THE steamy, silver service vignette of Wes Anderson and Hitchcock locomotive reverie; of dolls-house curtains framing a fleeting, hauntingly pretty landscape of snowcapped forests, frozen lakes and snowglobe villages; of Art Deco cabins configured with Debrett's and dinner jackets in mind.
There is something endlessly glamorous about bells-and-whistles train journeys. They evoke a delicious sense of nostalgia and adventure that have inspired poets, writers and some of cinema's most iconic scenes from James Bond's first encounter with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, to Harry Potter's first glimpse of Hogwarts as the Express chugs over the viaduct.
And what could be more snug than winter's whimsical theatre from a toasty and cold carriage with velvet trimmings coupes of champagne? From snaking up Swiss mountains with views down to the lakes, to gliding through eerie tundra carpeted in snow, here are the most beautiful winter train journeys.
The Rocky Mountains, Canada
This story is from the December 20, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the December 20, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
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