Mervyn Jones (2)

A nicely produced guide to railways of the European Alpine region. It covers railways in France, Italy, Slovenia (and Croatia), Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The text is not heavily anoraky, though in order to provide some information of more general appeal, the author has sometimes shoehorned facts in without much thought of relevance. As such, the book does fall a little between being a useful guide and more of an introduction that suggests places to research further. And although in this Internet age, we don't have to have a book like this appear regularly - this is dated 2009 - be warned that it has nonetheless gone out of date in quite a few areas.

Oakwood Press have made a nice job of the production, though some of the author's photographs are a little lacklustre, especially those taken in Bavaria in a rather gloomy, misty March. But these are minor quibbles for a book that does fill something of a gap in modern guides for the European railway traveller.… (altro)

This is a very useful guide to the vast diversity of Swiss railways. All railways are covered to some extent, with the emphasis on narrow gauge, heritage and mountain lines; rail museums are also covered. Anyone thinking of exploring the railways of Switzerland should arm themselves with it. The information for each line is (necessarily) only basic, but web addresses etc for further info are provided.

The only gripes are a couple of mistakes (e.g. Zweisimmen to Interlaken isn't narrow gauge) and in a few places the order in which lines appear is slightly confusing.… (altro)