Nonfiction Review: 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Rides by Everett Potter

Title: 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Rides

Author: Everett Potter

Year published: 2025

Category: Adult nonfiction

Pages: 400 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): All continents, too many countries to list.

Summary: Experience 100 of the most sought-after train rides around the world, from a luxurious trip through the Rocky Mountains to bullet trains that whizz you across Japan.

This is the ultimate collection for railfans, featuring centuries-old railways, modern and speedy engineering marvels, and trips that take you through bustling cities like Chicago or ancient wonders like Machu Picchu.

Along with where and when to go, 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime includes inside info on passenger cars (like the best cabins to book or the tastiest meals en route), sidebars on historic stations and jet-setting train trips, and top excursions to take while off the rails.

Throughout, National Geographic highlights the top 100 lines that offer a window to the beauty of our world, including:

• Italy’s Espresso Cadore, a retro sleeper train that whisks you from the ruins of Rome to the ski resort of Cortina in the Dolomites.
• Norway’s Nordlandsbanen railway, the only train line in the country that takes you to the Arctic Circle for a chance to spot the Northern Lights.
• South Africa’s Blue Train, which travels 950 miles between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
• The Ethan Allen Express, a revived route from Manhattan to Burlington, Vermont, along the shores of Lake Champlain.
• Belmond’s Royal Scotsman, an intimate 40-passenger train (including a spa carriage) that takes you through the heart of the Scottish Highlands.
• The Grand Canyon Railway, with views of the national park you won’t find anywhere else.
• The Hiram Bingham Orient-Express, a four-hour ride in a 1920s-style locomotive from Cusco through the Sacred Valley to the Inca Citadel.
• India’s Palace on Wheels, a week-long sojourn from New Delhi to Jodhpur, Udaipur to Agra.

And so much more!

Review: Thank you, Trish at TLC Book Tours for letting me read and review this book. I am all about a good train ride through gorgeous scenery and fascinating cities. I wish I had more opportunities to ride trains. Living on the US West Coast, we're not train-friendly. Our trains take forever (for goodness sakes, Los Angeles is 90 miles away and it takes 3 hours by train)! So, I am jealous of you all who have better access to trains than I do.

This book is a fun read as it lists the "best" train trips on each continent. There are fast trains (310mph) and really slow trains (3 miles up a steep hill in 3 hours), there are city trains and rural trains. There are trips that cover just one county (how fun to go across all of Canada) or many countries (I'd like to ride the coastal route from Dar-es-Salam to Mombassa). There are even theme-based train trips.

Each train trip has one large photo that pulled me in and made me interested to learn more. And when I saw a train trip that I have taken (not many, mind you), it brought back memories.

Challenges for which this counts:

• Alphabet (Title)--J (for Journeys)
• Nonfiction--Travel
• Literary Escapes--too many new countries to list. I will count Kenya (the Madaraka Express), Nebraska, and Nevada (the California Zypher)