Dodo!  You look so good here on the front page -- your name in lights!  How exciting and many congratulations!!

And I love trains, too.  My first experience was a trip I took from Los Angeles to Scotland by train and ship when I was 6.  As mentioned above, it was cheaper than flying then, although not for long.  The travel time, though, was something else -- each way was four days across the US and 7 - 8 across the Atlantic, and another partial day from England to Scotland.

I really like traveling by train and used to love the British ones.  On my last trip in 2001, I was sad to see how they'd changed.  At first, on hearing the words "platform alteration" I was annoyed but thought it was just one of those things.  But it happened so often it started seeming almost Monty Python-esque.  

It became quite funny (or maybe we were just hysterical at that point) and we joked about the possibility of ending up in Swansea (do all British trains end up in Swansea, or does it just sound that way?).  We did get on a wrong train once, but ended up in Manchester somehow.  It's not all that difficult to do when you're running around from one platform to another.  I'd do it again, though, but with less luggage if I get another chance!

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes