For travel in many parts of the world, choo-choos rock! Here we talk about train travel trips, great rail routes, antique trains, trainspotting... All aboard!
The Great Orme Tramway is a vintage charmer in Wales
At just 206 metres (680 feet) above sea level, the Great Orme (below) might be thought of as rather a slight hill. But it looks as imposing as a far greater eminence, as it overlooks the seaside resort of Llandudno, on the north Welsh coast about a 4½-hour drive or train ride from London and just over an hour's drive and two hours by rail from Liverpool. It’s a limestone headland about two miles long and a mile wide where, back in the Bronze Age, copper was mined (but they only discovered…
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Train from hell’ arrives almost a day late
Passengers complain of 19-hour delay, shortage of food and water
msnbc.com news services
"Pulling into Chicago almost a full day behind schedule, one Amtrak passenger recounted 'the train from hell,' and others are vowing they will never use the rail service again.
Amtrak's California Zephyr arrived 19 hours late full of 'tired, hungry and stinky' passengers, according to a story posted on WMAQ's Web site.
The train was plagued by severe weather and other mishaps, the Chicago NBC affiliate reported."
What I want to know is why in all the many times I've traveled on trains in Europe, this has never, ever happened. Trains are always clean and run on time. I occasionally travel back and forth between New York City and the mid-Hudson Valley, and finally I gave up on Amtrak -- it's usually late, the toilets are routinely awful, and so forth. And the last time I tried it during the Christmas holidays, you don't wanna know...
I realize part of the answer is that passenger rail travel in the U.S. is a half-starved wretch that the auto industry and other interests have spent generations trying to drag into the bathtub so they can strangle it. It really is a shame, because train travel is one of the greenest transportation options going, and if done right can also be convenient, affordable, and even enjoyable (remember enjoyable train travel? Oh, sorry).
1. The Rocky Mountaineer (www.rockymountaineer.com) two-day journeys through the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Vancouver to Banff or Jasper.
2. Glacier Express (www.glacierexpress.ch), the famous Swiss mountain railway from St. Moritz to Zermatt, a 7 1/2 hour journey.
3. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (www.durangotrain.com), coal-fired/steam-powered, winding through rugged canyons in Colorado's remote Colorado’s San Juan National Forest.
4. Bernina Express (www.rhb.ch) from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy, makes the highest rail crossing of the Alps, passing from icy glaciers to palm-shaded piazzas in several hours.
5. Peru Rail, Cuzco to Machu Picchu (www.perurail.com), a spectacular journey through the high Andes.
6. Coastal Classic Train on the Alaska Railroad (www.akrr.com), winding through the mountains and glaciers of the wilderness between Anchorage and Seward.
7. The Royal Scotsman (www.royalscotsman.com) rolls through the ever-changing landscapes of sweeping glens, towering peaks and mirror-calm lochs.
8. The Whistler Mountaineer (www.whistlermountaineer.com) in Canada is a three-hour ride along the magnificent coast of British Columbia, from Vancouver to Whistler.
9. Mexico’s El Chepe (www.chepe.com.mx) ventures into the imposing landscapes of the Sierra Tarahumara and into Mexico’s enormous Copper Canyon.
10. The Flam Railway (www.norwaynutshell.com), an hourlong run from the mountain station of Myrdal down to Flam, beside a fjord,
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