To Henry Cao, who was seated beside a window in the last compartment of the second car, the train seemed to float, describing long elegant turns and shuddering now and then with the whump of a train going in the opposite direction.

NEWYORKER: Boss Rail

By the mid-1930s the overnight sleeper train eased the prospect of a long journey and established a classic form of rail travel.

ECONOMIST: For some, France is still on the other side of the earth

The site even offers estimated reading times, to give you an idea of how long a story might entertain you during your flight, train ride or afternoon by the pool.

BBC: Fantastic and free travel stories

The long-term aim, however, is to use it to train a group of world-class African sculptors.

ECONOMIST: Rwenzori Sculpture Foundation

At the height of the strawberry boom, train stations along the Strawberry Coast would have had queues of strawberry growers, horses and carts of up to a mile long waiting to get their fruits on the train.

BBC: Hampshire & Isle of Wight

Six kilometres east of Ventimiglia, the seaside resort town of Bordighera, also easily reachable by bus or train, has a smattering of trendy cafes and organic produce markets, a long ocean promenade lined with beach bars and glass-walled restaurants, plus a wide shoreline for sunbathing and swimming.

BBC: Have the Italian Riviera all to yourself

Stratram would need to overcome a lot of challenges, particularly if squishy humans were among the things being transported into space: the track would need to be around 1, 000 miles long to avoid the kind of instant acceleration that could crush a human, and the train would need a low-pressure vacuum tube to travel through.

FORBES: Connect

The train is the Ghan, a long-established service that runs up (and down) the centre of Australia from one coast to another on a three-day trip of almost 2, 000 miles.

BBC: Five unforgettable rail journeys

Today, most of our warrior dogs come from Europe, where there is a long tradition of institutions like the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association, and devoted amateurs breed, rear and train dogs in police-like work.

WSJ: Letting Slip the Real Dogs of War