Die Schönsten Bahnstrecken

[Grandma]

I was searching for something on Youtube a few years ago and I stumbled across some videos with this title. They were completely unrelated to my search, but I looked anyway, and was hooked by my 3rd one.
In the early 2000s Germany's national rail system, Deustche Bahn, made "train driver's view" videos, mainly in Germany, but in other countries as well. The videos eventually wound up on Youtube. DB subsequently yanked most of them for copyright violations even though they are not commercially available.
So the train drivers made their own videos. Great stuff. Nearly all of it is in Europe and Japan. There are almost no US train rides, what's there is pretty lame, sadly.

I found the better rides to be very beautiful and relaxing, most excellent for relieving stress. Please join me on some beautiful train rides.

 

[Grandma]

We'll start with a very old one, Edison-era, filmed somewhere in Europe. The song "Dance of the Wind Fairies" is not by Jethro Tull or Ritchie Blackmore, but by a guy named Greg Joy.

Enjoy.

 

[Gracie]

Got a link to a few of your favs?
I have heard of this before and watched a few but its been awhile.

 

[Gracie]

I want some in glorious color!

 

[Mr. H.]

Yeah where's the newer shit?

 

[Grandma]

Got a link to a few of your favs?
I have heard of this before and watched a few but its been awhile.

I'm going to post all he best ones here in this thread.

 

[Grandma]

Now it's time for Norway to blow your mind:



(I turned the sound down for this one.)

 

[Mr. H.]

Yeah pretty cool.

 

[Gracie]

Their choice of music sucks. I put some Enya on, instead, lol.

 

[Gracie]

I wanna take a train ride in Norway!

 

[Gracie]

Having it on full screen with Enya playing is so soothing!

 

[Grandma]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is running out of oil. To keep the money flowing in they've decided to create the resort town to end all resort towns, Dubai. Once nothing but miles of sand by the sea, it's now a booming and very modern metropolis with some very very cool architecture.
There are 2 tramlines serving the city, the red line and the green line. Both are 100% automated - there's no one driving the trains.

This is a ride on the red line:

 

[Grandma]

More tomorrow.

 

[Gracie]

I like the train rides that show beautiful countryside. Like the Norway one.
Looking forward to tomorrow!

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Trains are wonderful for traveling. We took the train from Paris to the south of France to Carcassonne and then again, all the way to Brussels. Probably the best trip I've ever taken.

If you want to see a magical place, google images of Carcassonne. Just incredible. Its Camelot made real.

Thanks for a really nice thread, Grandma

 

[Grandma]

One of my favorites, from Domodossola in northern Italy to Locarno in southern Switzerland. Best viewed in full screen.

The stops last a while, so pause the video and move ahead a little at a time until the "I do not like waiting" box disappears from the upper left corner.

 

[Grandma]

Beautiful Carcassonne:

 

[Grandma]

A nice tram ride in Gera, Germany:

 

[Statistikhengst]

A nice tram ride in Gera, Germany:

I have ridden precisely that tram! Gera is the home of Zeiss optics and also a wonderful, older planetarium. My then-wife and I spent Silvester (New Year's Eve) there in 2001 going into 2002. That was also the night for the paper currency changeover from the Deutsche Mark to the EURO (the electronic changeover was 1999 going into 2000), so the next morning, ATMs had lines of people in front of them, wanting to pull out the new currency. I will never forget feeling that first 50 EURO bill in my hand. I also sang a number of run-out concerts with the Brandenburger Philharmonie and the Anhaltisches Orchestra Dessau in Gera from 1998-2003.

Gera is one of the more beautiful small cities in the former East Germany. And although the trams are great, you can get to almost everywhere on foot. It's also cold as hell there in winter, one of the coldest spots in all of Germany.

If anyone ever goes to visit Germany and wants to see some of the former E. Germany, then Gera, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and Usedom Island would be 5 places I would recommend immediately.

Grandma - thanks for making this cool thread. Awesome.

 

[Grandma]

There are lots more vids to come.