0:00:02 > 0:00:04MELANCHOLY VIOLIN AND GUITAR PIECE
0:01:45 > 0:01:48'The steam locomotive and the Highlands of Scotland.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53'Beautiful maybe but both can be uncompromising and difficult,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56'requiring a special kind of loyalty.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59'By no means are the days always bright and sunny,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02'nor are the engines without a similarly varied temperament,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'as they yield their power from fire and water.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'For the authorities back in the 1960s, there was one solution -
0:02:09 > 0:02:11'let the steam trains go.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20'Then in the 1980s, they had an astonishing change of heart -
0:02:20 > 0:02:22'bring steam back again.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25'Let people visit the Highlands in the old way.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30'Encourage them to see spectacular scenery in a spectacular fashion,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33'and let the drivers who had switched from steam be given
0:02:33 > 0:02:34'the chance of switching back again.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36'Men like Callum MacRaild,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'one of the special breed of West Highland Railwaymen.'
0:02:40 > 0:02:45When I left school at 15, I certainly had no thoughts about the railway.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49I got a temporary job in the post office as a telegram boy,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53and at the end of the year, I was earning £2.2s.6d. a week,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57and my bother Neil, who was on the railway, he said,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01"Well, you'll get £3.5s as a cleaner",
0:03:01 > 0:03:04so I immediately changed my employment.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07And once I was on the railway for a few months,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10there was no way I would ever leave it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12It's something that just gets into your blood
0:03:12 > 0:03:14and you just wouldn't think of any other job.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Some people did start and leave
0:03:17 > 0:03:20but there was no way that I would ever have left the railway.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Coming from a family, as I did, of mostly railwaymen -
0:03:26 > 0:03:30my two grandfathers were on the railway,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34my father was on the railway, I had eight uncles on the railway,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and I have two brothers that were on the railway.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39One is now retired.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43So I think once I started, there was no way out of it.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45That was me - I was a railwayman. I didn't know it.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I think you must be devoted to the railway.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51When you join the railway, you don't just go for eight hours a day.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54You've got to be a railwayman. After that, you do other things.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56But the railway has the first call on you.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57And they know about that
0:03:57 > 0:04:00because they send for you any time it suits them.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03You just get a line - turn out all speed and they expect you to come
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and I think if you're a true railwayman, I think you'll be there.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Just about three weeks before our first baby was due, he was due to be
0:04:11 > 0:04:16home about 9 o'clock at night and it came midnight - no word from him.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18One o'clock, two o'clock.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21He eventually came home at 3 o'clock in the morning
0:04:21 > 0:04:23to find an extremely anxious wife!
0:04:23 > 0:04:27He'd had to walk about two miles across Rannoch Moor to get help.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31The train had broken down. I think that time in a snowdrift as well.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35And by the time he came home, I'm afraid I was in quite a state!
0:04:35 > 0:04:39And also very angry that nobody had told me about it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Well, Helen usually knows when I'm away down the road,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and I've no doubt she thinks about it and wonders how I'm getting on
0:04:44 > 0:04:49because it's a difficult job when there's snow.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But she puts up with it and she doesn't complain
0:04:51 > 0:04:53and she doesn't tell me she worries
0:04:53 > 0:04:56but I'm no doubt she is a wee bit bothered.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08I started 1948. And of course it was all steam engines then.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Nothing else. We didn't know what diesels were then.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14All hard work and dirt.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15But we didn't mind.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18It was a good type of work, you know,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21there was plenty friendship among the boys.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24And although it was hard work, everyone got stuck in,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27and if someone had a difficult job to do,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30his mates were there to help him and we all helped each other.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'Someone also getting stuck in on a difficult job in those days
0:05:35 > 0:05:40'was the famous Dr Beeching, who killed off railway lines,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43'almost as if he was on commission.'
0:05:43 > 0:05:45CALLUM: Dr Beeching was just a name to us.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50He was doing damage down south but he never quite reached our area
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and we treated him like a sort of disease.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57If you can keep clear of it, you'd just leave him alone
0:05:57 > 0:05:59and hope that it wouldn't affect you.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Dr Beeching, to my mind, was just a butcher.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05A 5-year-old could have done what Dr Beeching did
0:06:05 > 0:06:08because he just looked at a profit-and-loss account
0:06:08 > 0:06:11and he said, "Well, this line's paying and this one's not
0:06:11 > 0:06:14"so we'll cut it away." I think it was criminal.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17So that's about all I can say about Dr Beeching.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22'So not only did the line from Fort William to Mallaig
0:06:22 > 0:06:26'on the west coast survive but, surprisingly, so did an LNER engine
0:06:26 > 0:06:29'actually designed for working the West Highlands.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36'British Rail has to hire it from the enthusiasts who own it.'
0:06:36 > 0:06:40CALLUM: I had fired steam engines for 15 years before the diesels came
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and we had a lot more to do than we have now
0:06:45 > 0:06:48because we very often came in off a job and disposed of our own engine,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51which meant pulling the fire or dropping the fire,
0:06:51 > 0:06:52coaling and watering it,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55cleaning ash pans, smoke boxes, that sort of thing.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57When you were cleaning a fire,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59you had to go down underneath the engine in a pit,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01And clean the ash pan.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Very often, the wind would just decide to change
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and you'd got all the white dust off the ash pan covering you.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And you would come up then and clean the smoke box.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12That's black ash and you would end up you were black.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15It was rather like the Black and White Minstrels,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18because one minute you were white, the next minute you were black.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19At the end of the day,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21it was doubtful just what colour you would end up.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23But then it all came off.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25HE CHUCKLES: A good wash and you were clean again.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29- How are things today? - Not so bad, apart from the weather.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Aye, well, I hope it clears up.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33CALLUM: 'When the engine comes up to Fort William,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38'the owners send their representatives with it,'
0:07:38 > 0:07:39who look after it.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43They're mechanical men. They're fitters or mechanics.
0:07:43 > 0:07:44They maintain it.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48When we come in at night, they dispose of it.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51They take the fire out of it and clean the ash pan, smoke box,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53and they check the engine over,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57anything that's needing repaired is done by them.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59So we really have the nice part of it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03We just step on and drive it, which is quite nice.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Much better than the old days, when we had everything to do.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12When you go out with the steam engine, you're not too sure
0:08:12 > 0:08:13of what's going to happen
0:08:13 > 0:08:16because there are several factors that are unknown.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18You're not too sure what the coal's like.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20The engine might not be doing quite as well.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Say, if the fire hasn't been cleaned properly,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26the ash pan is a wee bit dirty, or something like that.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30There are one or two factors you're not sure about until you get going.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It's just a case of doing everything you can as best you can
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and just watch for the results.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45'Where it gets going is from Fort William, past Glenfinnan
0:08:45 > 0:08:48'and up and over the hills to Arisaig and, finally, Mallaig,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52'560 miles from London and the port for Skye.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56'Then it's back to Fort William again.'
0:08:58 > 0:09:01CALLUM: Fort William is more or less the end of the line.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05We're very remote from the like of Glasgow,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08which is just over 100 miles away.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10There are drawbacks because if you need something special,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13say, something for your electric cooker or something for your car,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16you just can't get it in Fort William.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It's a wee bit better now. As the town grows,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20there are more outlets for these sorts of things
0:09:20 > 0:09:22but there's still a lot of things
0:09:22 > 0:09:25you can't get in Fort William and you have to send for them.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27These are things you have to put up with
0:09:27 > 0:09:29because there are so many benefits,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32you have to accept there are a few drawbacks as well.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'Fort William may be a long way north of Glasgow,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50'but the steam is an extra attraction for someone to photograph.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52'And people do come from far and wide
0:09:52 > 0:09:56'to get a breath of the past alongside modern times.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59'But past and present mingle oddly on the line itself.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'Not only are there steam locos and diesel engines
0:10:03 > 0:10:06'but all the trains are controlled by radio rather than signals.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12'Traffic control is at Banavie, first stop on the Mallaig line
0:10:12 > 0:10:14'and any airline pilot and flight controller might feel
0:10:14 > 0:10:17'quite at home listening in to the radio chat
0:10:17 > 0:10:19'on this particular runway.'
0:10:22 > 0:10:26I'm just doing an audio test to check the dial on it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30TRAIN HORN TOOTS
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Railcom Banavie. 2123.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Requesting into the system at Fort William branch. Over.
0:10:40 > 0:10:442123. Railcom Banavie. Roger to enter the system at Fort William.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49Press and hold. Send. Over.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Railcom Banavie. 2123. Request a token
0:10:51 > 0:10:54from Fort William to Glenfinnan. Over.
0:10:54 > 0:10:562123. Railcom Banavie.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59The long section token Fort William-Glenfinnan.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Present, hold, receive. Over.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Railcom Banavie. 2123. Roger. Out.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10TRAIN WHISTLE
0:11:13 > 0:11:15It's a nice feeling to feel that
0:11:15 > 0:11:19you have the power of this great monster at your fingertips.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23And when you open the throttle and hear the sharp beat of it
0:11:23 > 0:11:26and you know that everything is perfect mechanically,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29it's a lovely sound of it and you are controlling it.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33It's a nice feeling. Just a nice feeling.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40I feel it's more a living thing than the diesel.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43The diesel, you just sit in it and open a lever, pull a handle
0:11:43 > 0:11:45and it goes.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48But the steam, the fact that you have to do everything
0:11:48 > 0:11:52to get the results, you feel it's more a living thing.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06It's a job to me.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09It's a job I'm doing and I realise that it's quite a nice job
0:12:09 > 0:12:13and I think most of the passengers would do my job for nothing.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15In fact, some of them might even pay to do it.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19TRAIN WHISTLE
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Everyone in the steam train is enjoying themselves.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24We're in the habit of running trains in Fort William here,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27especially in the winter time, with very few passengers.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And a lot of them complain about things, anything at all.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32The public are very critical of the railway and I think,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34sometimes, unfairly.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36But, all of a sudden, we have a steam train
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and there's something like 350 passengers on it.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42And everyone is enjoying it and it's infectious and we feel that too.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46We enjoy it too because they're enjoying it.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48And there's never a complaint.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59I would say without hesitation that the Mallaig line is the nicest line,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I think, in Britain. It has to be.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05I've travelled fairly extensively in Europe
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and I've never seen anything to compare.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11I've seen things that were different and I've seen railways that
0:13:11 > 0:13:15were very nice but the Mallaig, to me, is just out of this world.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18The beauty is, you can't describe it.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20You'd have to see it to appreciate it.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27'Not only are there the Highlands and the lochs
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'and the islands but a great feeling of history
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'as at Glenfinnan where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his banner.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37'And of the crofters being cleared from the land.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41'And then of Scotland being discovered by tourists, by Romantics,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43'and by the railway.'
0:13:43 > 0:13:47TRAIN WHISTLE IN DISTANCE
0:13:49 > 0:13:53It was a terrific engineering work.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Sir Robert McAlpine was the engineer and he must have been some man
0:13:57 > 0:14:00because when you look at some of the work on the Mallaig line...
0:14:00 > 0:14:03They say it is one of the most expensive lines in Britain to build
0:14:03 > 0:14:06because of all the tunnels and rock cuttings.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I think it was the most expensive line in Britain per mile.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18TRAIN WHISTLE
0:14:22 > 0:14:24And then there's the like of Glenfinnan Viaduct,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26which is a masterpiece.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29They called Sir Robert McAlpine Concrete Bob.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34And it's no wonder because he was one of the pioneers of concrete.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38And Glenfinnan Viaduct, I reckon, is a monument to his capability.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Every season of the year is different.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57In fact, every week, almost, is slightly different.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59You get all the different types of lighting.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04And then, of course, throughout the year, you have the autumn
0:15:04 > 0:15:07with the lovely colours, lovely brown and auburns.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09The heather turns beautiful colours.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21CLAP OF THUNDER
0:15:25 > 0:15:29The Mallaig line can be very nice in very wet weather,
0:15:29 > 0:15:30as well as good weather.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33There are days I've gone to Mallaig when there was torrential rain
0:15:33 > 0:15:38and the streams and small rivers are just foaming
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and there's something very beautiful about that,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43as well as seeing it in good weather.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40The K1 is a very nice wee engine, a very strong wee engine.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42It was built for the Mallaig line
0:16:42 > 0:16:46and the size of the wheel is just right for the Mallaig line.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Very powerful and it's no bother to pull six carriages up there.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53When they came out first, they were absolutely lovely wee engines.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56It's very nice to see one back again on the Mallaig line.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Railcom Banavie. 2123.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I now have blank display and request the Glenfinnan-Arisaig token. Over.
0:17:05 > 0:17:082123. Railcom Banavie. Roger.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11You feel you're never on your own, now.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15At one time, you could fail, maybe, in the middle of a moor
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and have several miles on either side that you had to walk.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21But with this system, no matter what happens, we can just radio
0:17:21 > 0:17:25the controller and, within a very short time, something is been done.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53HELEN: When we got married and for years after we were first married,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56there was nothing else but steam trains up here,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58so I didn't really give them too much thought.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00But I did miss them when the diesels came in.
0:18:00 > 0:18:06We used to live, at one time, in a flat and it overlooked the depot,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08the goods depot where Callum left from.
0:18:08 > 0:18:09In the early hours of the morning,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13you used to hear the goods trains going out. It was lovely.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14A clear, frosty night,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18you would hear the sounds of the engine going away from miles away.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19It was beautiful. Loved it.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30CALLUM: If you were locked in a dark room and you smelled,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32you would know exactly what it was if you smelled the steam engine.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35The smell and the sound.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44There is a lovely sharp crack off them when they're in good form.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Just lovely. Lovely sound.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52HELEN: I just love the sound of it.
0:18:52 > 0:18:53Steam engines, I think,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56are much more beautiful to look at than a diesel engine.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59There's just something about it that's different.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02I think it's lovely to see them come back again.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08CALLUM: I think of myself as a practical chap,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11quite keen on mechanics and that sort of thing.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And the steam engine, to me,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18is a massive thing with hundreds of beautifully engineered parts.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22You could more or less take one of a 100 parts home and polish it up
0:19:22 > 0:19:26and put it on your mantelpiece as an ornament, you know. Lovely movement.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27You can see it working.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30I think that's what appeals to small boys too.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32They can stand at the side and see the motion.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34You can see what it's doing and, I suppose,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39if you explained it to even a child, they can understand how it works.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40It's very simple.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46When you think of the weight of a steam engine,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49you're talking about maybe 130 tonnes.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53And when you look at the side roads, connecting roads,
0:19:53 > 0:19:57even the wheels revolving with their balance blocks,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59there's massive amounts of weight revolving there
0:19:59 > 0:20:02and the centrifugal force must be terrific.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04And everything must be balanced,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08because if anything was out of true, it would rattle the engine to bits.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10It would shake it to bits.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24When you go over the hill at Glenfinnan,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27you see Loch Eil stretched out in front of you
0:20:27 > 0:20:29and it must be three or four miles.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32A lovely, little loch with islands in the middle
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and with a reflection in the water. It's a beautiful sight.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43The West Highland Railway is certainly a one-off.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47I don't know of any other railway anything like the West Highland.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I think the Highlander is a certain type of person
0:20:50 > 0:20:54and things happen in the West Highland just automatically.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It's often said they wouldn't need a management in the West Highland,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00because the men know the job and they come out and do the job.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02And if there's problems,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06very often, they're sorted out before the management know of them -
0:21:06 > 0:21:08by men who have just happened to be there
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and take the responsibility of sorting things out.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13I've heard it said we do miracles every day on the West Highland
0:21:13 > 0:21:17but the impossible takes a wee while longer!
0:21:17 > 0:21:19TRAIN WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:21:25 > 0:21:31When I started at 16, we had to do 313 firing turns, I think it was,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and then you were called a first-year fire man.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Your mate was a friend and I think that was because you worked together,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48you were dependent on each other.
0:21:48 > 0:21:54The driver couldn't do anything without the fire man's help.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56They had to fight this great monster between them
0:21:56 > 0:22:00and they only got results according to how they worked.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02I think there was more of a friendship
0:22:02 > 0:22:04between the driver and his fire man
0:22:04 > 0:22:07than there is between the driver and the second man today.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15When the steam engines went away and the diesels came,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I put a stone in weight on within a year.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19So that just proves that
0:22:19 > 0:22:23although we didn't realise it at the time, we must have been working.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Railcom Banavie. 2123.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30The Arisaig-Mallaig token now on display
0:22:30 > 0:22:32and request permission to proceed. Over.
0:22:32 > 0:22:362123. You permission is received from Arisaig. Over.
0:22:36 > 0:22:382123. Roger, out.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04WOMAN SINGS IN GAELIC
0:23:15 > 0:23:16You start off at sea level
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and you end up at sea level in Mallaig.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21And it's just breathtaking.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Every time we come round there, I just look at that scene
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and I just am amazed every time.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I've been 40 years going up to Mallaig now
0:23:29 > 0:23:31and I never tire of it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Even yet it takes my breath away.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36SINGING CONTINUES
0:23:53 > 0:23:55WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:24:07 > 0:24:08When we went to Mallaig,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12it was very common to have two or three fish specials a day.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16I think the record was 18 special trains in one day from Mallaig.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18And, at that time, Mallaig was reckoned to be
0:24:18 > 0:24:22the busiest fishing port in Europe. It was just a hive of activity.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26There were two steam cranes on the pier, unloading boats,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28loading wagons,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and you could be more or less knee deep in herring at that time.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34There was herring everywhere and seagulls by the thousand,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36trying to steal them.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39When we used to go up there, of course, young, starving.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43At 16, 17, you could eat anything and the Mallaig kippers were lovely.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47We very often got a couple of kippers and put them in a shovel
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and cooked them and they would cook in their own juice.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Beautiful.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54At that age, we could just about eat all the kippers in Mallaig.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57They were delicious.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Well, it was always said that the new road,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20if they put a new road to Mallaig, the railway was finished.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24It's a big project. In fact, there's people
0:25:24 > 0:25:28who think there's something more than just a road to Mallaig.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30There's talk of oil on the West Coast
0:25:30 > 0:25:34and whether there is any truth in that or not, I don't know.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36But some people seem to think
0:25:36 > 0:25:39that there's more in it than what meets the eye.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45We always feel that more should be invested in the railways.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47We feel the Government put too much money into roads.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50The railways always seem to come off worst.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53And when you see the money that's being invested
0:25:53 > 0:25:57in other European countries, we feel a bit jealous.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01TRAIN WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:26:04 > 0:26:08The future for the Mallaig line was a bit doubtful a few years ago
0:26:08 > 0:26:12but I think, because of the steam engine, it's a bit better now
0:26:12 > 0:26:17because, every day it runs, about 350 passengers go to Mallaig.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22And I think it's bound to have helped the Mallaig line a lot.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I can usually say that I've enjoyed my day's work
0:26:38 > 0:26:42because I do enjoy my job. I may be fortunate in that respect.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44I like my job. So many people don't.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48When I come home, I like to leave the railway behind me
0:26:48 > 0:26:52and come home and maybe have a shower and go out fishing in my boat.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55- Hello. Did you have a good day? - Aye, not bad.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57It's lovely warm now, isn't it?
0:26:57 > 0:27:01If it's a nice day and maybe Helen's working,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03quite often I go away and I spend the whole day in the boat.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Take a flask with me and go away fishing all day.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08The dogs like coming in the boat.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10If I don't take them, they're inclined to go in a huff
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and they don't have anything to do with me when I come back.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18They'll run down to it and they're jumping,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20trying get into it. They're ready to go any time.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25I think they like fishing! HE LAUGHS
0:27:25 > 0:27:28They don't know what to do with them when they catch them
0:27:28 > 0:27:29but they like fishing.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Come on.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43There's nothing more peaceful than being out in the boat,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45maybe five or six miles down the loch.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Nobody could get at you, if they even wanted to.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49You're completely on your own.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54You're way down there, peaceful and quiet, and beautiful scenery.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56I don't think there's anything to beat it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I think I'll miss the railway when I retire.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07I think there's something wrong with anyone
0:28:07 > 0:28:09who worked in the railway all their days and didn't miss it.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12I probably will look forward to retiring,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15because it will give me more time to do the things
0:28:15 > 0:28:18that the railway maybe spoilt when we were working there.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21But I'll certainly miss the railway and I'll miss the men I work with.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Miss the companionship.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25And I'll miss the steam engine.