Trainspotting: Take the train to iconic film location and walk to Rannoch Station

Writer Gayle Ritchie catches a train to remote Corrour Station – immortalised in Trainspotting – for a walk along the Road to the Isles.

By Gayle Ritchie

September 10 2023, 6:00am

Corrour Station was immortalised in Trainspotting - and Gayle checked out the location.

Gayle catches a train to remote Corrour Station – immortalised in Trainspotting – for a walk along the Road to the Isles.

It’s a lonely, remote location in the middle of a vast moorland wilderness.

Immortalised in the iconic 1996 film Trainspotting, Corrour Station can only be reached by train – or by taking a very long walk.

I got the train here from Rannoch Station, 18 miles from the nearest village of Kinloch Rannoch, and at the end of a “dead-end” road.

The journey is a mere 12 minutes, and it navigates a breathtakingly rugged landscape of peat bogs, rivers, lochans and rocky outcrops.

It’s a blustery afternoon, and I throw on my jacket as I step onto the deserted platform and wave goodbye to the friendly conductor.

Gayle at Corrour Station – and in front of Leum Uilleim.

I’m on a mission to retrace the footsteps of Renton, Tommy, Spud and Sick Boy, who headed to this exact spot to briefly deliberate getting some fresh air and going for a walk.

And while I reflect on Renton’s memorable monologue – “It’s s***e being Scottish!” – I have to say, I disagree. I reckon we’re damn lucky to live in this stunning country!

Gazing up at the hill before me – the one that Tommy marched towards – I consider scaling it.

At 909m, it’s a Corbett called Leum Uilleim, although I’ve no clue how to pronounce that.

Road to the Isles

However, it’s late in the day and my plan is to walk the 11.5 miles back to Rannoch Station, so I leave that hike for another time.

Had it been earlier, I’d have popped into Corrour Station House – billed as the UK’s most remote restaurant – for a coffee and a snack. Again, there’s always next time.

The route back – part of the historical drove road, the Road to the Isles – takes me past gorgeous Loch Ossian and its cosy youth hostel. The chimney billows smoke as I pass by, and pause to take about 100 pictures.

Memorial stone

Climbing up from the loch, the track veers deeper into the wilderness and, after a mile or so, reaches Peter’s rock, a memorial to 29-year-old Peter J Trowell, a former warden at the hostel.

His body was found in Loch Ossian in March 1979, a few weeks after he went missing. It’s thought he fell through the ice and perished.

The undulating path soon flattens, before it drops gently most of the way back to Rannoch.

If you’re feeling energetic and you’ve got plenty of time, you can scale the 941m Munro Carn Dearg, but you should expect that to add on about two hours.

Old Corrour Lodge

As a lover of all things derelict and abandoned, I’m in my element as I approach the gaunt, grey ruins of Old Corrour Lodge.

Built in the 19th Century as a shooting lodge – the highest in Scotland – it could only be reached on foot or by pony and cart.

It was used as a sanatorium and then an isolation hospital in the early 20th Century before the roof was removed in the 1930s. It’s now a sprawl and tumble of granite blocks.

It’s a sad, strange place, but the views are spectacular – across Rannoch Moor to multiple peaks and sparkling lochans, and over to Blackwater reservoir.

Old Corrour Lodge was de-roofed in the 1930s.

After a good four hours of walking, my feet are tired, but when the sun casts a golden glow over the land, I feel a surge of exhilaration.

Passing a tree plantation, I hop across a river – there’s a bridge, but I take a lazy short cut – and walk down to the B846 at Loch Eigheach.

Rannoch Station

From here, it’s a two-mile trek along the tarmac back to Rannoch Station.

It’s almost dark when I reach my car and drive along to my tent, which is pitched five miles away on the banks of Loch Rannoch.

Earlier in the day, and while I was waiting for the 3.12pm train, I’d walked along to Loch Laidon, an easy mile along an ATV track. I’d encountered deer galore, and slumped down on one of the loch’s glorious sandy beaches, drinking in the views.

Gayle at Loch Laidon near Rannoch Station.

This still left time for me to pop into the fabulous Rannoch Station Tearoom for out-of-this-world cranachan cake and coffee.

Amazing cranachan cake and coffee at Rannoch Station Tearoom.

You can also pick up maps, books, compasses, gifts and midge repellent, and a free leaflet of walks.

There’s so much beauty and history here that it’s well worth staying in the area for a few days.

There are lochs to swim in (I dipped into Loch Rannoch twice), hills to climb, cakes to be devoured, iconic scenes to be celebrated, and so much more.

Corrour Station with Leum Uilleim in the background.

Corrour Station is the highest mainline train station in the UK. The railway through Rannoch Moor is often considered the bleakest part of the West Highland line. It’s “floated” across the peat bog on layers of turf and brushwood without solid foundations.
The train between Rannoch and Corrour runs up to four times a day in both directions.
As well as featuring in the first Trainspotting film in 1996, Corrour Station featured in the 2017 sequel T2 Trainspotting. Renton, Spud and Sick Boy returned to the scene to pay their respects to Tommy.
Scots author Irvine Welsh revealed that the highly anticipated Trainspotting musical will launch in mid-2024.