A portrait in words and photographs of over 50 of the most exotic railway journeys across the globe, in Asia, Africa, Australia, North, Central and South America, and Europe. Some of these, such as the Orient Express route from Paris to Istanbul, are historical and no longer possible as a single journey. For these, full details of how to trace the route today accompany the description of the original concept. Other journeys are included because of the exciting countryside they pass through or the challenging nature of the track building, such as the Colombo to Kandy route in Sri Lanka or the line to Machu Picchu in Peru; others because of the access they provide to remote areas of the planet, such as the railway to the Arctic circle in Finland. Each journey is accompanied by a route map and illustrated with contemporary images.
