Uploaded February 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Every year in the Autumn of 2000 to 2014 (apart from 2012) the annual steam photo-charter in the Scottish Highlands took place. They were instigated by enthusiast Bob Branch in conjunction with ScotRail, West Coast Railways and the various locomotive owners and staff. Later charters were organised by John Hunt and James Shuttleworth. Many thanks to all of these people and organisations for making these operationally complex events happen on the British Railways network. The charters became an annual pilgrimage for many steam railway enthusiasts and became affectionately known as the ‘Scottish Steam Bash’
This programme, produced in High Definition video, records some of the highlights of the charters operated between 2008 and 2011 over the West Highland mainline and its extension from Fort William to Mallaig. It includes the amazing runpasts up on Rannoch Moor filmed under stunning lighting conditions in 2010 as well as some footage of the public ‘Jacobite’ train. Locomotives seen in action (often renumbered as other classmates) are as follows:
61994 ‘The Great Marquess’, 45407 (as 45489 or 44996), 76079 (as 76001), 62005 (as 62034) and 44871
Sadly, due to the ever-increasing rail traffic on these railways, these charters are unlikely to happen again. I hope this video brings back some happy memories for those who were fortunate enough to take part.
Every year in the Autumn of 2000 to 2014 (apart from 2012) the annual steam photo-charter in the Scottish Highlands took place. They were instigated by enthusiast Bob Branch in conjunction with ScotRail, West Coast Railways and the various locomotive owners and staff. Later charters were organised by John Hunt and James Shuttleworth. Many thanks to all of these people and organisations for making these operationally complex events happen on the British Railways network. The charters became an annual pilgrimage for many steam railway enthusiasts and became affectionately known as the ‘Scottish Steam Bash’
This programme, produced in High Definition video, records some of the highlights of the charters operated between 2008 and 2011 over the West Highland mainline and its extension from Fort William to Mallaig. It includes the amazing runpasts up on Rannoch Moor filmed under stunning lighting conditions in 2010 as well as some footage of the public ‘Jacobite’ train. Locomotives seen in action (often renumbered as other classmates) are as follows:
61994 ‘The Great Marquess’, 45407 (as 45489 or 44996), 76079 (as 76001), 62005 (as 62034) and 44871
Sadly, due to the ever-increasing rail traffic on these railways, these charters are unlikely to happen again. I hope this video brings back some happy memories for those who were fortunate enough to take part.
