Page 34 - FON Spring Issue

FON LUXURY
Pardon Me, Boys,
Is That a Luxury Choo Choo Train?
BY VICTORIA L. HOFFMAN
Ilove trains. Well let me be clear. While I spent the significant part of my life riding on the IRT, BMT, and LIRR in New York City, I’ve always
embraced the concept of ease. What’s there not to like? It’s all about the glory of knowing and being pleased with myself that I have cheated time to arrive at my destination in a quicker moment as we all face the hustle and bustle of life.
So it’s really no surprise this is my preferred method of travel when in Europe whether taking the London tube and arriving at Charing Cross Station knowing that Trafalgar Square is just minutes away or jumping on Paris’ Le Metro which is nicely color coded and numbered so you can’t possibly get lost. And if you’re in Korea there’s no better way to get from Seoul to Busan than with their high speed (nearly 220mph) fastidious bullet train.
This leads me to my obsession with luxury travel trains – a pulsating and fast movement against a picturesque background. I’m daydreaming and thinking of classic Hitchcock- Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest; Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and James Bond most notably in From Russia with Love (nobody does a train sequence like 007). The glamour of the 1940s and 1950s in particular are so clearly etched in my mind as Lauren Bacall and Eva Marie Saint entered their tiny compartments wearing Dior and Nina Ricci travel suits and carrying their gloves and hat boxes in hand. The elegance of seeing their sweeping Valentino gowns bustle and glide their way through narrow corridors as they made their way to the dining car – a magnificent room lit in sparkling crystal, crisp delicate linens, and shiny antique silver illuminated the mystery and glamour of the experience.
While time has gone by, those notable journeys have now become more sophisticated and elegant, but not the feeling. You can still see landscapes and murals that suddenly appear magically on the peripheral canvas that not even an artist can be so quick to capture or brush and I think of the majestic ride sweeping into the night thundering through corridors, valleys and peaks. Imagine the faint, gentle sway of the cars and the distinguished sounds of the train as it proudly announces its presence night and day passing through towns, villages, forests, countryside, and countries.
Luxury train travel has evolved to create a more sophisticated and incredible once in a lifetime experience. With its sheer aptitude to stretch across peaks and landscapes at higher velocity, train travel has created a more convenient way to see more cities and countries in less time. And
34 FON MAGAZINE / SPRING ISSUE 2021 / FONMagazine.com