For some reason the bags look bigger in real life! Apologies if this post is a bit “anoraky” to non train types amongst you, but if you reading this as a prospective first time Trans-Siberian traveller I hope it might be of some help. If however you are just reading this to see if I’ve been detained somewhere cold yet, there is nothing to see here, so please move along to another post. This is my revised and I think final list for my trip. It is designed to work for a two to three week train journey followed by […]

All I need now is a sherpa! It crossed my mind the other day that with a temperature difference of over 60 degrees between some of the cities, its no surprise that I’m struggling to fit my wardrobe into just one bag. Ulan Bator will be be -32 C on Friday, and on the same day Bangkok will be +32 C. The ideal solution is a full time porter who speaks seven languages and can carry 100 kg balanced on his head, but I think he might be hard to find. Then there is the issue of getting “Passepartout” his […]

Now that I have most of my tickets, here is an update on the final plan. I remain hopeful that its a plan so cunning that you can brush your teeth with it. Here it is: Leg 1   Edinburgh – Newcastle       East Coast                           150 km/93 miles           1 stop Leg 2   Newcastle – Amsterdam     DFDS “Princes Seaways”     494 km/251 miles         Leg 3   Amsterdam – Warsaw         […]

EN447 composition Amsterdam – Warsaw Having spent much time trying to work out what sort of train I might be boarding in Amsterdam, and then in Warsaw, I have made a bit of a breakthrough today. There is actually a “specialist” (anorak) site that can tell you the exact make up of most European trains, carriage by carriage. Its called vagonWEB. It actually has a lot more information the the timetables can tell you. So here goes – my train from Amsterdam is the EN447, popularly called the “Jan Kiepura”. With the new timetable, its a no longer a Russian […]

The DB Bahn booking system – vital trainspotting intel! Some frustration here at “Toad Hall” today. It seems that the simplest part of my journey is proving the most troublesome to arrange. Although I have my ticket for the Trans Mongolian now ready to collect, its still not yet possible to issue a ticket from Amsterdam to Moscow. I can’t really see why, but those I have spoken to think its to do with the change over to winter timetables the week before I leave. I saw a video of the E447 arriving back Amsterdam on YouTube and its a […]

I’m writing this blog on a moving train, so it’s a Toad first. I’m on the East Coast service from Edinburgh to London today, which will also be the start of my big trip as far as Newcastle as I am taking the boat from there to Amsterdam. So from the comfort of seat 31 in coach L, let me tell you about Mr Raymond.. I finally decided that I would get an agent to sort out my Beijing – Shanghai ticket, so I have got CTT based in Hong Kong on the case. The ticket has cost about £40 […]

Preparing for blast off in Beijing (photo from Sydney Morning Herald) I loved the train information on the Beijing Travel website “Attendants on Beijing-Shanghai high speed train are aged 19 to 22 years with height above 165cm. All of these pretty girls have high education background with ability to speak both Chinese and English.” This sounds like my sort of train! The G (high speed) train looks quite different to the Trans-Siberian. Its going to cover the 1318 kilometres from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao in 4 hours 48 minutes, travelling of speeds of up to 350 kmh. After a […]