Jaunted

I'm glad to see luxury trains getting their due. If you can take only one such trip in your life, make it the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express' Paris-Istanbul extravaganza, which recreates the old Orient-Express route just once annually. It's expensive -- $9,190 per person, double occupancy, for 2009 -- but don't bother worrying how you'll pay for it, because this year's trip was sold out months ago. (Space is still available for 2010.) Once again, this train made our organization's World's Top 25 Trains list for 2009. My wife and I accompanied about 30 members of The Society of International Railway Travelers (Society of IRT) in 2003 for its 20th anniversary celebration, and we had a blast. Americans should be forewarned, however: you are riding in a 1920s-vintage, antique train. The cars are beautiful, with inlaid wood, polished brass and gleaming crystal, and the service is impeccable. But the bathrooms are down the hall, there no showers and the cars are heated by coal stoves. So you'll do what Agatha Christie (and we) did and stay at fancy hotels every other night. Also, don't spoil the party by not dressing up. The VSOE is a period piece, and it's more fun when the men don tuxedos and the women slink down the aisles in evening gowns. Despite their increasing popularity, luxury trains will never put a dent in the cruise industry. They're very much a niche operation, and making them run profitably is not easy. (Just think of this: cruise lines have open access to the high seas. Luxury trains, typically, must pay for the right to operate over every inch of their host railroad's tracks. Further, luxury trains necessarily have fairly small numbers of passengers, ranging from 32 to 120 persons.) And regarding broad-gauge railways: of course, there was Brunel's Great Western Railway, whose track gauge exceeded 7 feet. But the real proponent of truly broad-gauge passenger trains was none other than Adolph Hitler, whose megalomania apparently extended to transportation. His dreams of an "Imperial German Railway" with a track gauge of 10 feet or more and double-decked cars (including a movie car) were interrupted by WWII. (See http://www.reichsspurbahn.de/ for more info (in German). The Society of International Railway Travelers' web site, meanwhile, is in English: http://www.irtsociety.com. Its redesign launched last Friday. So did its detailed list of the World's Top 25 Trains. Sincerely, Owen Hardy

My, what an interesting and informative comment. Living in New York City, I take trains (the subway) every day, but since it's designed for utility rather than comfort, I've had plenty of time to think how great it would be to experience the same smooth ride while relaxing in a plush seat and enjoying a good meal or a glass of wine. (Okay, some people do drink wine in the subway, but that's a different situation entirely.) As for my dreams of broad-gauge railways, I had no idea they had been tried before, but as far as railroad engineers go, I'll have to go with Brunel on this one. That other guy, not so cool. It's just that I think people wouldn't be in such a hurry to get from one place to another if the journey itself was comfortable and offered opportunities to be productive. A rolling nightclub would be cool too, but people would probably fall down on the dance floor. Thanks for the insights, Mr. Hardy.

Actually, there are a number of trains that have dance cars. El Transcantábrico, for example, a narrow-gauge luxury train, runs in N. Spain from Santiago de Campostela to León. Given the narrow gauge, space is at a bit of a premium on this train, but it's still a delight. And Northern Spain is where the Spaniards go to unwind -- because of its natural beauty and relative remoteness, they call it "Green Spain." Besides the sleeping cars, the train has four public cars: two salon cars where breakfast is served, plus a bar car and pub car with a dance floor. You don't fall down while you dance, because the train has already come to a stop for the night. (No clickety-clack as you sleep, which may be a disappointment for some. But also no rockin'-and-a rollin' on uneven roadbed.) In fact, the point of this train is to convey you to an incredible array of historic and culinary gems during the week-long trip. I've never done the trip myself, but many of our Society members have, and almost all say it's a treat. -- Owen Hardy