#heritage-rail-travel

#heritage-rail-travel

The Cardinal has unforgettable views of the Southeast's stunning natural beauty. You'll see gently rolling horse country, the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley, and the wild white-water rivers of West Virginia, as they can only be seen by train.

An enigmatic coin that someone used to board a British bus seven decades ago is now entering the collection of the Leeds Discovery Centre, following the revelation that it's a bit of 2,000 year old currency from the former Carthaginian trading settlement of Gadir, in modern-day Cádiz, Spain-one of Europe's longest-inhabited cities, settled by Phoenicians around 1,100 B.C.E.

The Catskill Flyer, operated by the Catskill Mountain Railroad, is returning for its 2026 season with weekend rides that feel like stepping straight into a pastoral postcard.

On the final turn, Atrani appeared through a rock tunnel, its bridge illuminated against the purple night, houses cascading toward the Tyrrhenian Sea. Beneath the bridge, a narrow opening led to 80 whitewashed steps and winding passages to the lobby of our hotel, where the receptionist was waiting with a clunky key.

Ray contracted polio as a child while living in Oakland, a disease that had no preventative vaccine nor definitive cure at the time. Due in large part to the tenacity of his parents following treatments prescribed by specialists, Ray survived this mostly debilitating and deadly disease. While confined to his bed, Ray waved to the engineers on the trains that passed by outside his window every day.

The Richmond Theatre opened in 1899 as the Richmond Theatre and Opera House. Designed by the prolific theatre builder, Frank Matcham, barring some modest changes, it's pretty much still the same theatre that opened over 125 years ago.

The best train journeys in the world have an intangible allure about them. Since the dawn of time, the romance of railways has seduced poets, spellbound novelists, and dealt directors the perfect hand for capturing fleeting friendships, illicit affairs, and all manner of crimes and capers. A ticket is not just a permit to ride, it's permission to trespass on the intimacies of other people's lives.

The charming Amersham fairground organ museum, which is usually open a few Sundays per year, has now started offering guided tours. The occasional open days are more a chance to sit and listen to the old fair organs playing their pipes, and have a nice lunch at the same time. However, the guided tours, which will take place on Saturdays, will offer a deeper dive into their collection of organs and the music cards that control them.

LNER has unveiled the name and interior design of a new fleet of long-distance trains, which will be the first to carry the new Great British Railways branding when it launches in a few years time. LNER says demand on its East Coast Mainline route has continued to grow since the pandemic, with more than 24 million passengers travelling in 2024-25.

The world's oldest surviving gasholder is to be restored and repurposed as part of a housing development in west London. Hammersmith & Fulham Council has approved plans that will see the Grade II* listed Gasholder No.2 at King's Road Park restored, securing the future of a structure that will soon reach its 200th birthday. Built between 1829 and 1830, Gasholder No.2 is believed to be the oldest surviving gasholder in the world.

A steam train featuring in the upcoming Harry Potter television series is scheduled to visit the Epping Ongar Railway this spring, including the Easter weekend. The nearly 80-year old steam locomotive 6989 'Wightwick Hall' will star as the Hogwarts Express in the TV series. Repainted into red livery for its television role, the locomotive is expected to operate steam-hauled services along the Epping Ongar Railway throughout April.

The golden era of night trains had, it was previously assumed, gone for good amid the rise of low-cost, short-haul flights. But the new environmental imperatives suggested that they could be a glamorous part of a greener future, delivering a climate impact that was 28 times less than flying. The European Commission enthusiastically identified a plethora of potential new routes that it judged could be economically viable.

Three of London's mainline terminus stations have announced more dates for the Railway 200 themed heritage tours that they were running last year. The tours will run once a month from January to March next year at London Bridge, Victoria, and Waterloo stations and will be led by Network Rail and historian-author Rachel Kolksy. They will last around two hours and involve walking around each station and the surrounding areas. The tours will cost £25 per person and dates are below. London Bridge station Tickets

A 2026 travel report from Hilton identified "inheritourism" as a notable trend for the new year ― with 66% of travelers surveyed by the hotel brand saying that their parents have influenced their choice of accommodations, 60% saying they guided their choice of loyalty programs and 73% saying they shaped their general travel style.

The shower wasred marble, moodily lit. How long I spent there, scrubbing away airplane grime and jet lag with a bar of Guerlain soap, I have no idea. By the time I'd arrived in Rome and checked in to my suite at the Orient Express La Minerva, the magnificent flagship of the brand's new hotel portfolio, time had melted like a Dalí clock.