Rail adventurer and travel writer. Latest book ‘Bang Sue Junction’ (Lanna Hall). Always carrying an espresso maker. Jelly Baby addict. FRGS.
England, United Kingdom
Joined April 2009
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Big moment here at the engine shed. My fifth book, #BangSueJunction, has been published today. bitly.ws/Z9jf #Bangkok #Railway #NewBooks
Matthew Woodward retweeted
23 October 1940
The Prime Minister Winston Churchill reads a newspaper on the platform while waiting for a train at St Andrews during a trip to Scotland to visit Polish troops, inspect coastal defences and tour a Naval Establishment in Fife.
Photo source IWM H 4985
Matthew Woodward retweeted
Soviet military officer on a train traveling between Vilnius and Tallinn, 1989.
Matthew Woodward retweeted
This is a sleeper carriage on China's 350 km/h Fuxing high-speed train!
Lie down, rest up, and race across the country at bullet-train speed!
This is what happens when your country invests in technologies instead of funding wars!
@Chinaretold
Matthew Woodward retweeted
#OnThisDay 221 yrs ago in 1805 @RoyalNavy was successful in defeating the Franco-Spanish Fleet at #Trafalgar confirming British superiority of the seas. Lord Nelson died before the end, having done his duty, handing over Command to another great commander Admiral Collingwood.
I saw this on FB and was reminded that I’m shortly staying in a Japanese type hotel in Bangkok. What next? Perhaps a Bluetooth enabled playlist for the ‘privacy’ mode? Important safety tip - if in doubt, press ‘stop’!
Cultural difference.. choose your meal at the station, little available on-board service. Wonder why it evolved that way in Japan? #BentoBox
At 180 miles per hour on the bullet train, nobody eats cold pretzels.
You buy a cedar box at the station.
You sit by the window as Mount Fuji glides past.
Then you pull one yellow string on the side of the box.
No microwave. No plug.
Lime and water react beneath a false bottom.
In six minutes, white steam rises in your lap.
Thick-cut Sendai beef tongue, seared over charcoal, resting on fluffy Miyagi rice.
Piping hot at 160 degrees.
Four hundred passengers eat lunch in the same car.
When the train arrives, not a single crumb is left on the floor.
From #Giles cartoons on FB. I thought it was an interesting social observation from England in the early 1970s. I had a relative doing the daily commute into the city in first class. He told me that they rarely chatted except after the office Xmas party!
Email from solid UK rail tour operator today - $400 off their US trips. I wonder why demand might be soft right now?
Now all we need is a good sake list..
A new premium Shinkansen seating class offers fully private cabins.
nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g…
Strange bit of mid-week scheduling, but @BBCFOUR4 are showing ‘The Great Escape’ (1963) right now. It’s a useful reminder to me of effective leadership, teamwork and values in a world where these things seem to fall short in some parts.
Click and ping. I’ve always found meals on Chinese trains a bit bland, but I do miss the sounds and smells of a flaming wok..
Hands across the ocean to #Canada today. Wishing you all an amazing #Thanksgiving.
