European night trains

Me too! In fact I've been there far more than twice, and wasn't aware of 420. A few years ago I had a stopover of several hours there between flights so I took a train to a large model railway shop an hour or so outside the city and spent a happy and productive time browsing. A few years previously, again with a long stopover between flights, I took the train into the city centre not realising it was the queen's birthday, and had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the Dutch, all dressed in orange, celebrating with large quantities of alcohol. Now that Brexit has deprived me of my European citizenship I wonder whether it will be as easy in the future to leave the airport just to pop in to a bar or model railway shop on the spur of the moment.

For your consideration, this article from the English edition of Deutsche Welle 14 June 2021:
https://www.dw.com/en/night-trains-make ... a-57878517

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/ed ... k-20826070
Midnight train to Edinburgh

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021 ... fUQWrSZf6o

Sleeper trains a certainly getting a lot of press at the moment.

https://press.siemens.com/global/en/pre ... s-mobility

ÖBB orders 20 additional Nightjets from Siemens Mobility

More routes coming.

Since the subject of European night trains has come up again this time in the Amtrak forum I figure I'll leave a few YouTube videos about these trains.

David Benton wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 1:54 am Sleeper trains a certainly getting a lot of press at the moment.

I still must wonder what office that Swedish kid is running for (or appointment to). My bet is something within the EU relating to environmental affairs:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-s ... os1&page=1

Fair Use:

..In recent months, ridership has rebounded from pandemic lows, but sharing sleeping quarters with strangers is something train passengers were growing increasingly reluctant to do even before the pandemic, says Mark Smith, who runs a train website called The Man in Seat 61. What customers want, he says, is a private sleeping space at an affordable price. And that, he says, could prove challenging for some train operators, considering the expense that goes into outfitting and staffing a night train, as well as track-access costs and other expenses.

“I believe sleeper trains are here to stay, as climate change becomes a major concern for us all,” he says. “But the key thing will be, can the difficult cost side be addressed?”

While age and health concerns have likely signaled an end to my annual journeys to Salzburg (missed '20; wonder why), I did give consideration to include in the '20 trip a Night Jet Munich-Rome and return. While I has no issue with the rate (single Bedroom) of about US$225 each way, I did have issue about being "homeless in Rome" during the day as well as giving up two nights at my "Four Star" abode in Salzburg for the "unknowns". For my '21 journey, "it never X'd my mind".

I'm simply no longer the railfan/adventurer I once was.

Europe: Night train renaissance gathers pace

A slew of new overnight passenger services and significant investment in rolling stock is on the agenda for the next couple of years as both state-owned and independent operators revive sleeping car and couchette services across Europe...

It's behind a paywall but maybe some of you have subscriptions.

I just watched the NJ457 Berlin-Wien video that Mr. Spatch posted (too cold today for a walk).

Of interest was when the videographer was walking through the present Berlin Hbf, there was a photo of the former Hbf located in East Berlin that I saw and walked about unhindered by Vopos or Stasi during May 1990 (even if it was an open city, the bureaucracies die hard) - including taking photos!!!!

Yes , Mr Norman, a great time to be there. Everyone was waking up to new found freedoms, and the "bureaucracies" somewhat bemused by it all . I remember soviet tanks on flat cars , waiting to be shipped back to Russia, just sitting unguarded on a siding.( i wasn't game to take a photo of that ). I was cycling with a young West German , the east Germans were more interested in him , than me , asking what life was like in the west ,( 100 k.m's away ) rather than some Kiwi from the other side of the world.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/europe ... enaissance

Seems the main impression is a glass of wine , but good photos and summary of new Night trains.

Mr. Benton, I think you will find that Conde' Nast did a pretty "slick" photoshop on that leading off your linked article.

While "it's been a few" years since I traversed the Forth Bridge, a little ride in the "Googlemobile" around those parts suggests that the topography is nothing resembling what is depicted in that photo.

Further, the livery on that train is not that of the Caledonian Sleeper, which runs along the West of England over the L,M,& S rather than the East (L&NE) where the Forth Bridge has stood for some 132 years.

Indeed, Mr Norman. The forth bridge is in flat to rolling terrain of the east coast , whilst the bottom of the picture seems to be more like the rocky terrain of the west coast of Scotland . Possibly the line to Fort William , or the Lines around Inverness.
The caption Peter Delvin /handout suggests it may be a montage on some kind of handout to the passengers ,or advertising brochure. Possibly Tad Dunville could tell us if he was still posting.

Off topic, off rails, and "back in the States"; I'm surprised that the Wiki article on Conde Nast made no reference to that such was once located in my childhood town of Greenwich, CT.

Here is a photo of the "repurposed" facility. Look closely and you will note the tower now belongs to an "upper scale" hotel, which happens to be where I stay when making family visits.

These pillars noting each Conde Nast publication at the time still stand. Incidentially, the highway is US1, or the Boston Post Road, which, pre-'57, was "the I-95" of the day.

Conde Nast is where my Mother started her short-lived literary career. Back in the '50's, "only poor girls worked".

Sleeping around Europe: The revival of night trains

If I ever got a reputation for sleeping around, it would be because I’ve always been drawn to the romance of European sleeper trains. For a while, however, my crush on couchettes was curbed, when budget flights became everyone’s darling and many sleepovers were stopped. Thankfully, my loco-libido can be satisfied once more. As many travellers are seeing the benefits of flight-free travel, train companies are dusting off their rolling stock and refreshing their bed linen...

A nice piece from the Irish Times