Photographing the Jacobite steam train at Glenfinnan Viaduct
When? April to October
Where? Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scottish Highlands
What? Photograph the Jacobite steam train service crossing an awe-inspiring Victorian viaduct on its journey through the Highlands
Although I largely missed the Harry Potter craze, there’s something irresistible about photographing a vintage steam train crossing an iconic piece of engineering in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK.
Potter fans will recognise the Glenfinnan Viaduct immediately – it was used in the films as a location for the Hogwarts Express that takes Harry and co to school.
The service runs from April to October (twice a day for most of that period), taking passengers between the towns of Fort William and Mallaig on Scotland’s west coast. You can find the full timetable on the railway company’s website, but the key times currently to get the image above (when the train is going in the direction of Mallaig) are as follows:
10.45am
1.20pm
Other views and perspectives are available, but this (in my opinion) is among the most aesthetically pleasing and works best for photographing the train itself.
When you arrive at the Glenfinnan Visitor Centre (PH37 4LT), you’ll be greeted with a host of signs and noticeboards directing you to the best spots for seeing and photographing the viaduct and train – including the spot I chose for the image above.
Top 5 tips:
While it doesn’t take long to reach the respective viewpoints, I’d recommend getting to the visitor’s centre substantially earlier than needed to make sure you can get a parking space and a good spot for your tripod. You won’t be the only photographer or Harry Potter fan who wants to see the steam train on that particular day…
Cover up and take midge repellent - I got eaten alive on a humid June day, and it wasn’t fun.
Get your settings and composition sorted well in advance of the train arriving, taking some test shots of the viaduct minus the train. As you’ll see from my image, I chose to get in fairly close (around 30mm) and cropped out the sky on what was a dull, wet day. I dialled in f/8 and ISO 200, and managed to get away with a shutter speed of 1/100 of a second, as the train moves fairly slowly over the viaduct. When I eventually go back, I’ll probably play it a bit safer and go for a faster shutter speed – perhaps closer to 1/1000.
Use your camera’s burst mode as the train crosses the viaduct – but don’t get too carried away, as you don’t want to reach your buffer limit and miss the crucial moment, as one of my companions did. I worked in short bursts of three or four shots and was able to capture the key moment when the train is almost at the end of the viaduct and the driver obliges with a good puff of steam.
Make a day of it! Glenfinnan is also home to an impressive monument on the shores of Loch Shiel, and you’re not too far from lots of other iconic photography locations (including Glen Coe). If you’re really keen, you could also spend the day photographing the steam train from different viewpoints and directions during its two return trips.
(The locomotive shown here, by the way, is a ‘Black Five’ built in the 1930s - and it looked fantastic travelling around the curve of the viaduct.)
