I visited Japan for two weeks in November 2018 and travelled on a number of ‘Bullet Trains’ during my stay. The first railway line in Japan opened in 1872 between Tokyo (Shimbashi) and Yokohama. The railway was constructed to a gauge of 1067 mm (3 fo

The Sabah State Railway (Keratapi Negeri Sabah) is the only steam heritage railway in Malaysia. It is among the most isolated railways in the world being some four hours by air from Kuala Lumpur and a great distance from other steam venues and is a u

The Baltic country of Latvia has a population of around 1.88 million people, of whom 690,000 live in the capital, Riga. It is an historic city, founded some time in the 2nd century. The historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The country has

During a trip to the Harz narrow gauge system in February 2023, the horrifying thought struck the writer that it was now over FIFTY years since his first visit. In 1972, our group arrived at Wernigerode on the D170 express from Berlin (the group had

In the early 1960s, I was working in Romania for a British company, but my railway interests were somewhat inhibited by the recognition that my career prospects would not be improved if I were to be thrown out of the country for taking photographs et

After nearly four days spent at Zhongwei over Christmas 1987 (featured in Steam and Rail in China), we then headed for Jiayuguan in the northwestern province of Gansu. This was a 28-hour, 1,076km-long journey, steam hauled all the way by a succession

The BR class EM2 (later class 77) Co-Co electric locos were built in 1953-4 at Gorton, with Metropolitan-Vickers electrical equipment, to handle passenger traffic between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield Victoria via the 1,500v DC Woodhead line. T

The Patiala State Monorail Trainways (PSMT) was a 50 mile system constructed from 1907 from Sirhind to Alampura and Patiala to Bhavangarh. It was built on the Ewing system by Colonel Bowles. The track was a single rail on one side of the road. The lo

Eljas Pölhö writes: The mystery 4-6-2 on page 62 is Denver & Rio Grande Western No. 1006 (Baldwin 39149 of Jan 1913), later No. 800. The complete class was Nos 1001-1006 (Baldwin 39144-39149 of Jan 1913). They were reclassified from 261 to P44 and re

All photographs by the Author at Lourenço Marques in February 1973 ■

In the north of Moravia, in the region of Jesenicko, you can find the only narrow gauge railway operated by Czech Railways (CSD). The railway connects Třemešná ve Slezsku in Silesia - which is located on the standard gauge railway from Krnov to Jesen

Contributions for this section should be sent to the Editorial Office, with the following exceptions: • Southern Africa - John Middleton, c/o Editorial Office. Email: johnmiddleton3401@gmail.com • South America - Lionel Price, 9, Liverpool Road West,

Honshu is a mountainous island. It also has its Alps, the Nihon Arupusu (日本アルプス) or Japanese Alps, comprising three distinct ranges, running from north to south across the island. In Toyama Prefecture there are four unique mountain railways. Two of t

For two short periods in 2023, two daily pairs of trains were run on the Tacna-Arica line, firstly in late August to celebrate the city of Tacna's birthday, and again in late September in connection with a gastronomic event “Peru con mucho gusto”; th

The Rasuchijin (or Rasschijin) Tetsudo Kyokai (=Railway Society), Rass in short, celebrated 50 years since its founding and 30 years of its activities at the Narita Dream Dairy Farm on 17th December. The Society ran almost all (7 out of 8) its steam

Contributions for this section should be sent to the Editorial Office, with the following exceptions: • Southern Africa - John Middleton, c/o Editorial Office. Email: johnmiddleton3401@gmail.com • South America - Lionel Price, 9, Liverpool Road West,

Imagine a parallel universe were 55-year-old English Electric designed (and in some cases built) locomotives are trusted with 200-mile round trips day in, day out, which they perform with aplomb. Sounds unbelievable? Thankfully this is not yet a drea

First, the cold, the very cold. At the turn of 1991-92 we spent nine days in northeastern China photographing trains hauled by JS class 2-8-2s on the Tonghua-Baihe railway. As was typical of China at the time, the passengers and frequent freight work

Eljas Pölhö writes: This photo looks like a typical Rowan of Denmark advertising material. The passenger unit and engine unit are separated and could be easily exchanged depending of builders and required text on the passenger unit. Typical builders

In 1994, the company Tranex Turismo S.A. decided to revive this legend and founded the famous “End of the World Train” as it is known today, starting its activities on October 11 of that same year. The Southern Fuegian Railway (Spanish: Ferrocarril A

Exceptionally, Vlatams (Antwerp's Tram Association) were given permission to run a vintage tram and trailer at night through the streets of Antwerp, by De Lijn, the transport authority for the Flemish speaking part of Belgium. On a very wet Sunday 10

2-8-2 Pt47.65 returned to timetabled passenger service on 7 November, working its normal two round trips to Leszno until 10 November, then 13-17 November. On Sat 18 November it worked the steam rostered afternoon turn to Poznan for the first time in

In what was my second trip with the SNCF Society, the participants met at Tonbridge to depart for the Channel Tunnel as a coach party at 7am on the 23/6/2012. Briefly, my first trip with this group was on 31/5/2008, when we went to St Quentin, for a

České dráhy, often shortened to ČD (English: Czech Railways), is the main railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. Leo Express and Regiojet also operate a limited number of passenger trains. ČD is unique a

In July 2023 I made a cruise ship stop at La Coruña in Galicia, North West Spain and as we curved round into port, I noticed a cliff railway on the headland. Upon closer inspection later in the day, this turned out to be the Elevador del Monte do San

2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the last trains to run on this wonderful Irish narrow gauge railway. It is not, however, the anniversary of the end of the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) as it continued to operate buses over its territo

My first proper tour of Europe commenced from Waterloo East on 30 March 1994, when I set off with three friends for my first proper railway adventure. I was lucky enough to receive free European rail travel from British Rail, so with the exception of

In early 1955 my father mentioned that he had received a letter from his old friend Dimitrios Pappas in Addis Ababa. I asked why he was there - the answer was that he was the personal physician of Emperor Haile Selassie. Never one to miss an opportun

At the time of my visit, several lines across the country were closed for engineering work, including the whole of the AttnangPuchheim to Stainach-Irdning line. Bustitution was provided in each case. Steyrtalbahn, 27th August (fare €26 return) 298.10