#44

Think they’ve retired most of them now, but I wanted to do one of the Japanese sleeper trains

Settling into a massive Shinkansen seat with a bento and a highball is such a pleasure.

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#45

Yeah, the Sunrise train, which runs south from Tokyo is the only one left. I’ve not been on that one - all the destinations are served by fast trains now anyway, so you don’t gain much by taking them.

https://www.osakastation.com/the-sunrise-seto-sunrise-izumo-overnight-sleeper-trains-from-osaka-to-tokyo/#:~:text=The%20Sunrise%20Seto%20and%20the,train%20until%20they%20reach%20Okayama.

#46

Settle-Carlisle and Heart of Wales please

#47

Can you not travel by train between Belgrade and Sarajevo anymore?

That was probably the best train journey I’ve ever been on.

#48

Trans-Mongolian was incredible. Went from Reading to Hong Kong purely on trains across 2 months, would recommend.

Would love to do one across the Alps then down into the Balkans.

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#49

I’d love to get a sleeper train to virtually anywhere

One of them with beds

Maybe there’s thrilling intrigue going on somewhere, though I’d rather not be murdered

#50

Was gonna do Fort William to Mallaig for holiday this week but opted not to because Scots don’t want us giving them the Covid

#51

Stopped quite a few years ago yeah, apparently due to a falling out between the various different train companies . Massive shame.

Sadly even that looked difficult for us in March, the Zagreb - Sarajevo leg had something like a 100km gap in the route between the final Croatian station and the first Bosnian one. 12 hour train would’ve certainly been preferable to 7 by taxi…

Definitely worth doing Mostar by train if you can next time, for the view of the mountains alone!

#52

Would like to do a few more of the Amtrak (did the DC to Chicago and Chicago to LA (as far as Flagstaff) a couple of years ago), but I’d like to do the Chicago to New Orleans or Seattle to LA ones sometime

#53

We are doing this next year (fingers crossed). Sounds good.

#54

Make sure you get to the station early so you can get a reserved seat (you can’t do that in advance because Amtrak is weird) on the left side of the train (the side closest to the seat). Also first class is dirt cheap and worth it.

#55

It is a massive shame. Both Belgrade and Sarajevo are amazing cities in many different ways, but it was through the train journey that I really fell in love with both Serbia and especially Bosnia, drinking in the beautiful meadows, valleys, mountains, ramshackle villages, rivers and forests. I’m a firm believer that train travel really is the best way to truely experience a country.

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#56

When going by sleeper train my advice is to make sure the train is relatively new, otherwise you might not get much sleep.

We took the 1930s Red Arrow Express from Moscow to St Petersburg and, because of its age, we didn’t get a wink of sleep. A fascinating train in terms of history and character but a bugger to sleep on because of the lack of comfort and the constant noise.

#57

A few years ago I travelled from Iasu to Chisinau by train, albeit we changed trains at the border rather than it being lifted onto new bogies, disappointingly. It was like being in a Le Carre novel, particularly as the Moldovan border guards were quite doubtful about letting us in.

The train on the Moldovan side looked like it was from a museum and I doubt it got over 40mph at any point in the journey (which as the passengers kept opening the doors in transit to lean out for a smoke was probably just as well).

#58

But the one I’d like to do is Belgrade to Bar. I’ve not been to Montenegro, and that line’s supposed to be quite spectacular.

I don’t know if it still operates, but there was a sleeping car train in Italy where the carriages were loaded onto a ferry to go to one of the islands. That could be quite interesting.

The North of Scotland ones mentioned above, also.

#59

I just drove pretty much this route. It’s stunning! I did it in 56 hours with 2 sleeps and about 33 hours driving. Would have loved to get the train but I had our cats and furniture.

Montana and Idaho are especially beautiful, it was tough not to get distracted. The train must be so much fun.

Edit: Chicago to Seattle route mentioned above by @guntrip

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#60

:grimacing:

Braver man than I

#61

They were actually pretty chill. I was probably suffering more than them as the people carrier I hired didn’t have a usb/head phone jack so I only had the radio for company. Options got pretty limited. I did find a two hour gardening phone in on a Christian station, definitely a highlight.

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#62

Jesus Christ! Is that like a ramshackle cable car or is it a much smoother operation?

#63

Somewhere inbetween tbh tbf. Our sleeper carriage had the actual bogey fittings in, so in the middle of the night we were disturbed by a guy coming in to knock them out with a wooden mallet. Felt fairly lo-fi, but that they knew what they were doing at the same time :smiley:

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