Oct 22, 2009 – Glenfinnan Viaduct, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland – Derek Croucher / Getty Images

• Some people are so proud of this viaduct that they put its picture on a ten-pound note.
  Do you recognize it?
• You don’t have to be Harry Potter to ride the Hogwarts Express.
  Anyone can do it
• The train that runs on this track is named after a famous political movement.
  It all goes back to King James
• “From scenes like these old Scotia’s grandeur springs.” —Robert BurnsWhere in the heck is old Scotia?

Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It was built between 1897 and 1901. Located at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland, the viaduct overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the waters of Loch Shiel.

Construction
The 21-arch single track viaduct was one of the largest engineering undertakings using concrete without reinforcing when it was built by Sir Robert McAlpine.

According to myth, during construction a cart-horse and driver were killed when they fell into one of the piers while dumping their load, and were buried in the concrete. Recent research has shown that the incident happened at Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct, further down the line, near Arisaig, and the driver survived. Memorial plaques are at the latter viaduct and at Glenfinnan Station Museum.

Railway services
The West Highland Line connects Fort William and Mallaig, and was a crucial vein for the local fishing industry and the highlands economy in general, which suffered enormously after the Highland Clearances of the 1800s.
The line is used by passenger trains operated by ScotRail between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig, usually diesel multiple units. Additionally in the summer the heritage Jacobite steam train operates along the line. It is a popular tourist event in the area, and the viaduct is one of the major attractions of the line.

Depiction
The viaduct is commemorated on the Bank of Scotland £10 note

In popular culture
Glenfinnan Viaduct has been used as a location in several films and television series, including Charlotte Gray, Monarch of the Glen, and most famously Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in which a substantial sequence revolves around the Hogwarts Express crossing the viaduct. Its appearances in two subsequent Harry Potter films, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire, has cemented the association of the viaduct with the film series.

Scottish banknotes
The Glenfinnan Viaduct features on some Scottish banknotes. The 2007 series of notes issued by the Bank of Scotland depicts different bridges in Scotland as examples of Scottish engineering, and the £10 note features the Glenfinnan Viaduct.