Trains: The World's Most Scenic Routes

The book is organised around routes rather than locomotives, so it reads as a survey of places worth reaching by rail. Its range runs from the Peak Tramway in Hong Kong and the Ghan Railway in Australia to slate-mine tourist railways in the Welsh Highlands and mountain rack railways. It also traces rail history from horse-drawn carriages through steam, diesel and electric traction, and includes freight as well as passenger services. That mix of heritage lines and working railways suits a reader who is deciding where a rail trip might go. On Spotatrain, it pairs naturally with the Epic Journeys pages: a visitor who has read about a long-distance route can use the book to see how it compares with others in the same volume, and to discover lines that are less familiar. The publisher presents the subject as the most beautiful, historic and useful routes, which means that practical working lines sit beside the scenic ones.

This is a book for the armchair and the planning table rather than the trackside. Browse it to shortlist routes, then turn to the operator's own pages for current services and bookings. With a trim of roughly 10 by 12 inches, it sits on a shelf or coffee table and is not made to be carried on a trip. Because it spans several continents in a single volume, it works well as a first look at a region before deeper research. Readers can note the routes that interest them, check the operator for the current service, and then plan dates and tickets from reliable sources.

The adult rail-tourism enthusiast who wants an illustrated overview of scenic and historic routes to dream over and to shortlist trips from, or a gift for such a person. It suits someone who enjoys photography-led books and is still choosing a destination, rather than a traveller who already has a fixed itinerary and needs operational detail.

DK's Train: The Definitive Visual History takes the opposite approach: a 320-page history of the locomotive and of famous trains rather than a gallery of routes, and it suits a reader more curious about the machines than about where to ride. Where a book of this breadth is too general, a guide to a single country's railways gives more practical detail for one trip.