Searching for Secret Railways of Europe

Trains are the greatest dream machines. From the moment I step aboard I feel transformed into another dimension. Views of the outside world sliding by my window, some familiar, some new are soon swept away as the train glides out of the station, snaking through the city limits, leaving forever, bound for magical places with exotic landscapes and the promise and at the same time, the dread, of the unknown. My passion for riding trains and tracing their historical roots began at an early age, when I diced with death while playing on the tracks of the high - speed (at that time) main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad's New York - Washington line; and I have been riding the rails ever since throughout Africa, Asia, South East and Central Asia in search of new adventures. My early interest in railways naturally prompted my passion for travel, first domestically following many childhood rail trips in the US. After those early days of domestic travel, when my financial resources became sufficient, travel borders fell away, opening up a world of possibilities. The subject of my previous books has focused on railway travel in exotic places - in Africa from Cape to Cairo; Russia on the Trans - Siberian, Japan, China and Central Asia. Temporarily, at least, I have decided to depart from these exotic "third world" settings for my rail travel stories and focus on locations in Europe and following some investigations, found myself on the slopes of the Harz Mountains of northern Germany. These mysterious Harz mountains, located about 130 km to the southeast of Hannover, in addition to being the source of witchcraft and countless folk tales in norther Germany, are also the home of a 140 - km narrow - gauge (1.000 meter) railway network known as the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen largely powered by a fleet of 25 elderly steam locomotives that regularly smoke up the region, (some built as far back as 1897) which is the real reason the region sparked my interest. This was to be my first candidate of the tour of the "secret railways of Europe". Also, tucked in the northern slice of the Netherlands jutting out into Lake Ijssel (formerly known as the Zuiderzee), a closed off bay bordering on the North Sea, a tiny 20 - km standard gauge rail line meanders through the Westfrisian countryside from Hoorn to Medemblik, offering a combination steam train/boat experience, all located some 45 km from Amsterdam. After exploring these two gems of steam railways I made my way to England, burrowing under the Channel on the Eurostar, and contrasting this totally boring transit of "La Manche" with the traditional ferries that plied the route for so many years. While somewhat out of place in this description of European rail stories, riding on "The Canadian" from Vancouver to Toronto has been a long-time ambition of mine and it serves to complete this set of varied rail experiences just before Covid effectively shut down international journeys. This proved to be an excellent rail experience, with full dining car and lounge service; unique in North America as Amtrak has all but trashed these amenities.