All Aboard!: Passenger Trains around the World (review)

Kids are more likely to see the silver Amtrak cars whizzing through the crossing than they are to get a peek inside, but fortunately here's a book to give them an interior view. Zimmermann offers some history on the development of passenger rail travel and then turns to the amenities on contemporary trains, from sleeping quarters, to observation cars, to diners. His own extensive photo collection sometimes coordinates directly with the text and sometimes supplies rolling-stock eye candy for browsers but invariably makes rail travel look most alluring. Problems with funding this largely unprofitable mode of transportation are discussed, and Zimmermann isn't shy about calling governments to task for cutbacks in service. Japanese bullet trains and European runs such as the Venice-Simplon Orient Express secure some attention, but lines in Africa, Australia, and South America rate little more than passing remarks; therefore, readers looking for a truly global survey of rail travel may be somewhat disappointed. Armchair travelers who just want to bask in the romance of the rails, though, will be hard pressed to choose which trip they want to take first. A glossary of railroad terms and an index are appended.