However, it was rejected by film director Chris Columbus as looking "too modern" for the film, but it carried the name and colour for some months afterwards. The Platform 9 3⁄4 set at Warner Brothers: The Making of Harry Potter is the next best thing if you can’t ride Scotland’s Hogwarts Express. The first incident saw sparks from the engine set part of a heathland ablaze, while the second saw some railway sleepers catch fire on the York to Scarborough route. On the journey from Fort William to Mallaig, look out for these locations used in the Harry Potter movies. Intrigued by Muggle technology, the Minister saw the potential of using a Muggle steam locomotive as a secure and comfortable alternative to Portkeys or to unregulated means of travel.

If you cannot book a seat directly, Scottish Highlands tours from Edinburgh and Inverness include riding Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express. However, in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it is shown to have five coaches. Only four adults were ever seen travelling on the train: the Honeydukes Express lady, the conductor, Remus Lupin and Horace Slughorn. The new, permanent section offers a glimpse into how some of the films’ most iconic scenes were created as well as giving you the chance to climb aboard the train’s carriage and to pose with a luggage trolley as it disappears through the platform wall. According to the trolley witch, the train didn't take kindly to students who tried to leave when it was moving, possibly implying that it had some form of sentience.Realising the Hogwarts Express is right behind them, Ron swerves off the bridge, and Harry tumbles out of the car. So climb aboard the HOGWARTS Express and discover the magic and mystery that is HOGWARTS School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Information from Pottermore points to it being (rather erroneously) acquired by the Ministry about a century earlier, in the term of Minister Ottaline Gambol (in office 1827– 1835).

They appeared in the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire, and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2. It is painted in a crimson livery — a non-standard colour, as GWR locomotives traditionally used green. Train travel lovers and rail pass holders will love the Glasgow Queen Street to Fort William leg of the West Highland Line. However, this is problematic as the locomotive design seen in the films was not developed until the 1930s. Our hospitable hosts cooked the most delicious seafood meals, including fresh salmon from the river next to the guest house.One of the most famous scenes from the series – in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – features Harry and Ron Weasley in the flying Ford Anglia crossing the bridge to Hogwarts. The Jacobite train has traditional British carriages with sliding windows, so you don’t have to worry about shooting through dirty windows or reflections. And for all passengers – Harry Potter fans or not – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revel in a classic British steam train trip from yesteryear. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be possible, as there is no path through the tender to the cab of the engine.

It is possible, however, that these details were intentionally changed to differentiate Hogwarts Castle from the real engine that portrays it. Around 3 miles (5 km) after the stop at Glenfinnan, Loch Eilt will come into sight on the right side of the train. The fact that on average there are around one thousand students at Hogwarts each year also poses complications for the Hogwarts Express being the only method for students to reach Hogwarts. The second confrontation between Harry and Draco Malfoy occurred on the train on the way to Hogwarts when Draco sneered at Ron and offered Harry his friendship. This directly contradicts the films, as the tender used is a standard GWR tender, thus rendering safe passage between the locomotive and coaches impossible.

Crews would change over by way of a special corridor built through the tender that connected with the rest of the train. See our romance on the rails article and Cornwall by rail for more fabulous train journeys in Britain. Yet it was rejected by Chris Columbus, the film director, because it looked too modern for the film's taste. To experience the enchanting Hogwarts Express experience, you must travel on the Harry Potter train in Scotland. The Hogwarts Express was the name of the train that ran between London King's Cross Station Platform 9¾ and Hogsmeade station.

In March 2015, we unveiled a 20,000ft² expansion, including the original Hogwarts Express steam engine and a recreation of Platform 9¾. In 2017, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione took their children to Platform 9¾ where they boarded the train to leave for Hogwarts. In the Muggle world, the Hogwarts Express is a steam train known as The Jacobite, which runs on the West Highland Line between Fort William and Mallaig in Scotland. Warner Brothers: The Making of Harry Potter has much more to experience, including the Great Hall, Forbidden Forest, Diagon Alley, props, costumes and a showcase of special and visual effects. We did some walking and sightseeing at Glencoe, Glenfinnan (and got up close to the viaduct) and took a gondola to the Nevis Range.

This was their stance until the Ministry decreed that students would arrive to school on the train or not attend at all. These enclosed compartments seat six people with a door that leads to a corridor running the entire length of the carriage. And with direct bookings on The Jacobite selling out so fast, it may be the only way to take the train.