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Night Trains: The Rise and Fall of the Sleeper
Night trains have long fascinated us with the possibilities of their private sleeping compartments, gilded dining cars, champagne bars and wealthy travellers. Authors from Agatha Christie to Graham Greene have used night trains to tell tales of romance, intrigue and decadence against a rolling background of dramatic landscapes. The reality could often be as early British travellers on the Orient Express were advised to carry a revolver (as well as a teapot).In Night Trains, Andrew Martin attempts to relive the golden age of the great European sleeper trains by using their modern-day equivalents. This is no simple matter. The night trains have fallen on hard times, and the services are disappearing one by one. But if the Orient Express experience can only be recreated by taking three separate sleepers, the intriguing characters and exotic atmospheres have survived. Whether the backdrop is 3am at a Turkish customs post, the sun rising over the Riviera, or the constant twilight of a Norwegian summer night, Martin rediscovers the pleasures of a continent connected by rail. By tracing the history of the sleeper trains, he reveals much of the recent history of Europe itself. The original sleepers helped break down national barriers and unify the continent. Martin uncovers modern instances of European unity - and otherwise - as he traverses the continent during 'interesting times', with Brexit looming. Against this tumultuous backdrop, he experiences his own smaller dramas, as he fails to find crucial connecting stations, ponders the mystery of the compartment dog, and becomes embroiled in his very own night train whodunit.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 9, 2017
60 people are currently reading
425 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Martin
190 books106 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Andrew Martin (born 6 July 1962) is an English novelist and journalist.
Martin was brought up in Yorkshire, studied at the University of Oxford and qualified as a barrister. He has since worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications while writing novels, starting with Bilton, a comic novel about journalists, and The Bobby Dazzlers, a comic novel set in the North of England, for which he was named Spectator Young Writer of the Year. His series of detective novels about Jim Stringer, a railwayman reassigned to the North Eastern Railway Police in Edwardian England, includes The Necropolis Railway, The Blackpool Highflyer, The Lost Luggage Porter, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line. He has also written the non-fiction book; How to Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts.
Andrew Martin (born 6 July 1962) is an English novelist and journalist.
Martin was brought up in Yorkshire, studied at the University of Oxford and qualified as a barrister. He has since worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications while writing novels, starting with Bilton, a comic novel about journalists, and The Bobby Dazzlers, a comic novel set in the North of England, for which he was named Spectator Young Writer of the Year. His series of detective novels about Jim Stringer, a railwayman reassigned to the North Eastern Railway Police in Edwardian England, includes The Necropolis Railway, The Blackpool Highflyer, The Lost Luggage Porter, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line. He has also written the non-fiction book; How to Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
August 29, 2017
Modern travel is ubiquitous. For a startlingly small amount of money, you can fly to a lot of places around Europe with the budget airlines. This does involve having to get to some slightly obscure airports at some unearthly hour of the morning, pass through a moderately humiliating security check before winging your way to the sun. Have the days of glamourous travel final vanished? However, there are still ways of arriving in a foreign city feeling refreshed without having to suffer the cattle class air transport and that is to find the night trains that are still running across Europe.
Andrew Martin decides to see if they are still a viable method of travelling across the continent and to see if the glamour of the past age has rubbed off on the modern transport. Martin catches various trains across Europe; The Blue Train from the Gare de Lyon in the heart of Paris to Nice on the Mediterranean coast, The ‘Orient Express’, a train that is a legend in its own right, though they no longer recommend carrying a pistol. He travels into the twilight zone on The Nordland Railway, one of Europe’s most scenic train journeys. He takes the Berlin Night Express that travels from the Swedish city of Malmö to Berlin before heading back to Paris for The Sud Express and then Paris-Venice.
This is part travelogue and partly a nostalgic look back at the golden age of night express trains that used to flow back and forwards across Europe. It is a more expensive way to travel, but whilst it doesn’t have the prestige of years past with their gilded dining carriages and champagne flowing, going to sleep in one country and waking up in another, definitely makes the travel element a major part of the experience. It is still a relatively safe form of travel that attracts a variety of characters and because it is not always straightforward it makes for interesting reading. It was a way of him reliving some of the holidays that he had as a small child travelling Europe with his father and sister, arranged for by The British Railwaymen’s Touring Club in the early 1970’s. I have read a number of Martin’s books in the past and this is another that he has written that is definitely worth reading. 3.5 stars
Andrew Martin decides to see if they are still a viable method of travelling across the continent and to see if the glamour of the past age has rubbed off on the modern transport. Martin catches various trains across Europe; The Blue Train from the Gare de Lyon in the heart of Paris to Nice on the Mediterranean coast, The ‘Orient Express’, a train that is a legend in its own right, though they no longer recommend carrying a pistol. He travels into the twilight zone on The Nordland Railway, one of Europe’s most scenic train journeys. He takes the Berlin Night Express that travels from the Swedish city of Malmö to Berlin before heading back to Paris for The Sud Express and then Paris-Venice.
This is part travelogue and partly a nostalgic look back at the golden age of night express trains that used to flow back and forwards across Europe. It is a more expensive way to travel, but whilst it doesn’t have the prestige of years past with their gilded dining carriages and champagne flowing, going to sleep in one country and waking up in another, definitely makes the travel element a major part of the experience. It is still a relatively safe form of travel that attracts a variety of characters and because it is not always straightforward it makes for interesting reading. It was a way of him reliving some of the holidays that he had as a small child travelling Europe with his father and sister, arranged for by The British Railwaymen’s Touring Club in the early 1970’s. I have read a number of Martin’s books in the past and this is another that he has written that is definitely worth reading. 3.5 stars
April 24, 2017
Full disclosure: I had to read this book because it was in the heading on my reading list titled, "Read a book written this year." This book should never have been written.
I kind of feel bad, because I'm sure Andrew Martin is not a bad person. But this book should never have been written. It is literary excrement. I would not read it again even if I were in solitary confinement for a week.
Why, you ask? Well, 95% of the book comes across as the train-obsessed rambling of a man-child with too much time and money on his hands. There is absolutely no flow, no rhyme, reason, or purpose to this monstrosity. This is the product of a man with an unhealthy fiery passion for trains, who seems to regret having decided to write said product halfway through its composition.
This is the first book I have ever read where the author quotes the blurb on the back of a DVD. Andrew Martin, the author, chose a niche topic (night trains), claims the book is solely about said niche topic (which, for a bit, is accurate), and then writes about a more general topic (day trains). I know I sound crazy for caring about this, as if I really wanted to read more about NIGHT trains and not day trains, but Martin has a knack for driving you crazy about everything he does wrong.
Apart from the fact that every five minutes your brain is telling you, "Wow. You are still reading about trains. Why?" you will enjoy exciting topics and events in his book such as:
- the colour of the carpets in the dining compartment
- what happened to a man of "Middle Eastern descent" after his ticket was checked (hint: nothing. Nothing happened.)
- why airline travel is BAD! (hint: it's because trains are so much cooler. Who cares if they're five times the cost?)
- which nations tend to use diesel locomotives versus electric locomotives
- his mind-numbing conversations with other passengers
- staring at a man sleeping for seven hours when you can't sleep
- various book and movie plots that take place on trains, that you invariably won't care about
This book, as of this writing, is the single worst book I have ever read. And I've read The Notebook!
This book should have been a shitty blog entry. Buying this book is like buying rat poison to use as a condiment. Please do yourself a favour and never read this.
I kind of feel bad, because I'm sure Andrew Martin is not a bad person. But this book should never have been written. It is literary excrement. I would not read it again even if I were in solitary confinement for a week.
Why, you ask? Well, 95% of the book comes across as the train-obsessed rambling of a man-child with too much time and money on his hands. There is absolutely no flow, no rhyme, reason, or purpose to this monstrosity. This is the product of a man with an unhealthy fiery passion for trains, who seems to regret having decided to write said product halfway through its composition.
This is the first book I have ever read where the author quotes the blurb on the back of a DVD. Andrew Martin, the author, chose a niche topic (night trains), claims the book is solely about said niche topic (which, for a bit, is accurate), and then writes about a more general topic (day trains). I know I sound crazy for caring about this, as if I really wanted to read more about NIGHT trains and not day trains, but Martin has a knack for driving you crazy about everything he does wrong.
Apart from the fact that every five minutes your brain is telling you, "Wow. You are still reading about trains. Why?" you will enjoy exciting topics and events in his book such as:
- the colour of the carpets in the dining compartment
- what happened to a man of "Middle Eastern descent" after his ticket was checked (hint: nothing. Nothing happened.)
- why airline travel is BAD! (hint: it's because trains are so much cooler. Who cares if they're five times the cost?)
- which nations tend to use diesel locomotives versus electric locomotives
- his mind-numbing conversations with other passengers
- staring at a man sleeping for seven hours when you can't sleep
- various book and movie plots that take place on trains, that you invariably won't care about
This book, as of this writing, is the single worst book I have ever read. And I've read The Notebook!
This book should have been a shitty blog entry. Buying this book is like buying rat poison to use as a condiment. Please do yourself a favour and never read this.
August 6, 2023
The night trains of Europe were once the epitome of glamour, adventure and a certain cosmopolitan attitude to life. In the early decades of the twentieth century they proved irresistible to novelists and film makers, from Agatha Christie to Graham Greene, and Eric Ambler to Alfred Hitchcock, but when Andrew Martin attempted to travel some of the most well-known routes in 2016-17, he found many of the once-famous services were on their uppers, and some barely existed in anything other than their names. Martin’s railway books are always a joy to read; steeped in railway history from childhood (his father was a railwayman in York, and an active member of the British Railwaymen’s Touring Club, taking advantage of its organised trips all over Europe, often accompanied by the young Andrew), he knows his stuff, but doesn’t let the history or the technical details get in the way of the human interactions that travelling by train have to offer.
January 15, 2019
European railway history, along with the author's overnight Journeys on a half dozen or so remaining sleeper services on the continent. The modern day travel narrative I found interesting, but wasn't enough of a railfan to appreciate the historical background as presented.
September 18, 2017
This is the first non-fiction book by Andrew Martin I have read. Given my appreciation for his writing and a lifetime love for trains, the book was a must have as soon as I saw the cover in a bookshop.
Andrew Martin is best known for his Jim Stringer novels all of which I have read and enjoyed greatly.
Night Trains is homage to classic long distant journeys by overnight trains. Many are celebrated in fiction from Murder on the Orient Express to Stamboul Train, Agatha Christie to Graham Greene.
The problem the author had was that he wished to participate in the original experience as best he could following the route and sleeping on board in a bed or couchette. It is bound closely with the famous Wagon-Lits sleeper carriages.
Consequently the book points to the phasing out of night services as cross-countries collaborations. Indeed many have ceased to run subsequently.
It also points up the current issues in modern day Europe the immigration problem, Brexit, passport controls and terrorism whether in Paris or Istanbul.
What I loved most aside from his self effacing commentary is the constant literary interjections regarding such travel and the history of this mode of transport.
It seems that bargain airlines, tunnels and bridges have all contributed to the fall of need for sleepers.
I remember that to attend a Christening in Stockholm my nephew and his dad made the trip by rail and they needed to sleep at some time during that journey. However it took great planning, long changes between services and was very expensive.
This book is a delight and will interest anyone in Europe in my opinion as it looks back on our history as well as the future. Russia's hopes to launch sleeper services it seems are hampered just now by the problems in the Ukraine. That is the key these historic trains needed cross border co-operation and national agreements. Hopefully the trains will return some day soon and reflect a peace in our Continent.
Andrew Martin is best known for his Jim Stringer novels all of which I have read and enjoyed greatly.
Night Trains is homage to classic long distant journeys by overnight trains. Many are celebrated in fiction from Murder on the Orient Express to Stamboul Train, Agatha Christie to Graham Greene.
The problem the author had was that he wished to participate in the original experience as best he could following the route and sleeping on board in a bed or couchette. It is bound closely with the famous Wagon-Lits sleeper carriages.
Consequently the book points to the phasing out of night services as cross-countries collaborations. Indeed many have ceased to run subsequently.
It also points up the current issues in modern day Europe the immigration problem, Brexit, passport controls and terrorism whether in Paris or Istanbul.
What I loved most aside from his self effacing commentary is the constant literary interjections regarding such travel and the history of this mode of transport.
It seems that bargain airlines, tunnels and bridges have all contributed to the fall of need for sleepers.
I remember that to attend a Christening in Stockholm my nephew and his dad made the trip by rail and they needed to sleep at some time during that journey. However it took great planning, long changes between services and was very expensive.
This book is a delight and will interest anyone in Europe in my opinion as it looks back on our history as well as the future. Russia's hopes to launch sleeper services it seems are hampered just now by the problems in the Ukraine. That is the key these historic trains needed cross border co-operation and national agreements. Hopefully the trains will return some day soon and reflect a peace in our Continent.
January 17, 2024
I’ve travelled on both British night trains, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera because why would you not, so I imagined at the very least I would be able to read-create these journeys, but in fact neither of these feature in this book of European sleepers. I am very, very far from a train fanatic but there is something exciting and captivating about having a bed with crisp linen sheets on a train; the disappearance of these grand wagon-lits is a huge loss to anyone for whom the journey is part of the adventure. Even though this was written just a few years ago, I am quite sure most of these journeys no longer exist and European travel is the worse for it.
This is a thoroughly entertaining read, as the author makes several journeys we get to share a compartment with him and the people he meets. I laughed out loud several times, clearly we share a similar sense of humour. When I read bits aloud no one else seemed to find them quite as entertaining so perhaps there’s just a handful of us. I was also happy to see Ian Nairn quoted on several occasions, another outspoken and astutely funny man, and I can’t help thinking what an excellent journey it would be for the three of us to have dinner in a restaurant car and I could watch them drink far too much while we dine on oysters and game, before retiring to our seperate berths to wake up in Istanbul.
This is a thoroughly entertaining read, as the author makes several journeys we get to share a compartment with him and the people he meets. I laughed out loud several times, clearly we share a similar sense of humour. When I read bits aloud no one else seemed to find them quite as entertaining so perhaps there’s just a handful of us. I was also happy to see Ian Nairn quoted on several occasions, another outspoken and astutely funny man, and I can’t help thinking what an excellent journey it would be for the three of us to have dinner in a restaurant car and I could watch them drink far too much while we dine on oysters and game, before retiring to our seperate berths to wake up in Istanbul.
February 20, 2017
I am a helpless train buff with a passion for steam locomotives. Andrew Martin has written several books about railways and in Night Trains his passion for the golden age of European sleeper trains shines through. I share his enthusiasm; my last journey on a night train was on The Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston to Inverness in Scotland. Most of the famous night trains have fallen on hard times and the services are disappearing. Whose heart would not skip a beat at the possibility of travelling on Le Train Bleu or The Orient Express ? In trying to recreate these journeys Martin encounters intriguing characters and some of his anecdotes are highly amusing.
In one way or another the author manages to replicate routes followed by: The Blue Train, The Nordland Railway, Paris-Venice, The Orient Express, The Sud Express and The Berlin Night Express as he traverses the continent during 'interesting times'.
For him - and me for that matter - trains can still be the most civilised way to travel. He has an indomitable spirit when it comes to recreating these journeys as he faces many logistical problems. These add to the enjoyment of this fascinating read.
If you are a train buff, like me, you will - I am sure - thoroughly enjoy this book.
In one way or another the author manages to replicate routes followed by: The Blue Train, The Nordland Railway, Paris-Venice, The Orient Express, The Sud Express and The Berlin Night Express as he traverses the continent during 'interesting times'.
For him - and me for that matter - trains can still be the most civilised way to travel. He has an indomitable spirit when it comes to recreating these journeys as he faces many logistical problems. These add to the enjoyment of this fascinating read.
If you are a train buff, like me, you will - I am sure - thoroughly enjoy this book.
January 23, 2019
I did enjoy this book, especially the awesome cover. That said, it’s made me realise that I am nowhere near as much of a train geek as I thought I was… It was a little tricky to keep up with all of the historical references.
Best part is Andrew’s travelogue from the few remaining European sleepers. I would have loved to have been around during the heyday of sleepers, but the impression I got from this book was that this mode of travel is largely extinct now.
All in all, a decent read!
Best part is Andrew’s travelogue from the few remaining European sleepers. I would have loved to have been around during the heyday of sleepers, but the impression I got from this book was that this mode of travel is largely extinct now.
All in all, a decent read!
August 16, 2025
A well written and enjoyable book. Obviously author wishes that he could be on The Blue Train speeding to the Riveria in the 1930s but his description of his journeys today are vivid and amusing.
October 17, 2025
This was so lovely - the perfect mix of history and travel writing. Makes me want to go on more European trains 🥰
June 25, 2018
A great piece of nostalgic travel, through the eyes of an enthusiast, without any of the tedium that might be potentially associated with such a specialist reverie.
Delightfully written, and hugely engaging, this rattles along with the class and comfort of the trains about which he is writing, with personal asides, family anecdotes, literary connections and intrigue all carefully interwoven to create a really satisfying read.
History and travel in harmony - I really enjoyed this, and think that anyone with only the slightest interest in the subject would like it.
Delightfully written, and hugely engaging, this rattles along with the class and comfort of the trains about which he is writing, with personal asides, family anecdotes, literary connections and intrigue all carefully interwoven to create a really satisfying read.
History and travel in harmony - I really enjoyed this, and think that anyone with only the slightest interest in the subject would like it.
March 12, 2023
Fantastic
December 2, 2019
This book does not really live up to its title very well. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the book is entertaining and personal, but sometimes an author does not do a very good job at setting the right expectations for the reader. A reader of this book browsing it according to its title and not reading its back cover would not be properly prepared for this being the attempt of the author to relive the golden age of the sleeper car in Europe and might expect this book to be more of a scholarly discussion of the sleeper car and how it came to become less prevalent in European railroading (it is still popular in lower-speed American rail travel, which the author does not appear interested in at all) for various reasons that the author explores in the midst of his humorous and ineffectual travel. Ultimately, this book reads like a collection of personal essays and travel essays, which are all very entertaining to read (and write), even if they are not really scholarly at all in nature. This author, though, does not pretend to be a scholar, even if his book title would indicate a different approach than he takes.
This book is about 250 pages long and is divided into six chapters. The introduction discusses the rise of the sleeper car and its importance to film and literature in the 20th century from such figures as Agatha Christie and Graham Greene, who wrote famous novels about the Orient Express that painted up the glamour and occasionally the danger and exoticism of such trips. The author's trips, on the other hand, are far more humdrum and quotidian in nature, even farcical. The author explores the Blue Train (1), the Nordland Railway (2), the Paris-Venice (3) route, the 'Orient Express' to Istanbul (4), the Sud Express in Spain (5) and the Berlin Night Express (6) and finds his experience is decidedly lacking in glamour as he is sent on buses instead of trains because routes are contracting and struggles to communicate in areas where English is not spoken because apparently the author is a stereotypically monolingual Englishman. He finds that he has reserved spots on trains that are not in fact sleepers and struggles to give privacy to others while seeking a comfortable place to travel and sleep around Europe. Suffice it to say that this book fits well within the category of maladroit Englishmen traveling abroad.
Why would someone read a book like this? I don't know Andrew Martin from Adam, after all, and have no fondness of his writing in general to account for my wanting to read this. However, it so happens that my family is looking to do some rail travel in Europe at some point relatively soonish, and so as is my fashion I enjoy reading books that relate to this subject. And it so happens that the vanishing of the sleeper car in many routes because of high-speed rail shortening the times between cities is a very relevant aspect of our trip planning, because where there are no sleeper cars one would have to find the right cities to stop at for the night and arrange for somewhere to sleep for the night, which can be a bit of a difficulty. My mother has her own stories of the difficulty that finding places to stay during lengthy rail journeys can present, and this book certainly adds to such concerns and will no doubt be something that we consider when it comes to looking at rail timetables and planning our own trip in detail. So although the book was not quite what I was expecting it was definitely worthwhile.
This book is about 250 pages long and is divided into six chapters. The introduction discusses the rise of the sleeper car and its importance to film and literature in the 20th century from such figures as Agatha Christie and Graham Greene, who wrote famous novels about the Orient Express that painted up the glamour and occasionally the danger and exoticism of such trips. The author's trips, on the other hand, are far more humdrum and quotidian in nature, even farcical. The author explores the Blue Train (1), the Nordland Railway (2), the Paris-Venice (3) route, the 'Orient Express' to Istanbul (4), the Sud Express in Spain (5) and the Berlin Night Express (6) and finds his experience is decidedly lacking in glamour as he is sent on buses instead of trains because routes are contracting and struggles to communicate in areas where English is not spoken because apparently the author is a stereotypically monolingual Englishman. He finds that he has reserved spots on trains that are not in fact sleepers and struggles to give privacy to others while seeking a comfortable place to travel and sleep around Europe. Suffice it to say that this book fits well within the category of maladroit Englishmen traveling abroad.
Why would someone read a book like this? I don't know Andrew Martin from Adam, after all, and have no fondness of his writing in general to account for my wanting to read this. However, it so happens that my family is looking to do some rail travel in Europe at some point relatively soonish, and so as is my fashion I enjoy reading books that relate to this subject. And it so happens that the vanishing of the sleeper car in many routes because of high-speed rail shortening the times between cities is a very relevant aspect of our trip planning, because where there are no sleeper cars one would have to find the right cities to stop at for the night and arrange for somewhere to sleep for the night, which can be a bit of a difficulty. My mother has her own stories of the difficulty that finding places to stay during lengthy rail journeys can present, and this book certainly adds to such concerns and will no doubt be something that we consider when it comes to looking at rail timetables and planning our own trip in detail. So although the book was not quite what I was expecting it was definitely worthwhile.
March 22, 2025
This has been a welcome and enjoyable divertissement - one of several books I picked from my local library’s Santes Dwynwen/Valentine’s Day display of mystery books for book-lovers, wrapped in brown paper. What can be better for your regular bookworm than a surprise book-shaped parcel?!
Night Trains is one of a number of railways-focused books by Andrew Martin, whose father worked for British Rail, and the level of detail and information would I’m sure be very welcome to train spotters as well as lovers of travel books. Although I’m not a train-spotter as such, I do have many happy memories of train journeys.
My aunt took me and three of my cousins on a train trip to Ampolla, Catalonia when I was ten years old, including a couchette on the night sleeper from Paris, and I remember the pleasure and thrill of waking very early in the morning and lifting the blind on the compartment window and seeing the unfamiliar countryside as we passed through France and Spain. I also clearly remember the kindness of Catalonian fellow-travellers in a third-class compartment (with wooden benches, knee to knee) later on that holiday who, on opening their basket at mealtime, generously offered us a share of their bread, cheese, tomatoes, and olives (in their other basket were live chickens on the way to market).
Less of a pleasure was the journey from Paddington to Plymouth one Friday evening after work, when I boarded the train in a hurry, with just a packet of Polo mints and nothing to drink, only to find the buffet was closed!
When I got married in the seventies, we hadn’t planned a honeymoon as such, but we did have two Persil tickets. These were an offer, very unusual in those distant days when buy-one-get-one-free was unheard of, whereby you saved up tokens from packets of Persil washing-powder, and sent off for a Persil ticket. This enabled you to have two rail tickets for the price of one to anywhere in the UK.
My new husband thought we might take our bicycles to Inverness. His Dad had been there in the war and my husband remembered him saying it was flat (we cycled round Loch Ness, and it wasn’t!). So, after spending a day clearing up after the wedding party, we got on our bikes (sit-up-and-begs with no gears), wearing walking boots, with cycling capes and army-surplus rucksacks, and waved goodbye to our housemates. We caught the Caledonian night-sleeper from Kings Cross, spending the first night of our honeymoon on bunk-beds, and waking to see the purple heathery slopes of Scotland!
At the time this book was written, night sleepers were sadly in what seemed terminal decline (I was sad to read that when Eurostar started operating they had plans for the Nightstar, a sleeper service, but this was kyboshed by the advent of budget airlines), but it seems today there might be hopes for a revival, as many people are electing to forego the habit of taking cheap flights as a small contribution to support for our environment (we ourselves have committed to no more recreational flying except for emergencies).
Night Trains is one of a number of railways-focused books by Andrew Martin, whose father worked for British Rail, and the level of detail and information would I’m sure be very welcome to train spotters as well as lovers of travel books. Although I’m not a train-spotter as such, I do have many happy memories of train journeys.
My aunt took me and three of my cousins on a train trip to Ampolla, Catalonia when I was ten years old, including a couchette on the night sleeper from Paris, and I remember the pleasure and thrill of waking very early in the morning and lifting the blind on the compartment window and seeing the unfamiliar countryside as we passed through France and Spain. I also clearly remember the kindness of Catalonian fellow-travellers in a third-class compartment (with wooden benches, knee to knee) later on that holiday who, on opening their basket at mealtime, generously offered us a share of their bread, cheese, tomatoes, and olives (in their other basket were live chickens on the way to market).
Less of a pleasure was the journey from Paddington to Plymouth one Friday evening after work, when I boarded the train in a hurry, with just a packet of Polo mints and nothing to drink, only to find the buffet was closed!
When I got married in the seventies, we hadn’t planned a honeymoon as such, but we did have two Persil tickets. These were an offer, very unusual in those distant days when buy-one-get-one-free was unheard of, whereby you saved up tokens from packets of Persil washing-powder, and sent off for a Persil ticket. This enabled you to have two rail tickets for the price of one to anywhere in the UK.
My new husband thought we might take our bicycles to Inverness. His Dad had been there in the war and my husband remembered him saying it was flat (we cycled round Loch Ness, and it wasn’t!). So, after spending a day clearing up after the wedding party, we got on our bikes (sit-up-and-begs with no gears), wearing walking boots, with cycling capes and army-surplus rucksacks, and waved goodbye to our housemates. We caught the Caledonian night-sleeper from Kings Cross, spending the first night of our honeymoon on bunk-beds, and waking to see the purple heathery slopes of Scotland!
At the time this book was written, night sleepers were sadly in what seemed terminal decline (I was sad to read that when Eurostar started operating they had plans for the Nightstar, a sleeper service, but this was kyboshed by the advent of budget airlines), but it seems today there might be hopes for a revival, as many people are electing to forego the habit of taking cheap flights as a small contribution to support for our environment (we ourselves have committed to no more recreational flying except for emergencies).
September 14, 2018
As so often these days, I bought this book because of the cover, which is very pretty. It recounts the author's experiences travelling the sleeper trains of Europe (journeys taken specifically for the purpose of the book), making no pretence to be the only or the definitive work on this subject. And as such, it's likeable enough. Martin writes in a Bill Bryson-ish way, although he's not nearly so funny, and not as many amusing things happen to him - or maybe Bryson makes them up, something I absolutely don't need to know if that's the case!
My favourite sections were, unsurprisingly, those which dealt with fictional stories involving the trains, featuring of course Murder On The Orient Express and The Blue Train, but also From Russia With Love, Stamboul Train, Inspector Maigret and some really quite obscure European train-set thrillers. I could have done a lot more on all of these books, but to be fair, Martin is trying to write about trains and not books.
I was interested to learn that in From Russia With Love, James Bond reads Eric Ambler's The Mask Of Dimitrios, a book I've recently finished myself and is apparently a classic but I loathed it. I couldn't help wondering whether Bond rated it. I've read FRWL any number of times but had never noticed before that he read anything, let alone Eric Ambler.
I was also amused to discover that when Graham Greene wrote the very atmospheric and authentic-sounding Stamboul Train, he was a struggling new author and didn't have enough money to go any further than Belgium, so the scenery in the more exotic sections of the train journey was entirely made up. Greene apparently commented in his autobiography that he could however personally vouch for the accuracy of the early section describing the allotments of Brussels!
Overall, this is a likeable if not ground-breaking book on a subject most of us are instinctively positive about. Martin is gloomy about the future of the sleeper train, but the book led me to start wistfully googling European sleeper train journeys and it looks as though there are still plenty out there for us to choose from!
My favourite sections were, unsurprisingly, those which dealt with fictional stories involving the trains, featuring of course Murder On The Orient Express and The Blue Train, but also From Russia With Love, Stamboul Train, Inspector Maigret and some really quite obscure European train-set thrillers. I could have done a lot more on all of these books, but to be fair, Martin is trying to write about trains and not books.
I was interested to learn that in From Russia With Love, James Bond reads Eric Ambler's The Mask Of Dimitrios, a book I've recently finished myself and is apparently a classic but I loathed it. I couldn't help wondering whether Bond rated it. I've read FRWL any number of times but had never noticed before that he read anything, let alone Eric Ambler.
I was also amused to discover that when Graham Greene wrote the very atmospheric and authentic-sounding Stamboul Train, he was a struggling new author and didn't have enough money to go any further than Belgium, so the scenery in the more exotic sections of the train journey was entirely made up. Greene apparently commented in his autobiography that he could however personally vouch for the accuracy of the early section describing the allotments of Brussels!
Overall, this is a likeable if not ground-breaking book on a subject most of us are instinctively positive about. Martin is gloomy about the future of the sleeper train, but the book led me to start wistfully googling European sleeper train journeys and it looks as though there are still plenty out there for us to choose from!
January 3, 2023
A Christmas present from my Dad (thanks), a jovial, but also historically infused canter through some of the most famous European sleeper routes which when the book was written were nearly all at risk.
As a big fan of the sleeper the book was a good shout and almost reads like an anthology novel, with a series of short stories bringing to life the various routes. The style is part travel log, part historical look back, which works really well to bring to life the current trains and their predecessors. While there is a romanticism here, it's also full of the realism of confusing rules, cancelled trains and for all the excitement of the sleeper - a few poor nights of sleep.
All in all a great little read, which leaves you wanting to book a sleeper trip. As a post-note the book was written as the author admits as a bit eulogy to night trains as their future looked bleak at the end of the 2010s. Seemingly beaten by cheap flights and even the shadow of Brexit, yet as we now know there is a chance of a new renaissance. Consciousness of climate change and new routes, including combined with Eurostar offer lots of new options including Berlin - which makes me wonder if Andrew Martin will write a sequal?
As a big fan of the sleeper the book was a good shout and almost reads like an anthology novel, with a series of short stories bringing to life the various routes. The style is part travel log, part historical look back, which works really well to bring to life the current trains and their predecessors. While there is a romanticism here, it's also full of the realism of confusing rules, cancelled trains and for all the excitement of the sleeper - a few poor nights of sleep.
All in all a great little read, which leaves you wanting to book a sleeper trip. As a post-note the book was written as the author admits as a bit eulogy to night trains as their future looked bleak at the end of the 2010s. Seemingly beaten by cheap flights and even the shadow of Brexit, yet as we now know there is a chance of a new renaissance. Consciousness of climate change and new routes, including combined with Eurostar offer lots of new options including Berlin - which makes me wonder if Andrew Martin will write a sequal?
December 2, 2018
I've only ever taken a proper sleeper train once - from Cologne to Copenhagen and back, though I've travelled overnight on numerous Amtrak services. Actually they were all proper sleepers I think I just couldn't afford a bunk on the Amtrak ones at the time. Our trip on that European CityNightLine train wasn't great and my family didn't want to repeat it but I have good memories of the experience all the same. (Besides if you ask my daughter for a memorable holiday moment from her childhood there's a good chance she'll tell you about the bit where Daddy threw his sock in the toilet on the train. It isn't always the parts where everything goes to plan that we hold most dear.)
Martin writes this as a lament (perhaps) to European sleeper services which are fast disappearing. It's part travelogue, part history book, part literature review and I really enjoyed all the undisguised nerdery and insight as well as finding out that our sub par experience with the night train was actually about par for the course.
Martin writes this as a lament (perhaps) to European sleeper services which are fast disappearing. It's part travelogue, part history book, part literature review and I really enjoyed all the undisguised nerdery and insight as well as finding out that our sub par experience with the night train was actually about par for the course.
April 23, 2024
Being a rail enthusiast and finding the idea of sleeping on a train whilst travelling very romantic, I was interested to read this book. Being non-fiction I was able to dip in and out of it whilst reading other books and so it has taken me a while to read. Andrew Martin wanted to write about his travels on all the still existing European night trains (at the time of writing) whilst giving vast information about the history of these railways. Coming from a railway family he already had some knowledge of them and had been taken on many trips by his widowed father as a child. He throws in much information relating to books and films about rail journeys, experiences misfortune due to some naivete, meets interesting people along the way and injects some humour into his tales. I found it an enjoyable read although hard going in some places because of the huge amount of information he imparts.
February 22, 2018
I almost took this back to the library unread, but am so glad I didn't. Whilst a lot of this is focused on French trains and Paris in particular, it did actually take me back to when I used to live in France back in the early 90s and used to travel to Paris a bit by train.
I had forgotten I'd travelled overnight from Tours to the Alps in mid-93, and this book evoked that memory - as well as all the other journeys I've done by train in France (Tours to Bayonne) and when I travelled across France for 6 weeks by train in 1994.
Very well written and even the non French parts were interesting - keeps the reader entertained throughout by not repeating the same thing as some travel books do.
Has made me want to travel on the 2 remaining sleepers in the UK!
I had forgotten I'd travelled overnight from Tours to the Alps in mid-93, and this book evoked that memory - as well as all the other journeys I've done by train in France (Tours to Bayonne) and when I travelled across France for 6 weeks by train in 1994.
Very well written and even the non French parts were interesting - keeps the reader entertained throughout by not repeating the same thing as some travel books do.
Has made me want to travel on the 2 remaining sleepers in the UK!
May 26, 2018
Night Trains is an interesting and often funny book. The author is a son of a railwayman and hails from York, Britain's railway capital and is, perhaps, best known as the man who wrote a series of entertaining detective stories which have a railway background.
I've never slept on a night train but have travelled overnight and have not so fond memories of staggering into the refreshment room at Basle and then downing a much needed coffee. Andrew Martin has similar memories and his book reminds us that night trains don't always have the luxury of the Orient Express.
Night Trains is very well written and most certainly enjoyable.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
I've never slept on a night train but have travelled overnight and have not so fond memories of staggering into the refreshment room at Basle and then downing a much needed coffee. Andrew Martin has similar memories and his book reminds us that night trains don't always have the luxury of the Orient Express.
Night Trains is very well written and most certainly enjoyable.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
January 31, 2019
A book for train geeks by an unashamed train geek. No, nothing happens in any of the narratives, yes there are long descriptions of the changing colours and interior decor of European trains over the 20th century. However, anyone lucky enough to have travelled on one of the fast disappearing European night trains will find themselves with a better understanding of the place of these routes in history and a realisation of their own place amongst the generations of train travellers.
My only disappointment was that the author was so quick to fly back from all his adventures having got me so stoked about overland travel!
My only disappointment was that the author was so quick to fly back from all his adventures having got me so stoked about overland travel!
May 7, 2019
I actually really enjoyed this book which surprised me slightly although I did work for the trains for a while so I did feel a bit of an insider. And as a kid we had traveled to both Madrid and Milan on the car carrying sleepers from Calais/Paris so some of this was comfortingly familiar. I enjoyed the author’s asides such as Boris Johnson voting for Brexit ‘(perhaps decided by the toss of a coin)’ and I do admit to scan reading some of the more detailed focused bits (esp at the beginning) I was actually sorry to get to the end of the book and I hope the author will do more exploring and research for his next book.
April 26, 2021
The book gives you exactly what it says on the cover: a railway enthusiast gives us the history and demise of the great culture of the night trains and railway travelling on the whole. Very intricate and detailed but also due to the travel notes of the writer, very easy to read.
Of course if you are not the least bit interested in trains or even literary classics about travelling on the night trains this is not a book for you. I enjoyed so much of the literary links to past detective and adventure novels Martin chooses to introduce to us along the journey, many of which now ended up on my TBR list.
Of course if you are not the least bit interested in trains or even literary classics about travelling on the night trains this is not a book for you. I enjoyed so much of the literary links to past detective and adventure novels Martin chooses to introduce to us along the journey, many of which now ended up on my TBR list.
June 1, 2024
Why did I like this book? Simply from the reassurance that comes from knowing that there are men (usually men), for whom trains, stations, elegance, and a notion of travel as romance is worthy of celebration and detailed record. That I am a minor member of similar ilk is comforting.
This book has a wry humour permeating its observations that lightens and makes palatable the somewhat drier details.
I bought another book by Andrew Martin straight away.
This book has a wry humour permeating its observations that lightens and makes palatable the somewhat drier details.
I bought another book by Andrew Martin straight away.
June 29, 2020
This is a terrific little book full of wit and vivid descriptions of five night trains still running in Europe from Norway to Istanbul. Along the way the reader drops in the great cities and tiny villages in between great segues across the history of sleeper travel over the last century. I look forward to more tales from beyond Europe. Roll over Newby and Theroux.
August 31, 2021
This didn't cast its spell on me quite as much as Belles and Whistles but the topic is one very close to my heart. Martin tells the tale of Wagon Lits and other night train services very well. I also learn how lucky I was to be able to travel from Budapest to Istanbul all the way by train back in 2011.
February 25, 2018
Andrew Martin is a great fiction writer and he also is very knowledgeable about trains and railways in general. This book about his travels on sleeper trains around Europe is up to his usual standard. All the journeys have interesting historical facts as well as information about the countries
February 6, 2021
Some interesting moments but if felt like too many foot notes were installed into the main text. I enjoyed the history and the modern adventuring, but the wide range of often seemingly unrelated cultural tid-bits ended up detracting rather than adding to the text.
October 10, 2021
I did enjoy this book, although mostly those parts where the writer described his own experiences. I guess I should have known more about trains or at least be more interested in them to enjoy those rather lengthy parts of detailed train information.
February 13, 2025
I really enjoyed the concept but did not quite engage with the minutiae of colours of different wagons. Maybe it's the colourblindness. A pretty in-depth look at continental sleepers which made me long for a trip on one.
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