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Rail Journeys
All aboard! Through outstanding images, Rail Journeys explores some of the most historic, spectacular, and remote locations in the world, where trains still offer romantic experiences of rail travel at its best.
Imagine traveling on the legendary Orient Express from London to Istanbul, the Transcontinental railroad across the Canadian Rockies, or the Serra Verde Express through the Brazilian rainforest. In more than 200 superb photographs, Rail Journeys takes you on expeditions through some of the world’s most unusual, romantic, and remarkable landscapes. Experience the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles to Seattle along the Pacific coast; the 4,350-mile Trans-Siberian Railway, spanning the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow; and “El Chepe,” the Mexican Copper Canyon railway, a line that took 90 years to build and negotiates 87 tunnels, 36 bridges, and sweeping hairpin bends as it climbs from sea level to rim-top views at 7,874 feet. Or enjoy the engineering excellence of the Konkan Railway in India, connecting Mumbai with the port of Mangalore via some 2,000 bridges and 90 tunnels; and the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” as it races at speeds of more than 186 mph between Tokyo and Kyoto, passing the iconic Mount Fuji on the way. Every ride is an electrifying adventure!
Imagine traveling on the legendary Orient Express from London to Istanbul, the Transcontinental railroad across the Canadian Rockies, or the Serra Verde Express through the Brazilian rainforest. In more than 200 superb photographs, Rail Journeys takes you on expeditions through some of the world’s most unusual, romantic, and remarkable landscapes. Experience the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles to Seattle along the Pacific coast; the 4,350-mile Trans-Siberian Railway, spanning the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow; and “El Chepe,” the Mexican Copper Canyon railway, a line that took 90 years to build and negotiates 87 tunnels, 36 bridges, and sweeping hairpin bends as it climbs from sea level to rim-top views at 7,874 feet. Or enjoy the engineering excellence of the Konkan Railway in India, connecting Mumbai with the port of Mangalore via some 2,000 bridges and 90 tunnels; and the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” as it races at speeds of more than 186 mph between Tokyo and Kyoto, passing the iconic Mount Fuji on the way. Every ride is an electrifying adventure!
- GenresNonfictionPhotography
224 pages, Hardcover
Published April 7, 2020
14 people want to read
About the author
David Ross
33 books4 followersThere is more than one author with this name
David Ross specializes in maritime and railway history and has written and contributed to numerous books on these subjects. His most recent books are Ships Visual Encyclopedia, The Essential Naval Identification Guide: Submarines 1914–Present, Great Warships, and The World’s Greatest Battleships.
David Ross specializes in maritime and railway history and has written and contributed to numerous books on these subjects. His most recent books are Ships Visual Encyclopedia, The Essential Naval Identification Guide: Submarines 1914–Present, Great Warships, and The World’s Greatest Battleships.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 11, 2020
It all started in the 1820s and 1830s, with a few short lines in Britain, the United States, France and Germany. By the early 1900s the combined systems totalled over half a million miles. This book is a celebration of what I believe to be one of the most relaxing and pleasurable means of travel, featuring routes in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. It consists mainly of a series of photographs, covering more than two hundred pages. The accompanying text is simply a very brief commentary on each photograph.
Some of the images are stunning. My favourites include:
- Some truly magnificent station buildings such as: Chicago’s Union Station, Antwerp’s Central Station and, of course, Grand Central in New York. But also some much smaller constructions such as Skagway Station in Alaska with impressive mountains climbing in the background and with its buildings a reminder of the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th Century.
- The world’s highest railway viaduct at La Polvorilla, Argentina and another wonderful, but significantly smaller version, at Ribblehead, North Yorkshire in England.
- Some extravagantly appointed trains, such as Hiram Bingham, Cuzco-Machu Picchu, Peru and the Serra Verde Express, Curitiba, Brazil.
- And the view available from the train journeys are varied and, sometimes, breathtaking – like the close-up view of the Matterhorn available from the Zermatt-Gornergrat Railway in Switzerland.
All in all, there are way too many memorable images for me to do justice to here. This book is a must for lovers of train travel or for anyone seeking a memorable travel experience.
My thanks to Amber books Limited and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Some of the images are stunning. My favourites include:
- Some truly magnificent station buildings such as: Chicago’s Union Station, Antwerp’s Central Station and, of course, Grand Central in New York. But also some much smaller constructions such as Skagway Station in Alaska with impressive mountains climbing in the background and with its buildings a reminder of the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th Century.
- The world’s highest railway viaduct at La Polvorilla, Argentina and another wonderful, but significantly smaller version, at Ribblehead, North Yorkshire in England.
- Some extravagantly appointed trains, such as Hiram Bingham, Cuzco-Machu Picchu, Peru and the Serra Verde Express, Curitiba, Brazil.
- And the view available from the train journeys are varied and, sometimes, breathtaking – like the close-up view of the Matterhorn available from the Zermatt-Gornergrat Railway in Switzerland.
All in all, there are way too many memorable images for me to do justice to here. This book is a must for lovers of train travel or for anyone seeking a memorable travel experience.
My thanks to Amber books Limited and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 31, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Take a journey around the world with this beautiful book. Each chapter gives a brief description for the continent and each picture gas a short description. I enjoyed seeing not only the scenery pictures from the trains but also the inside of a few trains and the architecture of some of the train stations.
Take a journey around the world with this beautiful book. Each chapter gives a brief description for the continent and each picture gas a short description. I enjoyed seeing not only the scenery pictures from the trains but also the inside of a few trains and the architecture of some of the train stations.
March 5, 2020
"Rail Journeys" is packed with stunning photography of trains throughout the world. It is perfect for rail enthusiasts of any age. I found my bucket list growing and ideas for my model train layout coming rapidly as I flipped through the pages.
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
February 3, 2020
An absolutely beautiful homage to trains across the world. I highly recommend this book to all train and photography lovers. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC copy.
March 21, 2022
This was an absolute treat of a book! The most amazing scenery and backdrops to some of the most spectacular rail journeys around the globe. You don't need to be a train spotter to appreciate the engineering excellence and every photo in this book shows off the world of rail travel to perfection!
There's a mix of terrains featured, beautiful stations, signage, old equipment and the trains themselves - I especially loved the steam train photos!
Alongside the stunning photography, there's also many amazing facts and background information to each location and it was just a brilliant way to learn more about the rail journeys alongside the breathtaking photographs and marvel at the staggering feats of engineering! A beautiful book!
There's a mix of terrains featured, beautiful stations, signage, old equipment and the trains themselves - I especially loved the steam train photos!
Alongside the stunning photography, there's also many amazing facts and background information to each location and it was just a brilliant way to learn more about the rail journeys alongside the breathtaking photographs and marvel at the staggering feats of engineering! A beautiful book!
January 29, 2020
I say well done to the people behind this book, for the simplicity and appeal is just right. There's very little text – each continent gets a short page of introduction, and each image gets a sentence of reasonable length to tell us what we're looking at – but this is on the whole a pictorial survey of the world's train routes. I don't think the expert, mind filled with 2-8-2s and 4-10-0s and so on, would object to the wonderful representations of stations, engines and carriages that range from shaky old wooden ones to high-tech ones with balcony-styled upstairs caboose viewing platforms. And I don't think the casual browser will object to getting a nudge into the history of all the station signs we see, nor the slightly scattershot way we, for example, build and build into the Alaskan heights only to be in New Mexico overleaf, or cover one Brazil line before returning to it after an extended ride through Peru. You'll never get a book that completely matches your editorial choice – some of the images here that were shunted onto a third of the page I'd have had as double-page spreads and vice versa – but this is a really impressive global purview. A delight to pore over.
January 22, 2020
I love train and I found this book fascinating. The pictures are gorgeous and it was like travelling all over the world.
I love trains and I think this a perfect book for train lovers.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I love trains and I think this a perfect book for train lovers.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
February 12, 2020
As someone who rides crummy commuter light rail every day, I dream of someday getting to ride a train like the ones featured in this book – luxury trains, with fancy dining cars and beautiful suites, watching some of the most beautiful scenery in the world roll by…instead of just staring at my phone for an hour waiting to get to work. Rail Journeys has definitely given me train envy – these aren’t your average commuter trains, no. If you’re a fan of railroads, railroad history, or just cool trains, then this book is definitely for you – but it is also for anyone fond of travel – if you’ve ever dreamed of riding the Orient Express or journeying through Patagonia by train, then you will enjoy this book.
March 12, 2020
Rail Journeys by David Ross is currently scheduled for release on March 14 2020. There is always a sense of adventure when going on a railway journey. Whether it is aboard the Orient Express from London to Istanbul, or travelling the Transcontinental railroad through the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific coast, or riding the Serra Verde Express through the Brazilian rainforest, With 200 outstanding colour photographs, Rail Journeys takes the reader on a journey through some of the most unusual, romantic and remarkable landscapes in the world. Places where trains still offer romantic and astounding experiences of rail travel at its best.
Rail Journeys offers readers a combination of accessible text and stunning images of railroads and trains. Readers can glimpse the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles along the Pacific coast to Seattle and all points in between. Then there is the 7,000 kilometre Trans-Siberian, crossing the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow. Some many unique and fascinating images and details about train travel around the world. I found myself studying the images of landscapes, stations, tunnels, and trains more intensely that I thought I would. I was captivated by the images more than anything else, but when I took the time to read the text I found it to be interesting and informative. I am very much a homebody, but think train travel would be one of the few ways I would be glad to travel. I just loved the photography so much that it over-shadowed the work that must have gone into that text even though it was well done.
Rail Journeys is a book that I could see as a great gift for train and travel lovers alike. I know a could people that are train enthusiasts that I think would fully appreciate this book.
Rail Journeys offers readers a combination of accessible text and stunning images of railroads and trains. Readers can glimpse the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles along the Pacific coast to Seattle and all points in between. Then there is the 7,000 kilometre Trans-Siberian, crossing the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow. Some many unique and fascinating images and details about train travel around the world. I found myself studying the images of landscapes, stations, tunnels, and trains more intensely that I thought I would. I was captivated by the images more than anything else, but when I took the time to read the text I found it to be interesting and informative. I am very much a homebody, but think train travel would be one of the few ways I would be glad to travel. I just loved the photography so much that it over-shadowed the work that must have gone into that text even though it was well done.
Rail Journeys is a book that I could see as a great gift for train and travel lovers alike. I know a could people that are train enthusiasts that I think would fully appreciate this book.
February 9, 2020
The photography is exquisite. Anyone who likes castles would be thrilled to have a copy of this book. The book is divided into chapters on North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. This book is the epitome of "a picture is worth a thousand words". I have enjoyed a few trips on Amtrak here in the midwest, but fell in love with train journeys while on vacation in Europe .... traversing Glenfinnan Viaduct, arriving at Waverly Station in Edinburgh, following the arrivals/departures board in St Pancras Station and Gare du Nord, grabbing a pastie in Marylebone Station in London .... I loved this book and have added multiple rail journeys to my own bucket list.
I received a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I received a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
March 12, 2020
Get an introduction to the different continent. Basically photographs with a caption of some sort. A full two page image or up to 3 images per page. Train interior or out and images relating to the track.
December 27, 2020
Beauty of a book and it does a great job outlining rail journeys you may want to take in your lifetime. The central Europe ones especially. I gave it 4 stars as he did so little with Japan and lumped it into Asia all up, Japan has some of the best trains in the world.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews