Training An Eye At The Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre

Australia's development seemed to have ridden the backbone of trains, which has now been passed by with air and something scary called road trains. Think rumbling, three trailer behemoths on two lane roads, heavy with mining materials and not caring if you fly off into the outback.

Back to trains. What to do with all that old, obsolete heavy metal and their cute roundhouses? Lucky for Australia, train buffs abound and they're busy saving, restoring, puttering with old trains and everything rail related.

The small town of Goulburn has a nice roundhouse and it's now a train museum. Hop aboard.

Wheels, locomotives and train cars, something for everyone.

Back in the day, everything moved by rail. A prison car, bars and all. Inside a mail car, a sorting frenzy on rails.

When things go sideways, best to call in the mighty craven. Dr. Yellow to the rescue.

Depot details. Patch of the mighty union. Oldest shop in the world and proud of it. A variety of lanterns, not available at Home Depot.

The roundhouse and massive turntable. Can play any record, even 78s.

All Aboard The Tashkent Railway Museum

Where to park all those old, Soviet era locomotives and trains? How about across the street from the train station? Put a fence around them, charge admission and, Bam!, it's a railway museum. And kind of cool.

Front entrance. Introductory locomotive.

Trains galore. Coal and diesel, green and blue. Climbing aboard encouraged. Definitely the Red Star line.

A coal cab. Heavy metal.

Another Soviet badge, nice detail work. Coal fired, steam powered is not for casual riding. You can never have too many bolts for engineering solidity.

Big wheels, no longer turning. Still, looking good.

Junee Roundhouse Museum

A model railroad in actual size. The Junee Roundhouse Museum in New South Wales, Australia is a nice collection of old locomotives, rail cars and related train gear, housed within a working roundhouse. Time to hop aboard.

A rainbow of locomotives lines up within the roundhouse. Heavy metal.

Steam and diesel locomotive areas, tough work in any time period.

Former engineer. He hangs out, happy to tell railroad stories.

A first class rail car and a leather seated, wood paneled compartment inside.

A section of one of the old boards used to keep track of the train routes. Do not get your signals crossed.

Training In Japan

Japan has an amazing rail system, so many options and the ability to get most anywhere without a car. In Tokyo, the trains are everywhere. You can even sit back at a platform cafe and train watch.

Train arriving.

Details. Platform security monitors and destination information in a train car.

So disciplined in Japan, all neatly lined up for embarkation.

The station and the big city.

Waiting On A Train At Yangon's Central Station

A city with classic architecture deserves a classic-looking train station. Happily, Yangon fits the bill. The central station in the city was built in 1954, on the site of an older station that had existed there since 1877. The original station was destroyed during WWII. The rebuilt version replaced the British colonial style with a more Burmese pagoda look.

The grand building.

Inside, waiting and handphone obsessing.

A monk knows how to wait with good posture.

Trouble at the station. No complaints heard and the Most Wanted section.

Shipping department.

Trainspotting In Stuttgart

The tram/train system in Stuttgart is fantastic. A fast web of routes and transfer points will get you anywhere you want to go. Of course, the system actually needs to be running while you are there. We lucked out repeatedly trying to ride the rails during a mini work stoppage strike, a no-service window of a few hours or so. Ah, well.

Outside rec area near the tracks.

Primary colors station and  train.

Off-kilter ad.

Pigeon-proof spikes and waiting.

Riding The Rural Rails In India

Once you leave the cities (which can take forever) on the train, the scenery opens up and you get a nice taste of life out in the fields and countryside.

Trains stop all the time, anywhere, for unknown reasons.  And then people pour out of the train.

Back on board, here's what 2nd class looks like. You can tell it's 2nd class because of the levels of bench beds - two levels, 2nd class; three levels 3rd class. Don't worry, there isn't 5th or 6th class. Traditional and new, holy man and cell phone.

Mystery man in the mirror.

The view from the train. Sheep and cows, farmers and lots of brown disks drying in the sun. They're dung, being dried for use as fuel.

Where do you want to go on your adventure?

Train Time In Mumbai

Taking trains in Mumbai is like riding the subway in New York. The trains are not just for city to city commuting but for station to station jaunts. We had a chance to do a little train hopping while visiting.

This is an empty car for Mumbai.

Churchgate station. Starting the ride.
If this vendor can't satisfy your craving, no vendor can. One thing isn't in a hurry to catch a train - the dog.

Still life with hiding train.

A group of guys riding the train. And another group of guys on the train, posing with Sarah and James' sisters. This group is known as Hijras.

Now we're moving.