by David Benton
I am currently reading a book set in a fictional African island during my xmas break. It is set in the 1950's. I just read a section where a newspaper from London(where else!), was available in 6 days by air, 6 weeks by "surface". I presume surface in this case was boat. It got me musing on early long distance travels. Everything i have read/seen , has been sea travel from say , London to New Zealand. It got me wondering , would it not have been faster, Say train to an Eastern Mediterranean port, boat through the Suez canal, to Northern India, train across to southern India, boat to West Australia , train to Sydney, boat to NZ.Likewise, to Africa, most boats left England , and went to Africa direct . Why not train to Southern spain/Portugal, and boat from there?. Maybe not much saving to North Africa or West Africa, but what about East/South AFrica ?.The same with early flights, I wonder if there were any plane /train combos, given the high cost of air travel?.
Moderator worldwide railfan , Rail travel & trip reports
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.