Chiltern Railways services will move into public ownership tomorrow – Sunday 20 September 2026. Connecting London Marylebone with communities across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands, Chiltern Railways will become the sixth operator whose services transfer into public ownership as part of the government’s drive to...
Rail passengers are set to enjoy faster and more frequent services when a new fleet of battery-electric trains begin operating on TransPennine Express* routes. Great British Railways (GBR), the UK Government’s new body that runs most of Britain’s rail network, has signed a £1 billion contract with...
The Museum of Science and Technology in Vienna (Technisches Museum Wien) is, like us in the UK, celebrating 200 years of technical and social advances brought about by the railway. Their temporary exhibition Under the Spell of the Railway – 200 Years of Rail Transport, opened in...
Ultra-luxury hotel, trains and cruises brand, Belmond, has revealed details of its latest train. The Britannic Explorer sleeper train will debut in July 2025 with a programme of three and six night tours in England and Wales. The train will depart from London, offering three-night journeys with...
A new tourist steam train, the Revolution Express, is expected to start operating day trips in central Vietnam in late 2024 or early 2025. Two original steam locomotives from the 1960s have been lovingly restored to working condition. The locomotives will pull two fully appointed retro-styled carriages...
The 100-year-old American steam logging locomotive, Mount Emily Shay No.1, travelled by flatcar to its new home, the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, on Thursday (15 Feb). The historic locomotive had been in the care of the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) for more than six decades when, in...
The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City will receive more than $23 million to build a new visitor centre as part of a capital bill passed earlier this week by the state legislature. The museum operates a historic train experience on 4½ miles of the old...
The Norfolk Southern Corporation is donating its complete collection of historical documents and archives from predecessor company Norfolk and Western Railway to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC). The collection dates from the 1840s and includes thousands of photographs and glass plate negatives, as well...
The Rotonde Ferroviaire (‘railway roundhouse’) at Montabon in La Vallée du Loir* is very much a ‘work in progress’ and it is going to be fabulous in a few years. The roundhouse and turntable were originally built in 1891 on the edge of the village of Montabon...
The light installation Een Spoor van Water (A Trail of Water) by artist Matthias Oostrik was unveiled this week under a railway bridge in the Dutch city of Assen. Each passing train activates a unique light composition, incorporated into the paving and plant beds underneath. While I...
The Museum of the Atlantic Wall, aka ‘Batterie Todt’, is all about the big guns! Not only was the giant concrete casement built specifically to accommodate a massive gun, it now has one of the two remaining German K5 railway guns parked alongside as a major exhibit....
The Old Town Model Railroad Depot, a small model railway museum based in San Diego’s historic Old Town district, will remain open under new ownership. I can’t resist either a model railway or a good news story, so this is a welcome piece of news. The Depot,...
Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg is the world's largest model railway, and its most popular too.
From tomorrow there’s a new way to travel to the Grand Canyon in style. The Rail Baron Charter, a private luxury train comprised of three 1940s and 1950s railcars, will be operating on the Grand Canyon Railway. The train set comprises The Kansas – a rear open-aired...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
COPYRIGHT © MECHTRAVELLER 2016-2026, including all images unless indicated otherwise.
