If You were to go to another Country to ride or chase Trains, which would you go to?

jordon412

33 Year Old Railfan
The title of the thread pretty much describes the topic of this thread. There's one more thing I'm asking: Why would you go to that country? There actually two I'd like to go to, and it's because of two different reasons. I'd like to go to the U.K. to see and ride all those tourist railways and ride the passenger trains crisscrossing the country. Plus I wouldn't have to learn another language, which I would have to do in order to go to France, Germany, etc.. However, I'd also like to go and check out Canada not only because it's closer, but I can drive there instead of taking a plane and having to deal with all the security stuff you have to deal with if you take a plane, which I would have to deal with if I went to the U.K.. Though it seems crazy to just drive from one side of the country to the other, I'd get to see the country up close instead of from several thousand feet in the air. I'd also be able to go to some places I've wanted to go to, such as Horseshoe Curve, Strasburg Railroad, etc.. Then again, I could also take Amtrak from Atlanta (the nearest station to me) up to Canada by taking a couple of trains to get there. Anyway, back to the question: If you were able to go to another country to ride or chase or see trains, which would you go to and why?
 
It would not be Antarctica, as they have no trains: https://www.google.com/search?q=ant...h=477#imgrc=kLupIPAwqj5ilM:&spf=1525889597937

Mount Washington Cog Rwy NH (the most harshest weather, where trains oftentimes only go only hallway up, or the peak is totally occluded by thick clouds and fog)

Pikes Peak Cog Rwy

Durango & Silverton

Cumbres & Toltec

Grand Canyon Rwy (fueled by cooking oil)

New Zealand

Swiss Alps

Alaska

Canada
 
Last edited:
If my health allowed and my wallet agreed I'd love to ride a train in every country in the world that had passenger service or tourist railroads. Would like to do the U.K. first. Back to reality, Riding across Canada is my best bet and that's highly unlikely as is.
Cheers
Chuck
 
:wave: Excellent Question Sir,

And I think this site answers your question well.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/lists/transportation/16-scenic-train-trips/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/rail-journeys/The-worlds-best-rail-journeys-in-pictures/

:) If you come over to my Thread (listed in my signature line) and read my posts about Cruise to the UK this last month, you'll see we had a great time for the few days we spent there, as we also visited several Islands of interest too.

Another Rail is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway

Why this one, because it so Iconic and amazing they could build something that can run from Valley level into the high mountains, even though it can only carry a few Coaches, it is astonishing this even works. I have the Route in Trainz and love it. Whether I'll ever make to the Himalaya's to ride on this Route, who knows, but I can sure dream about it.

And right off the bat, definitely Canada and some parts of Mexico in Copper Canyon area I believe,,which is supposed to be very Scenic. And the reason as you said, they are bordering countries, within a few hours of California where I live.
 
:wave: Excellent Question Sir,

And I think this site answers your question well.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/lists/transportation/16-scenic-train-trips/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/rail-journeys/The-worlds-best-rail-journeys-in-pictures/

:) If you come over to my Thread (listed in my signature line) and read my posts about Cruise to the UK this last month, you'll see we had a great time for the few days we spent there, as we also visited several Islands of interest too.

Another Rail is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway

Why this one, because it so Iconic and amazing they could build something that can run from Valley level into the high mountains, even though it can only carry a few Coaches, it is astonishing this even works. I have the Route in Trainz and love it. Whether I'll ever make to the Himalaya's to ride on this Route, who knows, but I can sure dream about it.

And right off the bat, definitely Canada and some parts of Mexico in Copper Canyon area I believe,,which is supposed to be very Scenic. And the reason as you said, they are bordering countries, within a few hours of California where I live.


If you ever come to Canada and ride the Rocky Mountaineer I'll sit on my deck and wave as you go by. An added bonus is getting to watch some of the 40 plus freight trains that go by every day. :D
 
If I could go to another country to train watch, it would be UK, and AU. Maybe I'll add Canada as well :D
Heck, I might not show back up back in the States as I might like the country too much!:eek:
 
I would like to see more of the trains here in the USA first but I do want to get to the UK to see the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and the National Railway Museum in York.
 
Well I would actually want a time machine, to go back and ride the old Yugoslavian narrow gauge, especially the 2ft gauge line from Gostivar to Ohrid in what is now Macedonia. (It took the train around 18 hours to cover 170jm).
 
Cruise to Alaska and Alaska Railroad Trip

If I could go to another country to train watch, it would be UK, and AU. Maybe I'll add Canada as well :D
Heck, I might not show back up back in the States as I might like the country too much!:eek:

:wave: Hello my Friend indeed that is an interesting thought, there is so much of Canada I have not seen, only been to Vancouver when we went on Cruise thru INSIDE PASSAGE for Alaska, which in my opinion for that time period was one of the best Cruise land trips we had ever taken, with 7 days if I recall on Sea, and then 4 days on land, with Alaskan Railroad tour, open Glass Passenger Cars, with a Bartender in each car.........Only one thing, each day as you jumped to the next town, you had to change hotels for 4 days in a row, and after relaxing a Cruise ship for a week, I would have done it the other way around, land trip first and then finish with the Cruise Ship last, it was hard on our bodies to kick from relaxing to go, go, go each day on a Bus to Rail connection then back to Bus to new Hotel for 4 days in a row, maybe I was just getting older then I don't know............

https://www.google.com/search?q=ala...ancouver&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

:cool: I really like this thread, lots of great info being shared here.

Take care and thank you sir for your Asset Contributions you've made for us.........:udrool:
 
I'd stay here in the United Kingdom as we have a great range of passenger railways from inter-city and also a route in the northern part of the Kingdom which is in the world top ten.
 
Germany I think, as the railways have an excellent reputation and aren't stopped by a few inches of snow.

I could go to Scotland I suppose ;)
 
Well amigacooke, if you came up here to Scotland I would treat you to a meal here in the entre of the Universe should know by now it is Glasgow).
 
Well, I guess I've been fairly lucky in my retired life (past 15 years).

I was fortunate enough to meet up and marry a long-lost girl-friend I knew when I was only 25. We both wanted to travel, so we did.

I've got to ride either steam, diesel or electric, through England, Wales and Scotland; local and high-speed throughout Europe; then to Shanghai to ride the Maglev from the airport and HSR from Beijing back to Shanghai. I even managed to take a ride on the diesel in Egypt from Cairo to Alexandria and back.

Although living in Australia and having tried all the passenger routes of every capital city in this country, I've yet to ride "The Ghan" and the "Indian Pacific" - maybe one day. (Gotta do it before the arthritis sets in)

Cheers,
Roy
 
If I can go to another country, I will like to watch trains go by in Japan, since they are more active than the US. If I like to narrow it down, it would be in Hokkaido. :)
 
Recently, I rode the Canadian Rocky Mountaineer and travelled by train from Ottawa to Montreal and then Montreal to Quebec. The RM was by far the most scenic.

I've also done the New Zealand Transalpine from Christchurch to Greymouth and back again. Plus a really scenic trip out of Dunedin in NZ.

But, as the OP mentioned, the heritage railways in the U.K. are my favourites and especially the Isle of Wight railway that still includes a section that I travelled as a kid to school. It's a real Thomas the Tank Engine railway but without the larger engines.

When I was 11 or 12, I used to ride a bike to Eastleigh and watch the express trains storm through on their way from London to Southhampton. The engines were invariably West Country or Lord Nelson class.
 
Back
Top