All Aboard
Jay Brunhouse writes on train travel overseas and each April provides a summary of European railpasses and how to best take advantage of them. Full bio »
This section contains 35 articles.
These pages list all All Aboard posted from our magazine with the most current items at the top and oldest at the end of the list.
All Aboard! » New Ghan: out of Darwin
(First of three parts on Australia, jump to part 1, part 2, part 3) On March 20, 2006, the Ghan pushed during the night from Australia’s wet, green tropics into the hard, red, waterless wasteland known as the “Outback” on its premier Monday southbound trip of the season. Our train, the Ghan (rhymes with “can,” [...] Read more »
All Aboard! » By train to Russia
by Jay Brunhouse Kicking off your Eastern adventure by train to Mother Russia, you can climb the steps to a through carriage from Berlin or Prague or a direct train from Helsinki. Choose the train from Helsinki for convenience and comfort. From Prague your carriage travels through Slovakia and Ukraine before reaching Moscow, and the [...] Read more »
All Aboard! » Railpass roundup 2006
by Jay Brunhouse European railpasses continued their creeping inflation in 2006. New passes added to your plethora of options, and choosing the pass ideal for you became more and more complex. With the vast selection of passes now available, you need to study carefully to select the pass best suiting your plans. As many as [...] Read more »
All Aboard! » Finland’s King’s Road West
by Jay Brunhouse Pilgrims, royal couriers, soldiers, merchants, postmen and even Czar Alexander I trudged along the muddy, medieval path that connected Stockholm through southern Finland with St. Petersburg. It has become known as Finland’s King’s Road because the crown maintained it. The Russian emperor traveled in an ermine fur-lined sledge from Turku to Helsinki [...] Read more »
All Aboard! » Pendolino to Tampere
by Jay Brunhouse While you feel the acceleration of your S220 Pendolino to Tampere leaving Hämeenlinna, Finland, look left for one of the most impressive sights you can see from a mainline train. The view across the narrow lake reveals the redbrick Hämeenlinna (linna meaning “castle”), dating from the 1260s. It was built by the [...] Read more »
All Aboard » Railpass question
by Jay Brunhouse Q: “Hello, Jay. Sure appreciate your making your e-mail address available to your readers. I’d like to get your thoughts on something. . . “For years, I, like most other Europe rail enthusiasts, considered that the Eurailpass (in whatever particular ‘flavor’ best suited for the journey) was a no-brainer for Europe itineraries [...] Read more »
All Aboard » Rhine-Main by S-Bahn
There is a myth that travelers cannot visit small European villages and towns by train. It gratifies me that my e-mail shows that more and more readers are discovering the large number of less-well-known cities and villages that they easily reach by train. A case in point is Germany’s Rhine-Main S-Bahn, the rapid-transit system that [...] Read more »
All Aboard » 75 years’ Glacier Express
by Jay Brunhouse On June 26, 1930, the highly anticipated Glacier Express chugged for the first time over the 6,668-foot Oberalp Pass. Privileged passengers between Zermatt and St. Moritz praised the prime rolling stock deployed by the (then) three cooperating rail partners. A dining car, specially ordered by Mitropa in Neuhausen, completed the train. Travel [...] Read more »
All Aboard » Einstein Year
In 2006 Berlin will celebrate the opening of new train stations at Hauptbahnhof/Lehrter Bahnhof, Potsdamer Platz, Papestrasse and Gesundbrunnen on May 28 before the craziness and traffic crunch of the World Cup soccer games. This year Berlin and Potsdam celebrate Einstein Year on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the physicist’s death and the [...] Read more »
All Aboard » Taipei metro
by Jay Brunhouse Approaching my destination, I heard the recorded woman’s voice announce over the train’s loudspeaker, “Here we are in Danshui [MRT] station. Thank you for your patronage.” Is that polite or what? When you ride the escalator into any of Taipei’s MRT stations for the first time, you will be impressed by the [...] Read more »