This link is a few years old now. A great glimpse into the early days of the pandemic. When we were all restless and needed a change of view. We were firing up our laptops to experience any change of scenery, virtually. These are all real-time travel clips filmed in Hi Def from the perspective in the driver's seat up front!
It grabbed my attention for posting now after our recent trip to Boston. We took a vintage trolley car train to the suburban area of Mattapan outside of Boston. For those who prefer to take things a bit slower and travel by rail.
I grew up by train tracks in Erie during some of the hey-days of Amtrak travel. I do love it on those rare occasions where I have the luxury of time to travel there by train. It seems so much more comfortable to recline in big seats, stroll to the domed viewing car or even eat in the dining car. I also love timing the trains for the short lay over in Chicago - where I can check my bags in a locker and step out into the city for a detour of an hour or two, before hopping back on for leg 2 of the journey.
But the real draw on any train trip is the open vistas seen through big glass windows. Even on local trips in Stillwater along the St Croix or the shores of Superior in Duluth. They are fantastic moments to just breathe and take it all in.
This list from Travel+Leisure takes in 13 Train Trips across the globe from the drivers' seat perspective. A few are short edited clips from 12-15 minutes. But many of them are the entire 2-3 hour journeys of the trip. On a small screen I got a bit of the nausea that I sometimes get at an Omni Theater experience. It is like you are moving but your body is not reacting to the shifts of direction.
They might be interesting background noise by streaming on your television while working a jigsaw puzzle or something small project. Here are the destinations.
1) Norway - the Flam Railway
2) Japan - Hiroshima to Fuchu
3) Switzerland - St Moritz to Tirano, Italy
4) Colorado - Pikes Peak Cog Railway
5) Montenegro - Belgrade Railway - tunnels & bridges
6) North Wales Coast
7) Norway - Nordland Line - fjords
8) Peru - Central Andino Line - in 4 long parts
9) New York City - #7 Express Subway
10) Balkans - Bosnia & Croatia
11) England - Southwestern Railway
12) Colorado - Durango & Silverton - mountain towns
13) Switzerland - Wengernalp Railway
