessed
from Rannoch Moor station,

Just a short walk away, Loch Laidon,

I was up at Loch an Duin with Jim
Brown, the butcher in Blair Atholl.

Right, OK.
And I had a wee Mepps spoon

and I caught six and he caught none.

We stopped for a cup of tea
and a wee bite to eat

and we went back out
with the same tackle

and he caught six and I caught none.
All right?

That's fishing for you.
That's why we do it.

You've never actually got it sussed.

Aye, the midges are getting
pretty bad again.

Bloody midges are horrendous.
Absolutely.

This is prime midgie weather.
Indeed. They just love it.

Yeah. No wind, bit of sunshine,
a bit of warmth.

I'm quite sure, Gordon,
that when mother-in-laws die

they come up to Loch Laidon
and get reincarnated as midges

and attack innocent men.

GORDON LAUGHS
I think they do, aye.

Just because
we're enjoying ourselves fishing.

When not swatting midges,

Ron is
a distinguished marine biologist

specialising
in Highland fish species.

He's discovered that four genetically
distinct species of brown trout

have evolved here at Loch Laidon.

It's a little ice-age gem.

We're a kind of aquatic Galapagos

because we've got the same kind
of evolutionary processes going on,

with different body shapes,
head shapes,

just like the Galapagos finches have
different beaks

To be able to discover new species
in your own back yard

is absolutely... It's just...

The word is gobsmacking.

One species lives
almost completely in the dark,

below 120 feet.

Another eats fish
up to a third of its size.

The ferox is a freshwater wolf
from the ice age.

It really is
the last of the ice-age megafauna,

when the mammoths and the muskox
and the bears were

all round about here.

But catching one requires
some rather unorthodox methods.

This is called trolling.

Basically it's a lure that imitates
a sick or injured fish.

So we're trying to initiate
a strike.

It's a kind of bovine activity.

It's not particularly sophisticated
but it works.

Oh, you know
when you've got a ferox.

That rod will just about hit Gordon
in the face.

No ice-age wolf on the line today

That's another one
of these black-spotted ones,

consistent with the diet that its
on and feeding near the surface.

Yeah. A bigger one.
Aye, it's a nice fish, yeah.

Huh? That little rod. You can see
why you're getting them. I know.

Yeah. Pull this line in. Yeah.

Lovely.

Oh!

Less than a few long casts
from the railway tracks

our train continues
across Rannoch Moor,

We're going to Corrour
for a couple of days
to stay in the old Signal Box.

The station can only be accessed
by train.

There's no roads or footpaths
nearby.

So it's going to be really nice
to be completely cut off

and just be alone
with the beautiful scenery.

Staying overnight
in Scotland's remotest station

may not be everyone's idea
of a great escape

but a stopover in Corrour's
Signal Box provides you

with unbridled access

to some of Scotland's
finest moorland walks...

..followed by a hearty meal

So people come up
and they'll have big parties

because they've climbed
all 282 Munros in Scotland

and this is their last one.

You've just got the best views.

There's nowhere like it
in the country.

Out of every window
there's a spectacular view.

It is very vast
but it is one big bog,

so that's what we always refer to -
it's just "the bog".

Lots of heather and lots of deer

and, yeah, quite a barren landscape
up here. But it's lovely.

You can get some
sort of spooky evenings up here

There's two hermits
which live on the loch.

There's one proper hermit and one
sort of fake hermit, we call him.

So Ken, who's the real hermit,
he lives in the woodlands

and he's travelled the world and
this is his most favourite place.

He's got
about three or four log cabins

and he's lived in there
for the last 30 years.

And there's another hermit who lives
at the other end of the loch.

He's stayed in a two-man tent
for the last ten years

and he's been planting lots
of trees, which is one miracle.

With the B&B based on platform two,

there's no excuse
for missing the train,

We know all the conductors
on the line.

Our favourite one is a woman called
Suzie. She's such a character.

If you get a chance
to go on the train,

The West Highland Line is
one of the most beautiful railways.

It's just got complete scenery
both sides of the carriage.

With its magnetic beauty,

it's no wonder passengers
from all over the world make

their own pilgrimages
to the West Highlands,

We're camping below Ben Nevis
tonight

and then walking the mountain
tomorrow.

For outdoor enthusiasts, Fort William
is the launching-off point

Some people walk
the 4,500-foot mountain.

Local twins, Fraser and Ruaraidh,

both have an equal passion
for hill running.

I just love
the simplicity of running.

Just with a pair of shoes
and we can run anywhere.

When you're running,
the senses change so much,

so the smells of the grass,
the trees

and then just the way the grass
and trees change colour

during the seasons as well -
it's really visual.

I think that's the beauty of it.
Aye, yeah.

But today's run to Steall Falls,
Scotland's biggest waterfall, is

These twins are training
to scale Ben Nevis and back
in less than two hours.

So if you ask me
who I think is the better runner,

But I know on the Ben Nevis race

that Ruaraidh's, what,
20 seconds ahead? 40, I think.

While our runners brace themselves
for their next ascent,

railway workers at Fort William
prepare our train

The last 40 miles of the route travel
northwest,

crossing Glenfinnan Viaduct

before reaching
the Atlantic coastline

and our destination, Mallaig,

After skirting
the picturesque Loch Eil,

Glenfinnan Viaduct is sometimes
nicknamed the Harry Potter Crossing

after featuring
in the famous fantasy movie.

I heard about the train journey

because it's the one
the Hogwarts Express is based on.

So I didn't know what to expect

but, erm, no chocolate frogs
but it's been beautiful.

However, it's not
just the scene in Harry Potter
that has sealed its fame

but its place
in world engineering history

as revealed in the museum
on platform one

run by Hege.

What Harry Potter fans don't perhaps
know is

that the reason why
the Glenfinnan Viaduct was so famous

is that, like all of the viaducts
on this line,

it's built from concrete.

During the end of the 19th century,

the pioneering Victorian engineer
Sir Robert McAlpine,

nicknamed Concrete Bob,
won the contract

to build much
of the West Highland Line.

It just wouldn't have been built

because it was impossible to do it
in any other way for the money.

We just wouldn't have had
a railway line if not.

All 21 arches of the bridge were
constructed

in preformed mass concrete.

It started here.

This was the first contract
that concrete was used exclusively

for the full line

and we all know what a fabulous role

it has played in engineering
ever since.

I look at it and think that this
concrete, this grey, old concrete

is gorgeous. Mm.

And just behind the station, another
reason to get off at Glenfinnan -

Here, as a young man,
the now 89-year-old Tearlach

That is,
until he discovered the wheel.

A perfect day would be
for me to put the bicycle

into my little sailing boat

and row across the loch

and take the bike out onto the top
of the pointed hill over there

and then come down in the corrie

Looming over the head of the loch,
its most famous landmark,

the monument
to the Unknown Highlander.

It commemorates
the Jacobite uprising,

one of Scotland's bleakest periods
of history.

It was here in 1745
that Scottish clans gathered

in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

Well, this was where
the Prince raised his standard.

It was more or less at the centre
of the area

that was sympathetic to the cause.

It's exactly 275 years ago today

In the end,
the British crushed the uprising

It brought an end to a culture,
a way of life,

very, very close to the land
and to nature.

It was in a sense
a classless kind of community

because the chief was looked on
as the father of the people

and the people all looked upon
themselves as part of the family.

Although the clan system was
largely destroyed centuries ago,

within feet of our railway tracks

And the story of our journey is soon
to reach

its final, riveting chapter along
west Scotland's coast

It's the final stretch
of our 200-mile train journey

aboard Scotland's West Highland Line.

So here the railway to the isles is
approaching

its magnificent conclusion.

Mallaig is a jumping-off point
to the islands

After five hours' travel
across western Scotland

But this is far from the end
of our Highland journey

because just across the water...

WOMAN: Skye is known as
the Misty Isle for good reason.

The moving mist,
the changing light -

you have four seasons in one day.

The Skye landscape is magical.

It's ever-changing

and never do I tire
of looking at the same view,

an atmosphere
that I have never encountered

anywhere else in the world.

Isabella is a daughter
of the Macdonald clan chief.

Their family roots date back
more than 800 years.

We can trace ourselves back to 1140,

when Somerled married Ragnhilda,
the daughter of Olaf the Red,

so going back to Viking times.

For me, the clan
and being part of the clan Macdonald

is something I feel very proud of.

So there's an awareness
of the history and the heritage

which is poignant.

The clan's former hunting lodge has
now been converted

The lodge sits
right on the edge of Loch na Dal.

It's part of Skye's unique landscape

that lures visitors
from all over the world

for its traditional Highland fare.

As an island
we're surrounded by water.

You can taste the beauty
of the scenery -

One of Skye's
most sought-after delicacies

are the island's fresh scallops.

How's it going, buddy?
Good. How are you? I'm good, yeah.

And how are they today?
Fresh as always. Awesome.

Let's see how good these are.

Ooh. Hand-dived this morning.

Super scallop.

They are unlike any scallop
I've ever come across

in any other part of the world.

They are like steaks, almost,

and even eaten raw
they are sweet and delicious

and succulent.

Skye is a real foodie destination.

I could go on forever about reasons
for people to visit Skye.

This enchanting isle is a land
steeped in ancient history

..and a place
with the warmest of welcomes,

On our epic, 200-mile trip
from Glasgow to Mallaig,

we have travelled across
some of Scotland's finest landscapes,

met living legends,

discovered its hidden treasures

Our West Highland voyage has been