The Great Train Journey

Whether you're on the Orient Express or the Inverness to Wick and Thurso route traversing some of the wildest country in Britain, train travel affords a vision of the world like no other. From the modest line through North Yorkshire's Esk Valley to the Trans-Siberian; from a narrow-gauge web of lines in the Harz Mountains to the coast-tocoast journey through the mountains of Corsica, acclaimed travel writer Anthony Lambert presents an unmissable selection for any traveller who loves the journey as much as the destination. Here is a carefully chosen, wide-ranging selection of train journeys with character, sublime scenery and a real sense of history.

The acclaimed author recounts his epic journey across Europe and Asia in this international bestselling classic of travel literature: “Compulsive reading” (Graham Greene). In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on a four-month journey by train from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In The Great Railway Bazaar, he records in vivid detail and penetrating insight the many fascinating incidents, adventures, and encounters of his grand, intercontinental tour. Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair traveler.

Time Out Great Train Journeys is a selection of forty of the world's best train journeys, from nostalgic steam lines to state of the art high-speed locomotives. Beautifully illustrated and written with passion, it will appeal to dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts, but also reaches out to a new generation of train travellers, both actual and armchair.

Experience 60 of the world's greatest and most unforgettable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips like Canada's Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaide's The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines. Each profile contains practical information like ticket options and timetables, plus inspiring photos and illustrated maps.

National Bestseller In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Theroux recreates an epic journey he took thirty years ago, a giant loop by train (mostly) through Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, China, Japan, and Siberia. In short, he traverses all of Asia top to bottom, and end to end. In the three decades since he first travelled this route, Asia has undergone phenomenal change. The Soviet Union has collapsed, China has risen, India booms, Burma slowly smothers, and Vietnam prospers despite the havoc unleashed upon it the last time Theroux passed through. He witnesses all this and more in a 25,000 mile journey, travelling as the locals do, by train, car, bus, and foot. His odyssey takes him from Eastern Europe, still hungover from Communism, through tense but thriving Turkey, into the Caucasus, where Georgia limps back toward feudalism while its neighbour Azerbaijan revels in oil-driven capitalism. As he penetrates deeper into Asia’s heart, his encounters take on an otherworldly cast. The two chapters that follow show us Turkmenistan, a profoundly isolated society at the mercy of an almost comically egotistical dictator, and Uzbekistan, a ruthless authoritarian state. From there, he retraces his steps through India, Mayanmar, China, and Japan, providing his penetrating observations on the changes these countries have undergone. Brilliant, caustic, and totally addictive, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is Theroux at his very best.

In this western by the bestselling authors of Torture Town, a legendary mountain man becomes a bodyguard on a deadly cross-country train trip. After surviving a brilliantly plotted murder attempt, the richest man in San Francisco is looking to hire the best protection money can buy. Enter Matt Jensen, who, for the princely sum of $5,000, agrees to escort millionaire John Gillespie and his very fetching daughter on a railway journey from Frisco to Chicago. There’s just one catch: the world’s deadliest killers are coming along for the ride… In Provo, Utah, a knife-wielding assassin leads Jensen on a life-or-death chase across the top of the train. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a ruthless pair of hired guns climb on board, ready to kill anyone who gets in their way. And in Omaha, Nebraska, three more cutthroats join the party. It doesn’t take Matt Jensen long to realize this is no ordinary job. It’s a one-way ticket to hell…

Train trips are classic yet very of the moment. This book introduces its readers to a wide variety of trains and routes from around the world that all offer extraordinary travel experiences.