Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for train travel
Europe’s Destination Station
By Linda Tancs
Tax-free shopping. Chauffeur service. Europe’s longest champagne bar. Musical entertainment. Public art. Is it any wonder that London’s St. Pancras is acclaimed as Europe’s destination rail station? One of the city’s greatest Victorian buildings, its iconic roof was constructed of a series of wrought iron ribs resulting in a space 100 feet high, 240 feet wide and 700 feet long. Its only rival is perhaps the presiding St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, hailed as London’s most romantic building. Its glorious Gothic Revival metalwork, gold leaf ceilings, hand-stenciled wall designs and jaw-dropping grand staircase are as dazzling as the day Queen Victoria opened the hotel in 1873. Walking tours of the station complex are available for individuals and groups.
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Glasgow’s Catacombs
By Linda Tancs
In Glasgow, Scotland, the catacombs aren’t the usual subterranean ossuary, the likes of which you’ll find in Paris. It might feel just as spooky, though, except for the new steak and gin restaurant gracing the brick vaults. We’re talking about Glasgow Central, the busiest train station in Scotland and the second busiest outside London. You can tour the entire station—from its iconic roof (with 48,000 imposing panes of glass) to its boiler rooms and tunnels and, yes, the catacombs. This is a unique guided tour of the operational areas of a hallmark of Victorian engineering. Wear sensible shoes and dress for the weather.
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Great American Stations
By Linda Tancs
One of America’s great rail stations marks its 80th birthday this year. The honoree is Newark Penn Station, an Art Deco landmark in Newark, New Jersey. Dedicated in 1935, the station is a linchpin of the northeast corridor, a nexus of travel between New York and New Jersey and, thanks to connecting service via NJ Transit to Newark Liberty International Airport, the rest of the world.
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All Aboard in St. Kitts
By Linda Tancs
What could be better than a tropical drink-laden narrow gauge train ride through an unspoiled paradise rife with lush vegetation, rainforest canopies, secret beaches, sugar estates and a volcanic cone? That’s what you’ll get when you travel on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway, the last railway in the West Indies, built to transport the island’s sugar cane during boom times. Timed to coincide with cruise ship schedules in-season (December through April), a leisurely three-hour tour features 18 miles of rail travel and another 12 miles of historic sightseeing by bus. From sugar train to scenic train, don’t miss the chance to experience island history amid the warm trade winds.
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The Horseshoe Curve
By Linda Tancs
What do Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and dozens of Hollywood’s elite have in common? They’ve all traveled the Horseshoe Curve. Constructed entirely by hand by 450 Irish immigrant workers, the Curve is an engineering feat at the base of the Allegheny Mountains in Altoona, Pennsylvania. A National Historic Landmark, the 220 degree arc opened in 1854 to facilitate train travel across the state through rough mountain terrain. Access the curve via the funicular or a 194-step nature walk and enjoy the stunning views.
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Rocky Mountaineer
By Linda Tancs
It’s a three-hour drive between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, B.C., but why deal with the traffic? If you believe that life is about the journey rather than the destination, then take the meandering route via rail on the Rocky Mountaineer’s Coastal Passage itinerary. The tour begins at Seattle’s King Street station and features over two days of daytime train travel, taking in a hotel night in Seattle, two nights in Vancouver and a night in Alberta. While munching on delectable entrees and complimentary drinks, you’ll take in amazing vistas (through oversized windows or glass-domed cars, depending on the class of service) of the Canadian Rockies. Keep an eye out for sightings of its wildlife inhabitants like sheep, elk, goats, bears and moose. They’re in no hurry–are you?
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The Holy Grail of Rail
By Linda Tancs
From Siberia’s wooden cottages to Moscow’s onion domes, the Trans-Siberian Railway journey is arguably the rail industry’s holy grail. A popular route via the Trans-Siberian Express takes travelers across one-third of the world, beginning in Moscow and ending in Vladivostok, a trading port founded as a military outpost in 1860. Along the way are history-laden stops like Ekaterinburg, founded by Catherine the Great, where Tsar Nicholas II and his family where executed in 1918. And Ulan Ude, a Siberian city that is the center of the Buddhist Buryat culture. Did you know that Lake Baikal, another stop, holds 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen fresh water? On an epic ride like this, the journey is just as important as the destination.
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A Tour de Suisse
By Linda Tancs
The scenery from Lucerne to Locarno is just as dramatic as the telling of the legend of Switzerland’s William Tell. No wonder, then, that a rail journey between these two destinations is named the William Tell Express. Beginning with a three-hour boat cruise on Lake Lucerne (host to the storybook Chapel Bridge), the panoramic train trip begins at Flüelen, winds its way through the Reuss Valley, traces the Gotthard line and meanders through picturesque villages en route to Locarno. Forget about the apple shot. On this journey you’ll find the money shot for sure.
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A Place in Railroad History
By Linda Tancs
It might seem hard to imagine that a railroad bridge in McKean County, Pennsylvania was once hailed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” That honor was bestowed upon the Kinzua Bridge, an iron marvel of the 1800s that was the tallest railroad bridge in the world before being dismantled. Subsequently restored, it was the fourth-tallest bridge in the United States before its partial collapse in 2003 from a tornado. Still attracting visitors to Kinzua Bridge State Park in Mount Jewett, the main attraction these days is the skywalk, a 225-foot-high observation deck offering stunning views of Kinzua Gorge.
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Train Tickets Simplified
By Linda Tancs
Individual tickets or railpass? Advance or same-day purchase? How do you find the cheapest ticket? Sometimes, the terms and conditions for international train travel can leave you dazed and confused. That’s where the helpful advice of The Man in Seat 61 comes to the rescue. Whether you’re interested in UK or continental Europe train travel, The Man has all the answers to demystify the ticket purchasing process. Seat 61, by the way, is his favorite first-class seat on the Eurostar.
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