For me, my foreign country rail rides have been:
Jamaica: Jamaica Railway Corporation when I was a teen, one of the trips was by myself from Kingston to the Mandeville area in the center of the island to visit relatives while my parents and siblings drove in the car. This train nut felt so grown up 
Canada: GO Transit; Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) - When visiting relatives in the Toronto metropolitan area
Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, England, and Scotland. Oh, and California! 😄
@modeltrainsparts posted:Hot Water, IMO, having lived in Nashville, Lexington, and Atlanta for too many years anywhere south of the Mason Dixon Line is a foreign country to me.
Respectfully,
Somehow, I really don't think that the original poster was asking about "anywhere south of the Mason Dixon Line...."! To each his own.
One time from Tokyo to Kyoto on the bullet train, if memory is accurate it was the late 80's.
It was a unique experience.
This is a great thread, yes, my wife and I took a ride on one of the 200 mile per hour bullet type trains from Busan to Seoul South Korea, and one of the most amazing things was it was mostly underground, via neat tunnels. 3/4 of South Korea is mountains, beautiful green trees, beautiful landscaping on their highways. Happy Traveling Everyone.
My wife and I rode around France a couple of times on the SNCF and the TGV. The interesting thing about the TGV is the lack of adequate luggage space. Everyone on the car piles their luggage in a small space at the end of the car, first come first serve. Great ride though and quick way to travel long distances. Some of the older stations are beautiful.
In 1971, when I was a teenager, I rode the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto and back with my family. We were visiting my sister and her husband who were living in Japan at the time.
Neal Jeter
I've ridden the Swanage Railway in England which was originally built in 1885. It's now a charming tourist steam railroad in Dorset County. I rode the train here back in 1999 when the line was only a few miles long. The line now connects with mainline trains at a junction near the city of Wareham. It's a beautiful train ride through gorgeous countryside. Swanage is a picturesque seaside resort town on the English Channel and that is where the line begins. Swanage is also my Mother's home town.
When I was working for AXA/Equitable in the late 90s, I took a business trip to France and rode the TGV roundtrip from Paris to Bordeaux. It put Amtrak to shame. It traveled at 200 mph and it felt like you were riding on air. The seats were huge, and extremely comfortable.
AXA's training school was in Bordeaux, in the middle of a vineyard that AXA owned. Don't remember much about the trip, other than the red wine, which was outstanding. Became a red wine drinker after that trip.
Pat
Well, l certainly envy many of the posters on here, who have managed to "get out of the county". I have ridden behind steam from Skagway, Alaska into B.C. Canada, the Glacier Express around Switzerland, out of London to access Stonehenge (missed the return bus back to the station for London, and had a walk through the English countryside, which my girlfriend of the time did not enjoy, but we caught a bus back to the sation at a crossroads in the boonies (try that in this country), the tube around London, and a train up through Edinburgh to Inverness to rent a car and drive around Loch Ness. I have ridden the rack rail up from the floor of the fjord to catch the train from Bergen, Norway through Oslo and down through Denmark to Frankfurt. And have ridden the train up the canyon to access Machu Picchu in Peru. Also have ridden behind steam on the Welsh narrow gauge.
Germany: Bremem to Hamburg and back.
Holland: Amsterdam airport to city and back
If subways count, London and Singapore, numerous times
Tri Rail in south Florida to Miami (Miami is a bit foreign, lol)
I do not know what railroad it was but I have taken the train from Victoria Station in London to Brighton on the south English coast and also from London to Hampton Court and back.
Many times, UK, France, Canada, Germany, Austria, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Korea, China, Austrailia. All very modern, and efficient.
Many times. Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Austria. Even Egypt (on a local train, not intended for tourists). I'm not even mentioning metro lines like subways.
My favorite train ride in the world is the Bernina Express in Switzerland, especially if you start in Milan and change at Tirano for the narrow gauge over the Alps to St. Moritz and Chur. The Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt is a worthy continuation of the journey.
The steam engines on the Furka Dampfbahn are up there as well. The Swiss felt guilty about tearing down a beautiful old railway in the '80s so they built it back in the '90s and '00s and now it's like Valhalla for meter-gauge cog steam engines: the Swiss gather them up from as far as Vietnam and let them retire to the headwaters of the Rhone.
I hope Lionel (and MTH, if they ever make new tooling, and Atlas and the rest) all notice that Americans have a bounty of fond memories and interest in foreign railways and foreign locomotives. I'm a huge fan of classic American engines like the Big Boy and the Challenger and the Hudson and the PRR T-1 and the NYC S-2 or the GG-1 but I'm also a fan of a Gresley A4 or a Crocodile (which MTH has done) and the Allegra units in the Grisons. I know it feels like a lot to ask for new tooling in 2021 but I would be very excited if Lionel and the rest began branching out into trains that have either never been done in 3-rail AC or have very rarely been done.
@Rich883 posted:Many times, UK, France, Canada, Germany, Austria, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Korea, China, Austrailia. All very modern, and efficient.
Rich,
I have also ridden trains in Chile. Smooth, quick, and efficient. My wife's father came from Chile, my wife was born here but was raised in Chile and Peru, her mother was from Minnesota. We went from Cuzco to Machu Picchu by narrow gauge. I have spent about a year in Chile and very much like it.
Dick
I rode several subways in Japan and the bullet train from Yokohama to Kyoto. It was impressive experience
I've ridden trains, trams, and subways extensively all throughout Europe, including the North Yorkshire Moors railway in England, the Eurostar through the "chunnel," the Jungfrau-Interlaken train in Switzerland, and the Nevsky Express in Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow. I successfully evaded the notorious pickpockets in Italy, and witnessed the sad reactions of those who hadn't. Russian subways are incredible as many stations are mini, deep underground palaces. I suppose they have big equipment over there as the Russian's utilize a track gauge that is a little wider than ours. (Generally speaking, Soviet-era engineering was really enthralled with "bigness" in general, perhaps equating it with "better" but nonetheless always looking to leverage bragging rights over evil capitalists!) Well, this thread made me realize how lucky I am to have had all these experiences. I really cherish those memories along with the family and great friends I rode them with.
Only vicariously.
I have been following the "Mighty Trains" TV series and am struck by the S.E Asian rail lines featured 7/11/21 which on many lines use wide ties spacing with what looks like light weight rail and the host reported annual train wrecks numbering in the scores. Sixty, eighty and over a hundred crashes per year were reported with a quantity of fatalities due to derailments, unguarded grade crossings and broken rail.
The video series shows previous crashed equipment simply left laying on the side of the right of way. Also there is a lot of low lying roadbed which is frequently flooded from heavy rains leaving washed out uneven ballast and stranded trains. Fares can be high on the name trains but life seems of little value.
The really striking aspect were the fares charged. On their name trains the fares range well into five figures. The fancy trains with all the expensive amenities travel over the same vulnerable right a way.
In India, a browser fare search of the Maharaja Express the best accommodation was their Presidential service which Is priced at $74,000 USD per person for a one way cross country journey. There were lesser fares with stripped out services.
There are cheap local service trains using antique equipment not evidencing much in the way of hygiene concern which I doubt I would want to enter.
The Mighty Trains TV video series seems to be the safe bet.
We took a train from Amsterdam to Cologne Germany while we had some time during the IBC show a few years back. Really enjoyable.
from Vancouver to Halifax .. highly memorable... a two week trip
also, from Helsinki to just inside Russia;
from Frankfort, Germany to Basil, Switzerland [ you better be on time and in place or you will be left behind ];
inside Norway and England
Always, friendly and helpful people crossed our paths on these trips ..
Sadly the only train I rode in a foreign country was the funicular up the side of a hill on the isle of Capri ( did the same in Pittsburgh).
Italy in 1976.
Rome to Pisa, Florence overnight to Venice, Venice overnight back to Rome, local from Rome to airport.
Austria-Switzerland in 1988.
Funicular rail in St. Anton, Local rail in Zurich.
Soon. Will be in Europe for three weeks visiting family in a month or so and already have train travel planned. Hope to get some good pics.
In 1956 my (Welsh) mom took me and my brother to England to see our grandparents who lived in Chester. While there, they took us to London to visit my aunt and uncle for a few days. My mom and brother went back to Chester and I stayed an extra week in London.
When it came time to go back my uncle took me to the London station and put me and their cocker spaniel Juno on the train, then went to get the tickets.
Soon the train pulled out...minus my uncle!!! When he came back with the tickets the train was gone, an express going somewhere in Scotland as best as I can recall.
They radioed ahead and actually had the train stop in/near Chester. When they came to pick me and the dog up they found me sitting at the station drinking milk and eating cookies.
I was 5 years old and scared stiff. Little southern boy who couldn't understand what anyone was saying (and I'm sure they couldn't understand me) on a train with strangers for what seemed like days instead of hours.
So yeah, been on a train in a foreign country, 65years ago!
Oh...and while there went to Wales and rode on one of those small trains they have there. Can't recall where it was in Wales, but is could have been Caernarfon.
Yes, the Bullet Train in Japan numerous times as well as going across Europe a few times. Nice, clean, fast, on time and well funded.
Other than public transit services, the only train that I foreign train that I rode was in Greece; a rack system that went through some really spectacular scenery. I did see some steam in service, a German-built (Henschel?) 2-10-0. Later on the trip, I heard a peanut whistle in the distance and thought that I would see another European steamer; wrong, it was a "GI" 2-8-0 still in service (1972).
We took a train from Kingston to Montego Bay in Jamaica in the late 1970s when we lived there. I often saw passenger trains with dare devils riding, standing on the car roofs, leaning into the wind. My ride to the plant where I worked paralleled the train tracks for several miles
I might as well say I also witnessed the rear door open of an old sedan, going 40 mph on the main highway. A guy got out on roller skates and worked his way to the rear bumper, hang on awhile and then work his way back into the car.
They did not have mental hospitals there then and they turned the mentally ill out on the streets. Ganja or marijuana was all over the country.
Charlie
Yes. In several countries in Europe a few in the Middle East, and a few in Asia. In Europe the commuter trains are ok and the long haul trains are decent to nice depending on what you pay for. In the Middle East we rode a long haul train from Alexandria to Cairo in First Class and I still shudder think what economy must look like. In Dubai the commuter train is beautiful. In Asia it depends on the country. I only really rode commuter trains - some were awesome and some were scary. The best was probably in Singapore and the worst was probably India (Mumbai).
Not yet, but late next spring I will be spending three days on the Rocky Mountaineer and 4 days on the Canadian. I can't wait.
Along with the other former military members, I rode the German Railways several times and got lost on the French Metro Railways in Paris. Thank goodness there were some American Tourists on the train also to get me above ground or I might be still riding that train today.
In 2005 I had a five week business trip in Europe where after the first week my adult daughter joined me. I purchase a duo Euro-rail pass giving us unlimited travel for a month since each week I had to be in a different country. The train system was great, ran like clockwork, was clean and very convenient. Day time, and even a couple of over night sleeper trips. I did have to pay for us to go through the Chunnel to London for the weekend, however it was a nice surprise to find Ireland was part of the system so our passes were still good.
When we left Cork Ireland for our last location and a few days of pub crawling in Dublin the train was only maybe 30% full. What we didn't know was that very night there was a huge soccer match in Dublin so at each stop more and more got on until even the standing room was packed. Naturally a lot of those carried a lot,.. a LOT of beer and were quite happy to share. It was a wild, wild trip. However the things I noticed most about the system was dedicated dual track passenger routes, elevated or lower grade so limited road crossings (no bells at night), and of course the always on time trains. It was a fun trip and most was on expense account.
@marshelangelo posted:Along with the other former military members, I rode the German Railways several times and got lost on the French Metro Railways in Paris. Thank goodness there were some American Tourists on the train also to get me above ground or I might be still riding that train today.
Like Charlie in Boston! 
Does the New York subway count? 
Mitch
(who has ridden the Skyway in Vancouver, if that counts) (also a rider on the San Diego Trolley to Tijuana in the early 80s, which comes close)
@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:Does the New York subway count?
Mitch
(who has ridden the Skyway in Vancouver, if that counts) (also a rider on the San Diego Trolley to Tijuana in the early 80s, which comes close)
No.
Italy in 2016. First Class to Third Class.
The fast trains over there were very enjoyable...with an excellent bar and wine car. 260 kph was very smooth. Everything was clean.
When going to my dad's village out in the boon docks, we rode a slow train that stopped at seemingly every town. No refreshments, windows open and no A/C.
All in all....very positive experience.
I've been lucky - plus I've been a bit focused on riding trains....
New Zealand, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, China, UK & No Ireland, Rep of Ireland, France, W. Germany, E. Germany, & now plain ol' Germany), Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, USSR, (riding later, Russia), Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, India, So. Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, USA, Canada, Jamaica (I was able to ride the island train as did someone above from Montego Bay to Kingston, many years ago), etc.
I'm missing some, somewhere ... probably remember tonight. LOL.
Belgium - Rnd trip local Ghent to Brussels. Bullet train Brussles to Paris. Wow what a ride.
I have ridden trains in Europe since the 90s,Switzerland,Bernina Express,Glacier Express and Numerus other Trains,three night trains,Vienna to Florence,Milan to Paris,Paris to Salzburg,Spain,Seville to Madrid on the AVE,Madrid to Barcelona AVE,Madrid to Toledo, St Malo to Cologne ,Prague to Linz,Wernegrode to Mt Brocken[Steam]Vienna to Simmering Pass on to Murschlagg,Vienna to Bratislava,Paris to Avignon,Paris to Giverny,Paris to Chartres,Lyon to Paris,Paris to St Pierre des Corps,Lyon to Tournon,Tournon to Lamastre[Steam],Budapest to Eaztergom[Steam] .We have also Ridden Numerus regional runs plusCog Rail in the Mountains.
Mikey
Just Canada, but their trains are the same as in the U.S.
In the nineties, I rode the TGV from Paris to Lyon while I was student in Grenoble. I also had a Eurrail Pass and I went to Zurich and to Munich (for Oktoberfest). I have also been on the train from Busan to Seoul while my brother and his family lived in Seoul. Two years ago, we took the train from Dublin to Belfast to visit the Titanic Museum.
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