Road, river, and rail.
After the disappearance of my friend Claudia Kirschhoch during a press trip in Jamaica, I developed an aversion to flying. (I’ll spare you the psychological analysis.) I’m better about it now — with the help of Calms Forte — but I still try not to fly. I hate the hassle that air travel has become, especially with a small child in tow.
I adore train travel, however, and have often thought of permanently relocating to Europe for the sole reason of enjoying the benefits of the continental network. I’m still wide-eyed with amazement that I can board a train in London and emerge in Paris just a couple of hours later; it’s a journey I’d like to do over and over again. Railing it seems far less sexy and convenient in the United States outside of the northeastern corridor, and I haven’t been enticed to do an Aretha Franklin whenever I need to cross the country. But the discovery of The Man in Seat 61 has turned me right round. Mark Smith, a career railman in the UK, has created a fantastic resource for people who would gladly recapture the romance and the enjoyment of travel by trading planes for trains and ships. Whether it’s a trip across southern Canada, from London to Bologna, from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, or from New York to Orlando, Mark provides current routes, timetables, and prices — no mean feat, given the sometimes hopelessly confusing resources we’re usually stuck using.
Mark was game to answer a few questions not already addressed in his informative FAQ. Find out why transcontinental trains are better in the United States than in Europe and why taking a train is an ideal way to travel with children after the jump.
Q: What drew you to a life on the rails in the first place?
A: I InterRailed round Europe in my teens and early twenties and got to love rail travel, where you eat in a restaurant, sleep in a bed, get to see where you’re going and aren’t strapped in — so it was a natural choice when it came to my career.
Q: In your FAQ, you mention that your site was launched as a personal project in early 2001. Did the events of September 11 (and the subsequent lousiness of air travel) have a direct, discernible effect on your site’s traffic?
A: When I first started, the site tapped a vein of people who didn’t like flying, were afraid of flying, or simply wanted a more interesting overland alternative. In the last 2 years, I’ve seen two factors dramatically increase the number of people using my site. First, environmental factors, as people realise that global warming is a reality not a myth, and want to cut down on their carbon footprint. Second, air travel has become more stressful and more time-consuming. A 1-hour flight now takes 4 or 5 hours from center to center, with 2-hour check-ins or more. Both of these issues are making people think twice about flying.
Q: You mention the California Zephyr trip as one of your three favorite journeys. How does your experience of American rail travel compare with that in continental Europe?
A: I love Amtrak. Amtrak’s transcontinental trains are bigger and more impressive than anything we have in Europe. We certainly don’t have Amtrak’s double-decker observation lounges, spacious reclining seats with a 40-degree recline, and as much legroom as airline business class, and Amtrak’s Superliner and Viewliner sleeping cars with private toilet and shower are as good as any we have in Europe. An hour or two (or three) late on a 2-day journey is no problem for a tourist! Best of all are the people you meet and the incredible scenery you see — Americans are so willing to talk and share experiences on a train, unlike we Brits hiding behind our newspapers! It’s just a shame that I’ve probably seen more of America from the Amtrak trains I’ve taken than most airline-travelling Americans have seen of their own country!
Q: I have a 20-month-old son, and I’ve been expecting to save any extended rail travel trips until he’s at least 10 years old. I’m thinking we might make the first one a NYC-to-Montreal trip. Sound reasonable, or have you taken your young son on longer rail trips?
A: Last Christmas we took Nathaniel, then aged 8 months, to Spain, using Eurostar London-Paris and the overnight “trainhotel” sleeper train from Paris to Madrid. He loved being with us on the train, making eyes at the waitress in the restaurant over dinner (I have no idea where he gets that from!), and getting all the attention he needed. It was quality time together as a family, unlike car or air travel where you’re strapped in (and in the case of car travel, you actually turn your back on your kids!). We also took him across New Zealand by train, and from London to Switzerland by train — again, quality time together, and he loved it.
Q: You say, “Never travel without a good book and a corkscrew.” What’s the book and what are you uncorking?
A: Usually a glass of red, perhaps a Vin de Pays d’Oc, or an Australian merlot….Tolstoy’s War and Peace was great for crossing Siberia. Rudyard Kipling’s Kim is what you want for India; even set 150 years ago, aspects of India are recognizably the same, especially if you cross it by train, not airliner.
Q: What’s your favorite film about train travel or in a train/rail-related setting?
A: How about those scenes with Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant on the Twentieth Century Limited in North by Northwest?! Or the train to Florida scenes with Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot! Two of my favourite films!
Q: Thanks to your website, is seat 61 now harder to get?
A: I hope not! I’m booked in it on the very first commercial Eurostar to Paris when the new St. Pancras station in London opens on November 14, the final section of UK high-speed line cutting another 20 minutes off the London-Paris time, to just 2 hours 15 minutes, city center to city center. Dinner at the amazing Train Bleu restaurant at the Gare de Lyon, a night at the Paris Ritz, and back home in time for tea!
Photo by Peter Halasz.