TALES OF THE RAILS

What’s not to love about trains?

Thirteen scenic train routes from every corner of the globe are described in detail in this German import. Two or three two-page spreads are dedicated to each route, with retro-feeling illustrations in bold, flat colors showing the dramatic landscapes traveled by these trains together with some of the passengers and local wildlife. Each spread contains general descriptions of the route along with a mock ticket with key data about the length of the track, main stops, and starting date of operation. The chosen routes are tremendously varied, from the quaint Snowdon Mountain rack-and-pinion railway in Wales to the 5,772-mile-long Trans-Siberian Railway (“almost twice as wide as the United States!”). Effort has been made to inject diversity and historical interest into what could be just a book of statistics for train nerds. Each train route depicts passengers, often people of color; notably, a Black engineer on Norway and Sweden’s Arctic Circle freight train is treating her daughter to a ride. Local customs and cuisine are referenced, such as the springbok steak on the Namibia Desert Express and bento box lunches on Japan’s shinkansen, or bullet trains. There’s even haggis for dinner on the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Scotland. It’s a great reference tool for a middle school social studies project, although the tiny, light italicized type used for some captions is hard to read.

Geography, history, engineering, and trains—all in one elegant package.