Rail Away s01e01 Episode Script
Scotland
Our railway journey leads to Scotland travelly by train we cross the country from east to west.
Scotland, a land of contrasts with sweet valleys and desolate highlands a coutry of bagpipes, whisky, myth and legend.
Also a country of splendid architecture dating from a glorious past.
The rail brings us all these beautiful things.
Starting from the east, the train crosses the Scottish landscape to arrive at the West Coast the Atlantic.
This small station of Berwick is a starting point of our journey.
We are waiting for the train to take us for the first part of the trip.
The Scottish like to travel especially by train, the modern trains bring them fast and comfortably to their destination.
Berwick lies in a marvelous valley crossed by the River Tweed Through the ages this place has been alternately under Scottish and English rule Since 1482 it has been definitely English But it is still kept its Scottish charisma during the last five hundred years.
As soon as the train has left the station of Berwick the landscape shows us it's beauty.
At full speed the intercity train is heading to Edinburgh.
On our way to this cultural capital the British islands We pass part of the Magnificent rocky coast The Scottish capital, Edinburgh has been built with the intention intention to impress This can be noticed on arrival at the beautiful Central Station.
Poets have been commended the city for its rich cultural life as the Athen of the north.
The often raw weather and the desolate highlands however, hardly recall Greek capital.
Edinburgh castle dominates the city guarding its age-old history The majestic fortress was built in 11th century and is situated on top of the steep cliffs of castle rock the culture is also present in the music so popular in this place.
In the Old Quarter at the base of the castle picturesque streets, pubs, park and shops doing good trade can be found.
The newer quarter is a good example of 18th century city planning magnificient mansions are standing here along broad streets.
Not far from Edinburg is the inlet Firth of Fourth Ever since the year 1070 a ferry has plied between the shores of this waterway the ferry was removed after the completion of the railway bridge.
This bridge measuring 2.
500 hundred meters was built between 1883 and 1890 the cost has not been earned back yet.
So whoever wants to use this bridge has to pay a toll.
This immense steel colossus incorporates more than 55,000 tons of steel this steel rests upon concrete piles measuring 3 metres across the bridge demands some major repairs First, twenty painters are engaged throughout the year crossing the bridge at an altitude of 46 meters above the water level is a real happening.
Back to the station at the Scottish capital, it is crowded when we prepare for the next part of our journey.
From Edinburgh, set off for Glasgow Scotland's second city The journey leads for the narrowest piece of the country and landscape here is rather flat, in contrast with most other parts of the country Glasgow is a real port an industrial town with almost 1 million inhabitants, it's Scotland biggest city.
We arrived at Queen Street Station.
Glasgow's outskirt are impoverish and not really beautiful the old center, on the other hand is magnificent.
Many monumental buildings and statues of Scottish heroes like David Livingstone and James Watt adorn this busy city.
George Square is the center of the town the most striking building on the square is City Chambers was opened in 1888 by Queen Victoria.
This beautiful building has marble staircases and pillars made of Alabaster Along the banks of the river Kelvin this special greenhouse is situated in the Magnificent royal botanical gardens.
In various greenhouses cactuses, orchids, begonias and water plants grow.
There are countless sorts of ferns and palm trees The Royal garden is completed by Greek and Roman sculptures Here in the middle of town, the visitor can find a heaven of peace Queen Street Station is one of Glasgow's two main stations.
From this place trains depart for the highlands in the north of Scotland.
From Central Station in Hope street trains go to the southwest and England.
Our train leaves for Fort William in the north.
one of Scotland's most popular holiday destination.
Just outside Glasgow, we notice again how green Scotland is Unfortunately, all this green can only grow if there is enough rain.
Rain, clouds, filling up with water above the Atlantic like to drop their load here.
The next hour, we enjoy it's magnificent result.
Most train passengers go to Fort William to see Ben Nevis at 1,344 metres, Great Britain's highest mountain.
Others travel this way just to do some shopping.
Oh we live at Corran, we just get to Fort William to get groceries, once a week Of course, you can go shopping anywehere in Scotland.
But now we're on our way to the region where the whisky stems from Also the area around Fort William is famous for its high-quality whisky.
Fort William owes it's popularity to the mountain Ben Nevis altough most visitors pay only attention to the mountains they pass over the beauty of Glen Nevis.
This magnificent glaciated Valley lies north of the town the pure water flowing out of the rocks is the base of the whisky.
Well if it didn't have the waterfall we just wouldn't be able to make the whisky.
It's the water drawn from the fruit of this waterfall that's piped straight into the distillery and the only treatment it gets is a very light filter.
to remove any leaves or twigs, or maybe the odd gravity we don't want to meet lumpy whisky and we heat that water and mix it with crushed malted plant.
The yeast reacts with the sugars from the sweet water and it begins to ferment.
By brewing we're creating alcohol and the fermentation rises and rises right to the top of the vat And when the streght of the alcohol reaches 8 pecent alcohol by volume it kills off yeast and the fermentation dies back where we call this wash.
the wash containing the alcohol is then distilled Mother nature has very cleverly arranged that the boiling point of water be a hundred degrees centigrade and boiling point of alcohol seventy eight degrees centigrades so when we boil the wash and distill, the steam that rises first will be the alcohol.
Well it's clear spirit because all spirit is clear when it is originally distilled there's no color at this stage The initial color will come from the cask as it matures it Going back to this to the days of original distilling which of course was illicit distilling the farmer or the distiller usually both the same person was producing the spirit for his own consumption.
And sometimes he made just a little more than he could actually consume so he kept some of it for future.
And he found that the longer he keep that spirit the better it seem to become especially when if he was keeping it in an old sherry cask.
And now traditionally Scotch whisky must be matured for at least three years and one day before it can be legally described as the Scotch whisky.
In countless sheds like these in the surroundings of Fort William whisky ripen in thousands of cask.
Not untill tasters have approved to it will this whiskey be bottled to find its way around the world.
And now back to the railway.
In summer time, ScotRail uses a special steam train The Macabre.
This nostalgic train is in perfect condition.
Well the local ways about er about 120 ton that's it coal and water carries about 11 tons of coal and we use 3 tons of coal between Fort William and Mallaig We're limited, speedwise we're limited to 40 miles an hour maximum some faster, 50 miles per hour and the on the main line this engine could do it 80 to 90 miles an hour I'm quite sure of any boiler again there are speed restriction Sunday and they they're limited to a lower speed than us but it's quite capable of 80 or 90 miles an hour The engine was built about 1957 that's about the same vintage as myself.
So it got about the same service as myself and i hope i'm wearing it as well as it's wearing it's doing very well, a very good engine.
From Fort William we travel on to the west through the west island, in the direction of Mallaig.
this section is known as as one of the finest in the British Island.
We passed the 300 meters long Glenfinnan viaduct having at least 21 arches it once was among the first and biggest concrete viaducts in the world.
The construction of the 64 kilometers section to Mallaig was very expensive sometimes the rail crosses rocks, other times swamps.
The constructors must have overcome many difficulties to build a railroad here.
This section comprises eleven tunnels, various large viaducts and steep gradients The steam locomotive passes Loch Morar Scotland's deepest lake.
The rumour goes that this lake was the hiding place of Morag a monster, that might be a second cousin to the one at Loch Ness.
Going down the slopes of the West Highlands we catch sight of the Atlantic after this surprising journey the train arrived at Mallaig.
The small town of Mallaig owes it's existance to the train from this fishing port, the fish had to be transported to the hinteland.
But it's been a long time since the last catches of herrings were transported by train to the markets in the South.
Nowadays the town mainly depends on the tourists arriving here by train.
A lot of them take in Mallaig a ferry to one of the many Western islands.
But the fishermen are still here.
Along the Magnificent shores they fish for salmon herring and shrimps.
Daily the boats leave the harbour of Mallaig we sail with them.
Rolling on the water of South sleep the fishermen are looking for a good place to throw out their nests.
The life of a Scottish fisherman is not easy today the catch is minimum, some herrings and shrimps.
However, a couple of these catches is enough to make a living.
The fishermen were satisfied with it Chauvinistic as they are, the Scottish are very attached to their country and their homes.
To be able to live and work in this beautiful country.
Tekkichan ^^
Scotland, a land of contrasts with sweet valleys and desolate highlands a coutry of bagpipes, whisky, myth and legend.
Also a country of splendid architecture dating from a glorious past.
The rail brings us all these beautiful things.
Starting from the east, the train crosses the Scottish landscape to arrive at the West Coast the Atlantic.
This small station of Berwick is a starting point of our journey.
We are waiting for the train to take us for the first part of the trip.
The Scottish like to travel especially by train, the modern trains bring them fast and comfortably to their destination.
Berwick lies in a marvelous valley crossed by the River Tweed Through the ages this place has been alternately under Scottish and English rule Since 1482 it has been definitely English But it is still kept its Scottish charisma during the last five hundred years.
As soon as the train has left the station of Berwick the landscape shows us it's beauty.
At full speed the intercity train is heading to Edinburgh.
On our way to this cultural capital the British islands We pass part of the Magnificent rocky coast The Scottish capital, Edinburgh has been built with the intention intention to impress This can be noticed on arrival at the beautiful Central Station.
Poets have been commended the city for its rich cultural life as the Athen of the north.
The often raw weather and the desolate highlands however, hardly recall Greek capital.
Edinburgh castle dominates the city guarding its age-old history The majestic fortress was built in 11th century and is situated on top of the steep cliffs of castle rock the culture is also present in the music so popular in this place.
In the Old Quarter at the base of the castle picturesque streets, pubs, park and shops doing good trade can be found.
The newer quarter is a good example of 18th century city planning magnificient mansions are standing here along broad streets.
Not far from Edinburg is the inlet Firth of Fourth Ever since the year 1070 a ferry has plied between the shores of this waterway the ferry was removed after the completion of the railway bridge.
This bridge measuring 2.
500 hundred meters was built between 1883 and 1890 the cost has not been earned back yet.
So whoever wants to use this bridge has to pay a toll.
This immense steel colossus incorporates more than 55,000 tons of steel this steel rests upon concrete piles measuring 3 metres across the bridge demands some major repairs First, twenty painters are engaged throughout the year crossing the bridge at an altitude of 46 meters above the water level is a real happening.
Back to the station at the Scottish capital, it is crowded when we prepare for the next part of our journey.
From Edinburgh, set off for Glasgow Scotland's second city The journey leads for the narrowest piece of the country and landscape here is rather flat, in contrast with most other parts of the country Glasgow is a real port an industrial town with almost 1 million inhabitants, it's Scotland biggest city.
We arrived at Queen Street Station.
Glasgow's outskirt are impoverish and not really beautiful the old center, on the other hand is magnificent.
Many monumental buildings and statues of Scottish heroes like David Livingstone and James Watt adorn this busy city.
George Square is the center of the town the most striking building on the square is City Chambers was opened in 1888 by Queen Victoria.
This beautiful building has marble staircases and pillars made of Alabaster Along the banks of the river Kelvin this special greenhouse is situated in the Magnificent royal botanical gardens.
In various greenhouses cactuses, orchids, begonias and water plants grow.
There are countless sorts of ferns and palm trees The Royal garden is completed by Greek and Roman sculptures Here in the middle of town, the visitor can find a heaven of peace Queen Street Station is one of Glasgow's two main stations.
From this place trains depart for the highlands in the north of Scotland.
From Central Station in Hope street trains go to the southwest and England.
Our train leaves for Fort William in the north.
one of Scotland's most popular holiday destination.
Just outside Glasgow, we notice again how green Scotland is Unfortunately, all this green can only grow if there is enough rain.
Rain, clouds, filling up with water above the Atlantic like to drop their load here.
The next hour, we enjoy it's magnificent result.
Most train passengers go to Fort William to see Ben Nevis at 1,344 metres, Great Britain's highest mountain.
Others travel this way just to do some shopping.
Oh we live at Corran, we just get to Fort William to get groceries, once a week Of course, you can go shopping anywehere in Scotland.
But now we're on our way to the region where the whisky stems from Also the area around Fort William is famous for its high-quality whisky.
Fort William owes it's popularity to the mountain Ben Nevis altough most visitors pay only attention to the mountains they pass over the beauty of Glen Nevis.
This magnificent glaciated Valley lies north of the town the pure water flowing out of the rocks is the base of the whisky.
Well if it didn't have the waterfall we just wouldn't be able to make the whisky.
It's the water drawn from the fruit of this waterfall that's piped straight into the distillery and the only treatment it gets is a very light filter.
to remove any leaves or twigs, or maybe the odd gravity we don't want to meet lumpy whisky and we heat that water and mix it with crushed malted plant.
The yeast reacts with the sugars from the sweet water and it begins to ferment.
By brewing we're creating alcohol and the fermentation rises and rises right to the top of the vat And when the streght of the alcohol reaches 8 pecent alcohol by volume it kills off yeast and the fermentation dies back where we call this wash.
the wash containing the alcohol is then distilled Mother nature has very cleverly arranged that the boiling point of water be a hundred degrees centigrade and boiling point of alcohol seventy eight degrees centigrades so when we boil the wash and distill, the steam that rises first will be the alcohol.
Well it's clear spirit because all spirit is clear when it is originally distilled there's no color at this stage The initial color will come from the cask as it matures it Going back to this to the days of original distilling which of course was illicit distilling the farmer or the distiller usually both the same person was producing the spirit for his own consumption.
And sometimes he made just a little more than he could actually consume so he kept some of it for future.
And he found that the longer he keep that spirit the better it seem to become especially when if he was keeping it in an old sherry cask.
And now traditionally Scotch whisky must be matured for at least three years and one day before it can be legally described as the Scotch whisky.
In countless sheds like these in the surroundings of Fort William whisky ripen in thousands of cask.
Not untill tasters have approved to it will this whiskey be bottled to find its way around the world.
And now back to the railway.
In summer time, ScotRail uses a special steam train The Macabre.
This nostalgic train is in perfect condition.
Well the local ways about er about 120 ton that's it coal and water carries about 11 tons of coal and we use 3 tons of coal between Fort William and Mallaig We're limited, speedwise we're limited to 40 miles an hour maximum some faster, 50 miles per hour and the on the main line this engine could do it 80 to 90 miles an hour I'm quite sure of any boiler again there are speed restriction Sunday and they they're limited to a lower speed than us but it's quite capable of 80 or 90 miles an hour The engine was built about 1957 that's about the same vintage as myself.
So it got about the same service as myself and i hope i'm wearing it as well as it's wearing it's doing very well, a very good engine.
From Fort William we travel on to the west through the west island, in the direction of Mallaig.
this section is known as as one of the finest in the British Island.
We passed the 300 meters long Glenfinnan viaduct having at least 21 arches it once was among the first and biggest concrete viaducts in the world.
The construction of the 64 kilometers section to Mallaig was very expensive sometimes the rail crosses rocks, other times swamps.
The constructors must have overcome many difficulties to build a railroad here.
This section comprises eleven tunnels, various large viaducts and steep gradients The steam locomotive passes Loch Morar Scotland's deepest lake.
The rumour goes that this lake was the hiding place of Morag a monster, that might be a second cousin to the one at Loch Ness.
Going down the slopes of the West Highlands we catch sight of the Atlantic after this surprising journey the train arrived at Mallaig.
The small town of Mallaig owes it's existance to the train from this fishing port, the fish had to be transported to the hinteland.
But it's been a long time since the last catches of herrings were transported by train to the markets in the South.
Nowadays the town mainly depends on the tourists arriving here by train.
A lot of them take in Mallaig a ferry to one of the many Western islands.
But the fishermen are still here.
Along the Magnificent shores they fish for salmon herring and shrimps.
Daily the boats leave the harbour of Mallaig we sail with them.
Rolling on the water of South sleep the fishermen are looking for a good place to throw out their nests.
The life of a Scottish fisherman is not easy today the catch is minimum, some herrings and shrimps.
However, a couple of these catches is enough to make a living.
The fishermen were satisfied with it Chauvinistic as they are, the Scottish are very attached to their country and their homes.
To be able to live and work in this beautiful country.
Tekkichan ^^