tom_mn

If you are driving FW to Mallaig, you go within a quarter mile of the Glenfinnen Viaduct, however it is not visible from the highway.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/pi...s-in-Bath.html

You have seen pictures of it from films, like Harry Potter 2 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZH32KhZHO...%2B0-25-19.jpg and others.

There is an unmarked, free parking lot right off the highway, just over the bridge, then a short walk up the lane to the viaduct.

https://www.google.com/maps/@56.8716...7i13312!8i6656

Dukey1

Tom, thank you VERY much for assembling the links, etc. This is the sort of thing I would be interested in doing so having these directions are obviously a bog plus. I appreciate it.

Underhill

A word got left out: Traquair is the oldest documented INHABITED house in Scotland.

tom_mn

You will have to put on your FBI investigator mode, but if you squint really hard and have a couple coffees you can more or less figure out when the steam train crosses the viaduct here, https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/def..._timetable.pdf You will have to guess the travel time of the steam train to the viaduct from the origin based on the adjacent normal train times.

You want the timetable headings that say WR and then B or C or D. For some reason the national train timetable shows more steam trains running than the Jacobite Train website does (?). We saw the train go over the viaduct about 8 PM. It used to be that there was a steam train in each direction going aver the viaduct around 11 am, but it is not clear that they running two trains anymore.

Nelson

I was just checking the same thing and had come up with the approximately 11:00 AM crossing of the viaduct. It looks like they are still running the morning train:
http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/j...team-train.cfm

Plenty of pictures of the train crossing on Google, taken from various vantage points:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jaco...h=1044&dpr=0.9

Here's a shot from the rain as it is on the viaduct:
http://nelsonchenkin.zenfolio.com/p6...2098c#h182098c

Underhill

Dukey1, You're welcome. I hope you get to visit Traquair--it's quite special. Sir Walter Scott's house is fairly near as well.

Dukey1

Thanks very much for these additional pieces of info.

Nelson, those photos in your "Scotland 2006" collection are absolutely stunning and I mean all of them.

tom_mn

If Dukey doesn't mind, I would be interested in Nelson's digital transfer of his older photos from Nepal, it looks like from Kodachrome, how that was done and any tips.

Also I see that the evening steam train is still running. I didn't read the Jacobite website correctly.

Dukey1

No. I certainly do not mind.

Nelson

Dukey, thanks much for your comment on my photos. Really appreciate it! This thread inspired me to look at the photos and I uploaded them yesterday afternoon. I have more shots from northern Skye and eastern Scotland, but limited these to where that drive could take you.

tom_mn, unfortunately no simple answer. I used mostly Kodachrome in the earlier trips, 1977, '91, with some Ektachrome thrown in, but had largely switched to Ektachrome and Fujichrome by the later trips that are in my "Mountain Travel" section. I took several types of film on each trip (don't ask me why), so there is an "it depends " answer on a per slide basis. You are probably recognizing Kodachrome when you see it.

Scanning was done with an Epson V500. The resulting files saved as 8-bit color depth (i.e. 24-bit) .TIF files, at about 4,200 pixels on the large side.

Post processing, mostly color balance, and dodging, burning type work was done in Paint Shop Pro Version 7. However I have since switched to Lightroom and can probably achieve the same or better results.

Without further hijacking Dukey's thread, there is a contact link on zenfolio and we can go offline if you want more info. Thanks for your interest.

Have a great trip Dukey.

Dukey1

No worries about supposed "hijacking." I envy your ability to get as close to nature as you do. My own situation prevents that (due to my Husbear's somewhat non-interest as well as his physical limitations) but I know, first-hand, the feeling it brings which is wonderful.

My plan is to see as much "scenery" as we can on this upcoming trip and I refuse to be deterred by any weather conditions and will be there, gear-prepared, to deal with such.

We decided on this location over a few others as I mentioned initially and I am so glad we did having seen these photos. I had, of course, seen very dramatic Scotland photos in the past but yours are special.

Nelson

Thanks once again Dukey, I really appreciate it. I've been lucky to see some wild places.

But in Scotland I can recall a handful of times my wife or I pulled the car over, we sat alongside the road, and were just amazed at how beautiful it was.

As you may know there is supposedly a saying in Scotland, something like: "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". Sounds like you guys will be covered in that regard (no pun intended).

Have a great trip!

tom_mn

Thanks, Nelson, I just don't have the time to process so many slides via scanning/post processing. Waiting for a tech whiz process to come a long.

Not sure a Floridian wants more beaches, but also on the FW Mallaig road are the beaches where the 80s film Local Hero was filmed.

https://www.google.com/maps/@56.9584...!7i7680!8i3840

Hit the back arrow in the upper left next to the words photo sphere for active map. We didn't have time to check it out, though.

Dukey1

On the contrary, I am always ready to check out any new beach, that's why I moved onto one. Thanks for that link.

hpeabody

An area I really liked is the Scottish Highlands, just beautiful! If you are planning on attending the Military Tatoo, be aware tickets go on sale I believe in December for the next year. It is pretty much a must to get in immediately when it opens. For me it was 5:00 AM and I had trouble getting into the website, but once I did, I got the seats with no problem.

Dukey1

Hpeabody, I agree and that's exactly what I did two years ago when they went on sale. I needed a very specific date and will again this year. I'm going to hope we can again get some of the premium seats as those were worth it for us before.

Thanks very much.

Underhill

About the Tattoo: be sure to take a nice Scottish woolen blanket to put across your knees; it can get cold at night.

Dukey1

Underhill, in those premium seats a knee rug is actually provided. The whole challenge for this trip is going to be "the weather" and, in particular, that weather in Scotland.

We will start out, in Northern Italy where it will be hot and humid and then be spending a week in Scotland before spending another week in London.

What we will have along is fleeces and rain gear (I can just hear the comments from all those people who manage to spend weeks and weeks and weeks abroad with "one little carry-on."

Believe me, your suggestion is more than a little appreciated.

Underhill

The coldest I've ever been was during a rainstorm in Inverness. If whisky doesn't come with the premium seats, bring your own for medicinal purposes.

Nikki

Near Fort William, you might enjoy a short stop at Neptune's Staircase, a series of locks at the beginning of the Caledonian Canal. This would make a nice contrast to the Falkirk Wheel, which is a 21st century solution to the problem of bringing boats from one level to another, while Neptune's Staircase was a 19th century solution to the same problem.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...ledoniancanal/