(Originally shared with friends and family on September 18, 2025. A note about the format of this travel journal. I’ve shared the original dates in the body of each journal entry. In order to make the journal chronological, I had ‘fudge’ the dates of the bottom of each post. Please ignore them. Also, I adopted the Scottish use of military time throughout my entries). The above photo is of me and Tara in Mallaig, Scotland. More photos can be found here.
1205 Fort William
Our stay at Torbeag House might be my favorite thus far. Our room is spacious, and we have a huge window that overlooks the garden. We slept in, and Tara assured me that she’s feeling better. We had a very good breakfast and then headed to Fort William.
As soon as we got here, it started raining sideways (earlier this morning, there was a slight drizzle). We walked along the shops and helped the Scottish economy. Now we’re back at the train station, patiently waiting for the Jacobite Steam Train. The sun is trying to come out, and the rain has lessened. I think we lucked out because there is a notice that starting on the 20th, part of the journey would be via bus. I’m so glad we’re able to get the whole journey via steam train
1425 The Jacobite Steam Train
The train is everything I had hoped it would be. We are sharing a table with a couple from Australia and are having a lovely time together. Our high tea came as a box lunch, which was different from what I had expected, but still good. We had a selection of finger sandwiches, pretzels, scone and clotted cream and jam, and a selection of cakes. One cake was a bar with a graham cracker base and caramel on top, a piece of carrot cake (not as good as mine, obviously!), and a chocolate cereal bar.
Our next stop is Mallaig, where we’ll be able to disembark and explore for about two hours, I think
1547, Chlachain Inn
Rain in Mallaig, so Tara and I popped into Chlachain Inn for a wee dram. Martin, our bartender, picked out a lovely whisky for us, Highland Park 10, which is just perfect
1653, Jacobite Train
We’re back on the train, waiting to return to Fort William. We ended up having another wee dram, but it started to make us sleepy, so we ended with a coffee. The weather has cleared, and I’m looking forward to different views on the way back. I’m sitting by the window this time, as Tara sat by the window on the way out. We’ve reunited with Toddy and Pam, the Australian couple, which is very nice.
2000, Torbeag House
Back at Torbeag House. Very tired but very satisfied with the day. Since we had tea on the train, we decided just to have a light dinner in our room. We stopped at another grocery store and got some instant noodles. I’m going to plan out tomorrow’s itinerary, but basically we are following the train’s itinerary. I hope to get some photos of the viaducts. As we went over it on the train, there were a ton of people watching and photographing it. It would be nice to capture the steam train, but I’m not going to plan out the day around that, just go with the flow.
~ K