It looks like the Caledonian Sleeper departs London about 2115 and arrives Fort William about 0940. Then the Jacobite departs Fort William shortly after 1000 for Maillaig (only trip of the day). This wouldn't leave me any time in Ft. William to visit the Ben Nevis distillery but I hate to think about spending the night in Fort William when I could be in Skye!

Some train questions:

Can three sleep in a sleeper car? It will be my husband, myself, and our 13 year old daughter.

Has anyone gotten any sleep on the train? I once took a sleeper train in the U.S. from Virginia to Boston and couldn't sleep due to the noise, stops and starts, and general strange motion. Finally slept a couple of hours after the train broke down...LOL

And one non-train question: How do you pronounce "Maillaig"?

Ummm, I thought the Ben Nevis distillery thing was work. No?

No, you can't get 3 in a sleeper compartment. You can get 2 with a connecting door tho'.

I've slept on sleepers. Not wonderfully well, but enough.

Malayg

There's no "i" before the "ll"

Sorry- empahsis on both syllables equally.

There's noway more than 2 people could sleep in a sleeper compartment, the beds themselves are barely 6 foot long (stops you sliding around.

Some people can sleep just fine on a train, and some simply can't. Since you have already tried it, seems you are firmly in the second camp.

in your case, I'd ditch the idea of the sleeper and just fly to Glasgow.

There are four trains a day from Fort William to Mallaig in addition to the Jacobite steam train. The scenery is just as beautiful whether you're on the diesel or steam train.

Yeah, Sheila - if I visit the distillery it makes my trip tax deductible. Which is a good thing.

Oh, well - Sleep is not my number one priority anyway. The adventure of it might just make it too irresistible to pass up!

Thanks for the pronunciation. It's a pet peeve of mine for tourists to make no effort to pronounce things properly. They'll totally bungle the name of some venerable, ancient site; and then, when you try to correct them, they'll say, "Whatever!" Grrrr...

Thanks, G! I've been on both types of trains and will take the one that best fits my schedule. That's a relief!

"if I visit the distillery it makes my trip tax deductible."

I don't know where your tax lawyer gets his or her information, but making one business-related stop on a vacation trip does not make the whole trip tax deductible!

I pronounce Mallaig "Mal-ig" with the emphasis on the first syllable (which rhymes with with 'pal') Is that close to correct?