From a train window, approaching Berwick station from the south, if you knew where to look you might just catch a glimpse of our home in Spittal.  Trains passing on the East Coast main line – the quiet swish of the electric passenger trains and the dull rumble of the freight trains – are part of the background to daily life here.

For Lens-Artists challenge #215 John invites us to share images of Planes, Trains and Automobiles – and the places they take us.  Planes and automobiles are largely missing from my photo collection, so here’s a selection of rail journeys instead.

For five years, up to December 2018, I became very familiar with the trains from Paris Gard du Nord, through the tunnel to London and on to York and Northumberland.

 

Ten minutes to spare at Gare du Nord – January 2016
Normandy farmland seen from Eurostar – December 2017
Not far to the tunnel…
John Betjeman at St. Pancras Station – January 2016
Looking back at St Pancras from the forecourt at Kings Cross – December 2017
King’s Cross station – gateway to the north- January 2016
A Cambridgeshire village church glimpsed from the East Coast Main Line – July 2016
Cloud watching from an East Coast train – July 2016

 

Looking south from Paris, Gare de Lyon was the starting point for journeys to Avignon, Arles, Marseille and on into Italy.

 

Gare de Lyon, gateway to the south of France – January 2016
Avignon and Nimes, Marseille and Monte-Carlo, the mural in the old booking hall gives a taste of stations served by the lines south from Gare de Lyon – January 2016
A green view from a train window – somewhere south of Lyon – June 2018
Forest and orchards…
vines and pines…
then heading south to Marseille
Fishing boats share Marseille’s Vieux Port with passenger ferries and luxury yachts
East from Marseille, the railway follows the Mediterranean coast into Italy and south to Genoa.
Arriving at Manarola station – the exit is through a tunnel into the centre of the village.
The Cinque Terre villages are linked by a rail line hugging the coast and tunneled through the cliffs.
It’s a steep climb from Corniglia station to the village and vineyards above

Click on any photo to view that gallery.