The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 145

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2003 TRAVEL T-5 Fling: Highland train IF YOU GO GETTING THERE: International flights arrive at Glas- gow or Edinburgh airports, from which you can take car, bus, or train to Kinloch Ran- noch in Perthshire, heart of the Scottish Highlands and location of the Dunalastair Hotel. The Dunalastair has its own Web site (www.dunalastair.co.uk) with detailed instructions on getting there by car, bus, or train. TRAIN DETAILS: The West Highland Line's Jacobite steam train departs from Fort William Monday through Friday, June 17 to May 4, and Sundays July 27 to Aug. 31. Regular diesel trains run the rest of the year.

The round-trip fare is 24 pounds (about $39), 14 pounds children. For more information, con-'. tact The West Coast Railway Company Ltd. Phone: 01542 732 100; fax: 01524 735 518. MORE INFORMATION: For I more on Scotland, go to www.visitscotland.com.

The I Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board site is also helpful: www.hostco.uk. In the United States, contact the British Tourist Authority, (800) 462-2748; on the Web, www.travel britain.org. MARY JANE FINE ages of shortbread. Lunch, after all, was still more than 90 minutes off. But we were in no hurry; there was too much yet to see.

Loch Eil, for instance, where 17 sea walls were built to protect the railway from gales an indication of the fierce weather prevalent in these parts. And just past it is Fass-fem, where Bonnie Prince Charlie spent a night in 1745. white rose he picked here and placed in his hat became a symbol for the Jacobite struggle for the throne," the pamphlet reminded us.) Further on, the railway passed a cave in which the bonnie prince hid after his defeat in 1746. A half-dozen stops later, we were looking at a more contemporary site: Our Lady of the Braes, the lovely church featured in the film "Local Hero." During our two-plus hours, our train meandered past lochs, across mountains, over glens, and through towns with names romantic and unpronounceable: Leac A'Mhuid-he and Loch Dubh, Glenfinnan (site of the Railway Museum) and Arisaig, Keppoch Moss and Morar, and Sound of Sleat Only later did we leam that the construction of the West Highland Line was almost as dramatic as the landscape it traverses. The rugged terrain Rannoch Moor is peat bog and rock posed a huge challenge to laying track.

Indeed, the great Scottish engineer Thomas Telford had been forced to give up his plan to build a road through the land. But in 1889, a seven-man party that included contractors, engineers, and a lawyer, set out to investigate the possibilities for building a train across the forbidding expanse. The trek was a misery. Rain, cold, and exhaustion took their toll; the explorers got lost, and nearly lost their lives. A search party finally found them, the survey resumed, and, on Aug.

11, 1894, the West Highland Line officially opened. Forty-one miles from the starting point, the shriek of seagulls welcomed us to the port town of Mallaig, gateway to the Scottish Isles. From here, car ferries make the crossing to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. We wandered the town the "wee town" as it's called in these parts in a fine mist that chilled more than it invigorated. When an From Page T-l sometimes-forbidding landscape, rainbows both surprise and delight These craggy mountains and somber fields are not Judy Garland country.

Snow-topped mountains framed our view as we headed toward the horizon. But the view changed from one stretch to the next The road, a narrow two-lane that follows the Tummel River for several miles beyond the Dunalas-tair, cut through meadows pale with frost and dotted with sheep. Bare winter branches etched paisley patterns against the watery sky. Soon we were crossing a bleakly beautiful stretch of land on which mottled, ovoid, gray boulders lay everywhere, like giant dinosaur eggs. Elsewhere, winter heather covered the ground, a rusty-purplish brush.

Peaks and valleys described the route, entirely appropriate for a marriage of two-plus decades. We found the little train station, a near-barren oasis in the isolated countryside. Only three other people waited on the platform. Our train, run by the West Coast Railway arrived on time. Literature for the train called it "one of the most spectacular and memorable rail journeys in the world," and though I'm no expert on the world's train journeys, my senses told me the boast is a fair one.

The journey began at Fort William, overlooked by a snowcapped Ben Nevis at 4,400 feet the United Kingdom's highest mountain. (The name "Nevis" is from the Gaelic for heaven, or clouds, and this "mountain with its head in the clouds" is not infrequently hidden from view entirely.) It's a skiing and snowboarding destination in the wintertime, a hiker's paradise come summer. Next stop: Banavie, where the train crosses a circa-1901 swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal. The series of eight lochs (lakes to us Americans), visible out the right-hand windows which frame ever-changing murals of the passing scene are known as Neptune's Staircase, a fact we learn from the "window gazer" pamphlet available onboard. When a conductor meandered down the aisle with a snack cart, we bought cups of milky tea and pack jp't PHOTO COURTESY THE BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY The train departs from Fort William overlooking the United Kingdom's highest mountain, the Ben Nevis, which, in Gaelic means the "mountain with its head in the clouds." walk around town, before hurrying back to the station for our return trip (in just under two hours) in the waning light of early evening.

If we had had more time in Scotland, we'd probably have overnighted in Mallaig which has a selection of guest houses, and small hotels. The village has a handful of shops, a marine center, a heritage center and a town swimming pool, but the big attraction for us was the availability of ferries to the Scottish Isles. But leave we did. Our drive back to the Dunalastair a bit unnerving in the absolute dark of this uninhabited countryside was quick, and we were rewarded by the gorgeous dinner John had promised. The middle of nowhere had been all we had hoped for, and then some.

Fishing net drapes the ceiling, and dim lighting adds to the sense that we diners were aboard a small ship. Our meal of fried haddock with chips and a pot of tea cost 5 pounds, 50 pence roughly $7. It was with reluctance that we left that warm harbor for a final AII-lnclusivGS, WoHd's Cest Vah older couple we recognized from the train emerged from a modest corner cafe and, unbidden, recommended the "cullen skink" brilliant," they say), we quickly ducked in, as much to escape the cold as to test whether the meal tastes better than it sounds. It would v. Extensive land watersporb) from golf to scuba diving Up to 8 gourmet restaurants per resort Caribbean's most luxurious beachfront rooms suites Option of a ull-service European spa Unlimited premium brand drinks What the world needs now is love.

IVrniftht Concierge Level land-only from Per Night from $139 $219 All-Inclusive All-inclusive -3 tu have to, we decided. And, in fact, it did. A creamy fish-and-potato soup akin to New England clam chowder, it was the perfect tonic for the weather. We took the last table of The Cabin Restaurant's nine, which are wedged into a narrow but cozy dining room. nimMiHii 9 1 7-'-.

r. i. ciltl's Cosl Saturday or Sunday departures from Newark and JFK to Turks Caicos Round-Trip Charter Airfare The last A 1st. Class uTZf fmkM I UptolOgourmct Supervised kids i $399" Economy of the world's JO gourmet Supervised Island waterslides CameWaves i pools UltraNanny the true exotics One of top 5 diving destinations specialty restaurants Kids Kamp Pirates Water Theme Park with Movie theater Interactive Zones with swim-up pool bars Full-service European spa service Sr nursery llbars'TheFrenchVillage For All-Inclusive Air Packages Call Your Travel Agent or 1-300-SANDALS I rVtnicJil Und-nrl fmin 169 All IikIuww IVlNiftht Ins 259 CimeWivei Interactive Zones Extensive land v.y 'jOitiy resUurants per resort programs lncludi walersportsfrom European ip, I lolid.iy at the fiifpvifynnr rwAllncJwryeAirPickavM CuTbur Travel Aoant goU'toKubadivini Option of a Crlpbralr your ahlihran I i VMinMtitirinMmo rwbMclMt.coiii Or rBOO -BEACHES or 18004 M.iMiMatMMMrlMFlWMVIIMIilMi(liMillMMilh; minim0tmmm.mir 0mmtit m4mmwmm WeTfc-i wmm99f.umi'''miU MjswtV! 'in mm wimiltiM "sell HW Ijp 0 1 isilWfjsas4a ajiHi ee vana)aattsjstjavBai CvaHrliWejSAJ)4aM(, rsiB)f 0109 fffMtttwt Muni asev9sviMMtavaJtoillisfss)f 0sWH foj fvMsMl HI fnsi tttMNs1! Hilijr lefct tt s)Hrti 1 ajsJH ttiiaxhajt) Ihrtsjjeu tojf 'MJiraH4s) rH sWf IWf ajt ffjvusMisMe H) tAiij tjiiiswiiiiiii.swBitoaii.