train

AN abandoned UK airport has revealed plans to launch flying taxi and rail connections in the future.

The airport is expected to be up and running again in summer 2028.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed down in 2022 after previous operator Peel Group deemed it no longer financially viable.

The DSA was given a green light to reopen by South Yorkshire‘s regional mayor Oliver Coppard and council leaders in September.

After £193million investment was poured into the airport, first passenger flights could be expected in summer 2028.

But the DSA bosses want “to do something a little bit different and unique.”

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“Sky taxis”,which can travel up to 150mph and carry about five passengers, could be launched from the DSA runway.

The electric aircraft takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane, thanks to having both propellers and wings.

Airport director Christian Foster told BBC: “We’re in discussions with a number of providers and we’re keen to look at how we can maximise [use of] the site and maximise opportunities for people to travel in and around the UK.

“The vision for this airport has always been wider than just a ‘bucket and spade’ airport, so how do we work with modern technologies around sky taxis.”

Munich Airport is assisting in the search for airlines for the reopened business as part of DSA’s refurbishment.

The DSA is also exploring rail links to the East Coast Mainline in the future while currently focusing on strengthening connections to the nearby Lincoln Line.

The Department for Transport is currently in talks with local authorities and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to determine how future funding could help achieve this goal.

JUST minutes from a faux ‘seaside’ town filled with ice cream parlours and arcades is one of the most rural train stations in the UK.

Cromford Station in the Derbyshire Dales welcomes just one train an hour and it is one of the most quaint in the country – there’s even a holiday cottage right on the platform.

Cromford Station opened to passengers in 1849 and is often considered one of the prettiest in the UK.

In 2024, it was highlighted by the BBC as one of the “plenty of picturesque stations closer to home.

The rural station was also named one of the ‘best’ British railway stations by The Telegraph by a writer who has visited more than 500 across the country.

The small station has two platforms, but since 1968, only platform one has been in use.

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Trains are operated by East Midlands Railway and head to Matlock – a journey that takes 6 minutes – Lincoln Central and Cleethorpes.

There’s usually just one train to each destination per hour.

The building that sits on platform two is what was once the old waiting are, now used as a holiday cottage aptly called ‘The Waiting Room Holiday Cottage‘.

The quaint cottage has been completely transformed with a bedroom, new kitchen, cosy living area with an open fireplace and even underfloor heating.

It has one bedroom but can sleep up to four people thanks to its pull out sofa and can be booked from £325.

This disused platform might also look familiar to Oasis fans as it was used for the Some Might Say single cover in 1995,leading to fans rushing to stay there.

Cromford itself is a small village with some of the prettiest spots being around Cromford Mill Pond.

Just minutes up the road is the larger town of Matlock Bath which has long been considered a ‘seaside town’ despite it being 70 miles from the coastline.

However, when you’re strolling along the River Derwent during the summertime, it will feel like you’re by the seaside as there are fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours and arcades.

You can get beautiful cliff-top views over the water, and there are boat parades too – also known as the Matlock Bath Illuminations.

Discovering the town’s seaside charm is exactly what travel writer Catherine Lofthouse did when she visited a few years ago.

She said: “You will find this lively town at the bottom of a limestone gorge in deepest Derbyshire — not a county ordinarily known as a must-visit for a bucket and spade holiday.

“But Matlock Bath has been ignoring its inconvenient geography for centuries. Once famed as a spa resort, the town saw a decline in the fashion for mineral bath treatments.

“Instead there was the rise of railway travel in Victorian times, which encouraged locals to turn this village into an eccentric destination, caring not a jot that the nearest beaches are in Skegness or north Wales.”

Similar to other seaside towns like Llandudno, Matlock Bath even has a cable car.

Called the Heights of Abraham Cable Car, which is around a third of a mile long, it takes visitors right up goes up to the into the Peak District hillside.

When you get to the top of Masson Hill, visitors can explore Masson Cavern which has been turned into an immersive experience.

There’s also Great Rutland Cavern, Womble Mania, multiple viewing platforms, a sculpture trail, playground and a hilltop restaurant and cafe.

For families, Matlock Bath has another must-visit tourist spot – Gulliver’s Kingdom theme park.

In spring last year, the theme park opened a new thrilling ride called ‘Tree Top Drop’.

The drop ride at the park gives riders an incredible view of the park before suddenly plunging 15 metres.

Gulliver’s Kingdom has around 30 rides and attractions – it will reopen on March 14, 2026 for the season.

Entry to the park can cost as little as £24 if booked in advance, or £27 on the day.

Here’s another attraction minutes away from Matlock Bath…

Head to Crich Tramway Village for a fun day out – writer Catherine Lofthouse reveals why it’s the perfect family day out…

“My boys love a visit to Crich Tramway Village on the edge of the Derbyshire Dales, with its dramatic scenery over the Derwent Valley, trams of all shapes and sizes, historic buildings and fun for all the family.

“It’s the perfect place to visit if you’re gutted by the news that Blackpool’s heritage trams will no longer be spotted along the seafront as they cost too much to run.

“But luckily Crich has several Blackpool trams from different eras, including an unusual open-topped one that looks more like a barge than a bus, that sometimes runs in nice weather.

“Once you’ve paid to visit Crich, your ticket is valid all year so you can go back as much as you like to ride the rails.

“A ticket covering either one adult and four children or two adults and three children is around £50, so it’s good value if you live close enough to make the most of visiting lots of times during the summer season.

“One little touch that my boys love is receiving an old coin on arrival, which is used to pay the conductor for your ticket on the first tram you board.

“Adults are given an old penny and children a halfpenny. It certainly helps get you in the spirit of days gone by, before you even step foot on a tram.

A visit to Barnett’s sweet shop, with jars of goodies and ice creams to choose from, is a hit with the little ones, while adults can enjoy a drink in the Red Lion, a pub that’s been reconstructed brick by brick from its original site in Stoke.”

For more on Derbyshire, here’s why Derby makes one of the best city breaks for an affordable holiday and fun attractions.

If you’re heading to the Peak District, discover these lesser-known spots from one local who grew up there.

The UK’s longest direct train service, the CrossCountry Aberdeen to Penzance route, was cancelled last year

The UK’s longest train journey, the CrossCountry Aberdeen to Penzance service covering 775 miles, was axed in 2025. First introduced in 1921, this route departed Aberdeen at 8:20am and was due to reach Penzance over 13 hours later at 9:31pm, calling at multiple British cities including York, Leeds, and Birmingham.

The service made its final journey on 16 May, after CrossCountry announced it was withdrawing the route to provide a “more efficient service” for passengers and staff. In its place came a new shorter service, lasting 11 and a half hours and ending in Plymouth instead of continuing to Penzance.

On its last day of operation, rail enthusiasts from across the country travelled to Aberdeen to experience the complete journey.

Speaking to the BBC, one such enthusiast, John Labrow, said: “It’s probably the longest journey I’ve ever done by train, it’s the last of a great era. It’s a privilege.”

Meanwhile, train driver Martin Wallace, who was allocated to the route in 2024, told the broadcaster he was thrilled to be driving it for the final time: “It’s very exciting, isn’t it. The last voyage.”

Taking more than 13 hours, it’s thought that at least two of these were actually spent waiting for passengers to board and disembark at the 36 stops throughout the journey.

Announcing the termination of the route back in 2025, a representative for CrossCountry stated: “Amending our Aberdeen to Penzance service from May 2025 will mean a more efficient timetable for our train crews and a more convenient service for our customers, making a day trip from Bristol and the west of England to Penzance more viable.

“The new timetable will also deliver an additional service in each direction between Glasgow and the North East of England towards Birmingham.”

Following the discontinuation of this service, it’s believed that the UK’s longest direct train service is now the Caledonian Sleeper’s overnight train from London Euston to Fort William, which takes approximately 12 hours and 45 minutes.

The Caledonian Sleeper picked up passengers at Birmingham International on Thursday evening for the first time in 30 years, with Manchester floated as a potential future stop.

The boss of the iconic Caledonian Sleeper has hinted at the possible next stops as the train begins journeys from Birmingham.

On Thursday evening, the Sleeper called at Birmingham International for the first time, collecting passengers from the city at 10.44pm before transporting them to Scotland.

As the first sleeper service linking Birmingham to Scotland in three decades, it marked a significant milestone for Caledonian Sleeper. Prior to the service’s launch, Managing Director Graham Kelly told the Mirror that additional stops were under consideration, though nothing had been finalised and talks remained at an early stage.

When questioned about whether the Sleeper might call at Manchester – the biggest city on the west coast currently not served by the train and situated directly on the London Euston to West Scotland line – he commented: “We need to look at that from a ‘number of coaches’ point of view. Manchester is an interesting option.”

According to Mr Kelly, the primary obstacle to adding Manchester as a destination involves scheduling complexities.

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“It comes down to timings. Can you land a timing that works? From a timing perspective, would consumers board at that time? It’s something we’d need to look at. I’d expect (the stop in Manchester) would be around 1am (going North) and maybe 4.30am coming down the other way.”

Regarding additional destinations, Mr Kelly indicated that Scottish locations were most probable. “Do we look to expand with any other destinations in Scotland? It’s very much in the early thoughts and planning stage and not something we’re far enough down the line with. It’s very much in our thoughts for the 2026/27 rail year, for 2030 onwards.”

At present, Manchester has no sleeper train services arriving or departing. Should the Caledonian Sleeper extend to Manchester, it would provide an excellent overnight alternative for travellers heading to Scotland or London.

Thursday evening’s Birmingham service featured a traditional Scottish performance by acclaimed Kintyre bagpiper Lorne MacDougall. Among the inaugural passengers was well-known railway enthusiast Francis Bourgeois, who was journeying to Inverness.

“It is the culmination of a huge amount of work and effort of the team at Sleeper, and across the industry,” Mr Kelly remarked. Birmingham has been incorporated into the current timetable without requiring additional rolling stock.

“The UK rail network is a busy place. There’s been a huge amount of work done on train paths, where trains go and when,” Mr Kelly elaborated when discussing the complexities of introducing a new stop. “It’s not as easy as saying ‘I’m going a different way tonight’. Both at night and in the morning, we’ve had to work with Network Rail to retime services, to allow us to have this path going through Birmingham International each day.”

Mr Kelly highlighted that the Sleeper emits seven times less CO2 than equivalent car and aviation routes.

In 2025, the rail service operated at 90% capacity. The addition of the new Birmingham stop is expected to push that figure closer to full capacity. Regarding ticket prices, Mr Kelly confirmed there were “no plans for an increase”.

Addressing the contentious issue of the Sleeper’s seat option, which requires passengers to sit upright in a non-reclinable seat for the entire journey, Mr Kelly explained that UK rail standards prohibit the use of reclining seats. However, he noted that cabin lights had recently been dimmed in response to customer feedback.

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ABERDEEN Station will close for important upgrades as soon as next week.

It will affect travellers across three consecutive weekends with no trains passing through the station while the work costing £3.6million take place.

Network Rail is starting work at Aberdeen Station on January 31, 2026.

It said that the track improvements will “help boost the reliability and performance of one of the busiest parts of Scotland’s railway”.

As a result of the work, Aberdeen Station will close for consecutive weekends starting on January 31, 2026.

During the closures, teams will replace sections of rail and sleepers across multiple platforms.

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Network Rail also explained that engineers will be upgrading equipment that allows trains to move between lines – almost a mile and a half of rail is set to be renewed.

No trains will run through Aberdeen Station between Saturday 31, January and Sunday 1 February, 2026.

Or Saturday 7 and Sunday 8, February and between Sunday 15 and Monday 16, February, 2026.

There are alternatives available through bus routes.

For ScotRail, buses will replace trains between Aberdeen and Dundee, Aberdeen and Montrose, Inverurie and Aberdeen, Dyce and Aberdeen.

Rail replacement buses for CrossCountry will travel between Dundee and Aberdeen.

LNER trains between London Kings Cross and Aberdeen will run between London Kings Cross and Dundee only.

Buses will then operate between Dundee and Aberdeen, calling at Arbroath, Montrose and Stonehaven.

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “The £8m redevelopment of Aberdeen station in 2022 delivered major improvements for customers and strengthened the station’s role as a key transport interchange.

“Continued investment in essential track and infrastructure upgrades will help improve performance and provide more reliable journeys.”

Aberdeen station was redeveloped in 2022 at a cost of £8million.

During this time there were upgrades made on the passenger experience like a new open-plan ticket office and addition of a first-class lounge.

There were improved retail and eatery stops and the pavilion had restoration work.

Other upgrades made by Network Rail in 2022 were to the tracks and sleepers.

Another train station that’s set to be upgraded is Liverpool Street Station.

Network Rail have put forward proposals for the £1.2billion upgrades and recently released a fly-over video showing what the future could look like for Liverpool Street.

It shows an enlarged, light and airy concourse to ease congestion during busy periods and additional ticket barriers.

Upstairs, the video reveals more eateries and cafes for passengers to use before or after their rail journey, and outside will be more green spaces.

It also shows renders of the new office building that’s set to be built above the station concourse near the Grade II* listed Andaz Hotel.

The City of London Corporation is consulting the public on the plans until January 21.

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It is one of the world’s most famous and scenic train journeys, featuring 86 tunnels and 37 bridges

El Chepe, in Mexico, stands as one of the world’s most renowned and picturesque rail adventures and among the longest railway lines. The construction of El Chepe (The Copper Canyon route or Chihuahua-Pacific Railway) represented a remarkable engineering feat that took nearly 90 years to complete, with costs reaching approximately $90 million (£67 million).

It officially launched in 1961, and remains one of the most breathtaking railway experiences, whisking travellers through the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, and linking Los Mochis, on the coastline, to the Chihuahua mountains.

This extraordinary rail adventure covers about 650-670 kilometres (400 miles) between Chihuahua and Los Mochis, Mexico and boasts 86 tunnels and 37 bridges.

The journey, which takes 16 hours to complete, can be done in a day, taking passengers through the Sierra Madre region, home to the Tarahumaras’ indigenous communities, known for their traditional lifestyle and unique culture.

The most complicated section to build was the 258 kilometres (160 miles) from the Creel station in Chihuahua to Heriberto Valdez (San Pedro) in Sinaloa.

The project took enormous technical and human efforts to overcome the obstacles of the imposing Tarahumara Mountains.

ChepeExpress said: “This region frequently serves as the backdrop for stories, films, documentaries, major newspaper articles, magazines and television networks, who come here from all over the world, attracted by the charm of the rustic countryside and the majesty of the railroad.”

Alongside this, the Chihuahua-Pacific route is one of the most “amazing and bold engineering projects, taking passengers through the canyons, great mountains, forests and ravines.”

National Geographic explained: “El Chepe’s First Class has panoramic windows, reclining seats and one on-board meal included in the train’s Urike restaurant, which serves traditional dishes from the states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa; Executive Class has spacious seating and access to its own bar; and Tourist Class includes basic, but comfortable upright seating and an on-board snack service.”

Jan. 16 (Asia Today) — Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital said Thursday it hosted a two-week winter internship program for overseas medical students and pre-medical students, aimed at showcasing the scientific development and global potential of Korean medicine.

Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital said the 2026 Jaseng Medical Academy Winter Internship Program, which ran from Jan. 5, brought together five participants from four countries – the United States, Canada, Thailand and South Korea.

Participants included students and graduates from the University of Florida, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Northeastern University, Pomona College and Thailand’s Kasetsart University, according to the hospital. They spent two weeks experiencing Jaseng’s clinical system and treatment environment.

The program featured observation of outpatient clinics, lectures on Korean and integrative medicine, hands-on training in treatments such as acupuncture and manual therapy, and question-and-answer sessions with medical staff. Students also worked in teams to develop Continuing Medical Education lecture content, presenting their projects at the conclusion of the program.

Interns visited the Jaseng MediBio Center, where they toured acupuncture needle manufacturing and research facilities and learned about efforts to scientifically standardize Korean medicine, the hospital said.

“The internship program is designed to raise awareness of Korean and integrative medicine among future healthcare professionals worldwide and help them grow into global medical talent,” said Jin-ho Lee, director of the hospital. He added that Jaseng would continue to strengthen international exchange and education to enhance the global competitiveness of Korean medicine.

The hospital said it is the only institution in East Asia accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education. It also plans to co-host the Jaseng International Academic Conference later this year with Indiana University School of Medicine.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

I CLOSE my eyes as the platforms of London’s Euston train station fall back into the distance.

Upon later opening my peepers, and pulling up the window blind, a picture-postcard landscape of rolling hills, trees and blue sky is revealed.

The Caledonian Sleeper has worked its magic overnight, delivering me to Fort William in the heart of the Scottish Highlands in just 12 hours.

And the ride in itself was nothing ordinary – in fact, quite the opposite.

My indulgence began at Euston, before even boarding the train, as I relaxed to the max in a stylish lounge with complimentary drinks and chocolate brownies.

Once on the train, its corridors’ forest-green walls and plush carpets beckoned me toward my snug cabin – it really does feel like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express.

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My en-suite Club cabin had a comfy bunk bed – which I had to myself – complete with squishy duvet, reading light, charging points and all the essentials for a night’s sleep – eye mask, earplugs and bottled water.

Every feature of the cabin was super-practical – the back of the door boasted a full-length mirror and the sink was tucked neatly beneath the window.

The en-suite bathroom, complete with a toilet and shower, made the cabin feel like a hotel-on-rails.

With the Club cabins you also get entry to the Club Car – a gorgeous dining spot complete with tartan placemats whose colours represent the different stations the Sleeper serves.

For my sumptuous three-course dinner, I was treated to a salmon quiche (£8) followed by a delicious harissa-and-honey chicken dish (£14) then salted caramel tart (£10).

As for a tipple, there is plenty of choice, from gins to classic wines.

Snugly tucked up in bed later, I felt the gentle rock of the train but the eyemask and earplugs helped me to drift off.

The experience’s real magic emerges in the morning though.

Waking up in sunny Scotland, with mighty mountains and sparkling lochs whizzing past my window was an experience to remember.

Sliding on my slippers and shuffling off to the Club Car once again, I am once more awe-struck as the vast glass windows reveal a fully immersive experience of the glorious Scottish countryside.

Whilst more expensive than flying, who wouldn’t want to swap airport stress for waking up amid the beauty of the Scottish wilderness?

The morning menu, from warm pastries to a full Scottish breakfast, and fresh juices to hot drinks, is impressive.

The doughy pancakes with fresh fruit leave me comfortably full as I “ooh” and “ahh” at views through the window.

The Caledonian Sleeper runs multiple routes from Euston, including to Edinburgh and Glasgow – and this week, its services expanded to include its first ever from Birmingham.

Whilst more expensive than flying, who wouldn’t want to swap airport stress for waking up amid the beauty of the Scottish wilderness?

THINGS have taken a turn since the flaming Café Brûlot cocktail at lunch.

I’m now a jumble of Mardi Gras sequins and feathers, and there is a giant eagle mascot lying at my feet.

An hour earlier, the waitress at Antoine’s, in New Orleans, had ignited a punch bowl of the brandy-and-citrus coffee then ladled it on to our tablecloth in a fiery spectacle.

Established in 1840, the French-Creole restaurant still has old-world charm, with chandeliers, wooden beams, and a jazz band roaming the tables at its Sunday Brunch.

It had set us up nicely for the nearby Mardi Gras Museum Of Costumes And Culture, where curator Carl Mack encouraged us to play dress-up in the warehouse-sized closet.

So here I am, in a sparkly purple gown, 5ft-wide shoulder collar, and a precariously balanced headdress. Another member of the tour has pulled on a bird of prey mask.

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We are in the Louisiana port city several weeks too early for its world-famous annual carnival, which starts in January and culminates on Fat Tuesday (“Mardi Gras” in French), the last day of street parades, colourful floats and letting loose before Lent — but the myriad museums and year-round party atmosphere have given us a taste of it.

Our railway journey across America’s Deep South had started several days earlier in a city that has ruffled a few technicolour feathers with its claim that it is the “birthplace of Mardi Gras”.

Mobile, in Alabama, says it hosted the very first celebration in the US, in 1703 — some 15 years before New Orleans was founded.

As with any “healthy sibling rivalry”, though, “if either city was in trouble, we’d have each other’s back”, Mobile historian Cart Blackwell insisted.

It is just as well, because the country’s national rail carrier, Amtrak, has reconnected the two Gulf Coast destinations after 20 years with its twice-daily Mardi Gras Service.

It takes 3hr 45min from Mobile to New Orleans — or Nola as the locals call it — with stops in Mississippi cities Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay Saint Louis.

The dramatic 233km stretch across rivers, lakes and marshland has been a resounding hit with residents and tourists who, like us, have no desire to tackle interstate traffic.

Train fares start from £11 for coach class, the seats and footwell are generous in size, and most of the main attractions in each city are within walking distance.

Southern comfort food

Blackwell, the curator at Mobile’s Carnival Museum, stresses its Mardi Gras is more family-friendly than New Orleans’, but is hopeful the trains’ early-morning and evening departure times will allow revellers to attend parades in both cities on the same day.

After admiring the regalia from mystic societies’ former kings and queens, including intricately hand-sewn robes with trains weighing up to 50lb, we boarded Gulf Coast Tour’s white vintage-style streetcar.

Tour highlights included the awesome USS Alabama battleship and fighter plane pavilion and neighbourhoods of charming Creole cottages and Colonial and Greek Revival houses.

The city is fast-becoming a foodie haven, and downtown’s Dauphin Street is the main entertainment and restaurant hub.

Think streets lined with Forrest Gump’s childhood home, all in varying sizes and pastel tones, with wraparound porches, shuttered windows and swing chairs.

The book about a loveable Alabama man, later adapted into the hit 1994 film, was written by Winston Groom, who lived for much of his life in Mobile.

The city is fast-becoming a foodie haven, and downtown’s Dauphin Street is the main entertainment and restaurant hub.

Stops on Bienville Bites’ walking tour served historical anecdotes and Southern comfort food including hickory-smoked Conecuh sausage, pecan bread pudding and oysters “fried, stewed and nude”.

At the bustling 87-year-old Wintzell’s Oyster Bar, there are diner-style brown leather booths and walls covered in thousands of multicoloured plaques with more of the founder’s witty sayings.

“Y’all should try” its sampler of 16 fresh Gulf oysters smothered in rich toppings like jalapenos, bacon and cheddar.

For beer and meat-lovers, the family-run Callaghan’s Social Club has won awards for its juicy burgers (from £7.50).

A favourite with locals for 80 years, the dive bar has walls draped in neon lights and littered with family portraits, Irish memorabilia and pictures of local legends who have performed there.

The city drew worldwide attention in 2019 after archeologists working the Mobile River, found the burned wreckage of the last- known slave ship to land in America.

The Clotilda transported 110 captured West Africans to Mobile Bay in 1860 — 52 years after the US had outlawed importation of slaves. It was then sunk to hide the evidence.

At the Africatown Heritage House, a ten-minute taxi ride away, a deeply moving exhibition tells some of the individuals’ stories through written accounts and artefacts.

It is a sobering reminder that much of the economy of the Deep South once relied on slavery.

Back downtown, we stayed at The Admiral, a quirky Versailles-inspired hotel, which has rooms decorated in a Mardi Gras colour palette of purple (justice) and gold (power).

It’s a five-minute walk to the station for our sunrise departure to Biloxi, once known as the “seafood capital of the world”.

Its past can be explored at the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum but to see the trade first-hand, we strolled along the Small Craft Harbour, where shrimp boats with recognisable outriggers and nets are moored, and pelicans perch on pilings.

We then dived into tasty shrimp-and-crabmeat gumbo (a heavily seasoned stew) for just £6 at Mary Mahoney’s. Built in 1737, it is one of the oldest houses in the US, and even Elvis Presley once dropped by.

One of the main draws to Biloxi is its big-name hotels and casinos, but Mississippi is most famous for founding the Blues. So an evening at actor Morgan Freeman’s  Ground Zero Blues Club is a must for live music.

And, for a hotel oozing Southern charm, the White House, dating back to the 1890s, has white-stucco pillars and views of the Mississippi Sound. Less than an hour on the train and we were in Bay Saint Louis, which has a vibrant small-town vibe.

Tourist-heavy Bourbon Street provided blocks of hedonism, though we preferred the jazz and brass bands on Frenchman Street.

The seafront main strip has boutiques, antique stores, lively late-night wooden watering holes painted lime green and yellow that wouldn’t look out of place in the Caribbean, and The Pearl hotel, which is modern with spacious rooms overlooking the marina.

Paddle-wheel steamboat

We embraced the slow pace in the day — golf buggies are the vehicle of choice — and joined athleisure-wearing locals at the Mockingbird Cafe, the place to be.

Bay Saint Louis also boasts a cultural gem — the 100 Men D.B.A Hall where blues and jazz greats including BB King and Etta James have played.

Our final stop, New Orleans, proved to be a glorious assault on the senses.

Tourist-heavy Bourbon Street provided blocks of hedonism, though we preferred the jazz and brass bands on Frenchman Street.

Strolling along the banks of the Mississippi, we took in the sight of a cruising paddle-wheel steamboat, one of the last of its kind, and spent hours wandering the French Quarter’s beautiful brick townhouses with floral wrought-iron balconies.

For a behind-the-scenes look at carnival we toured Mardi Gras World to see floats and the artists who build and paint them.

And there was time for a more sobering trip, to the vast National WWII Museum.

There we saw a Higgins vessel, a shallow-water bayou boat built in Nola, that was instrumental in the D-Day landings.

And confirming why it is frequently-named the “best food city in the world,” we indulged in beignets (powdered-sugar doughnuts), Po’boys (crusty bread filled with slow-cooked roast beef), and, given its close proximity to swampland, alligator (yes, tastes like spicy chicken).

It has never been easier to navigate the party-loving Deep South, so make tracks for Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service.

A MAJOR railway line will experience significant disruption this weekend as engineering work is carried out.

Parts of the route, which serves one of the busiest airports in the UK, will be out of service until Monday, 19 January.

Network Rail has confirmed plans to carry out essential improvements to the railway between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, and East Croydon on Saturday, 17 January and Sunday, 18 January.

This marks the second consecutive weekend of maintenance works on this route, with more closures scheduled for Saturday, 24 January and Sunday, 25 January.

The essential engineering works will continue over the next few months, taking place on selected weekends until Sunday, 10 May.

Additional engineering works have been confirmed for Sunday, 1 February, Saturday, 21 February, Sunday, 22 March, and Sunday, 10 May.

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Network Rail has advised passengers to plan their journeys in advance, with buses set to replace the service on the effected dates.

These buses will serve Brighton Main Line stops between Gatwick Airport and Purley / East Croydon, as well as the branch lines between Reigate and Redhill, and between Redhill and Tonbridge.

In addition, a train service will run between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria using a diversionary route, calling at Clapham Junction.

“The busy Brighton main line is among the most complex and congested routes in the country, with the infrastructure being some of the oldest and most intensively used,” said Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director.

“Because of this, we need to carry out this work to try to prevent delays to passenger journeys.”

The stretch of railway serves the Southern, Thameslink, and Gatwick Express services.

Key improvements to the route will include track renewal, a new electric conductor rail, earthworks, drainage repairs, bridge maintenance, and addition of road-rail access points.

Passengers are advised to check the Southern Railway website for the latest travel advice.

The L0 Series is a magnetic levitation train built in Japan that’s the fastest in the world, capable of reaching speeds of up to 375mph. It is currently in testing

A lightning-fast train currently under development could potentially whisk passengers from London to Edinburgh in around an hour. The L0 Series, a Japanese creation, is an electric train capable of reaching speeds up to 375mph, making it the world’s fastest.

This extraordinary machine, currently undergoing testing, uses Maglev technology for propulsion. Maglev operates by magnetically levitating the train above the tracks and then employing another electric motor for forward motion. These trains essentially glide through the air powered by magnets and electricity, enabling them to reach staggering speeds.

The L0 series is no exception, with Top Gear reporting that once operational, it aims to cruise at around 311mph, allowing it to travel from Tokyo to Osaka in roughly an hour.

If the L0 Series were implemented, this would equate to a journey time from London to Penzance in Cornwall of just under an hour. The same duration would apply for a trip from the capital to Edinburgh, reports the Express. The current travel time between these iconic UK destinations by trainis just shy of five hours.

But that’s not the only impressive achievement of the L0 Series. Back in April 2015, it managed to cover a staggering 2,525 miles in a single day. That’s akin to travelling from London to one of Europe’s most easterly cities – Sulina in Romania – and back again.

Predictably, such a remarkable feat of engineering doesn’t come with a modest price tag. The scheme has been pushed back by eight years owing to escalating expenses, reaching an eye-watering £52billion.

The Chuo Shinkansen line that will transport the train will connect Tokyo and Nagoya.

“The maglev has been plagued by difficulties excavating tunnels needed to accommodate the train’s high speeds”, reported The Asahi Shimbun.

Around 85% of the scheme involves tunnels, according to a board member from the firm overseeing the venture.

JR Central’s board signed off on the updated budget on October 29, although the organisation emphasised that the 2035 deadline remains tentative.

Meanwhile in the UK, the Government has confirmed the revival of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) which will deliver quicker journeys between northern cities.

This means passengers will be able to travel between destinations such as Leeds, York, Bradford, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, and return more rapidly than previously.

An initial £1.1bn has been allocated for preparation and planning, with the first building work not anticipated to commence until 2030, as the programme receives £45bn worth of improvements, including a new railway station at Bradford plus enhancements to several stations.

The Bernina Express is famous for its panoramic windows, but savvy travellers have found a way to see the same views on the UNESCO World Heritage route for a fraction of the price

Trains offer a brilliant way to travel, providing a greener option for adventurous travellers, while allowing them to soak up the spectacular views along the way.

That’s why a certain train route winding through the snow-capped Swiss Alps has left folk utterly gobsmacked. Boasting floor-to-ceiling windows, The Bernina Express offers travellers an incredible vista of the stunning surroundings during an unforgettable four-and-a-half-hour journey.

Eveline, a tourist who frequently posts her rail journey adventures on social media, has hailed this Swiss line “the most scenic train journey in the world.” After a quick glance at her holiday clips, it’s easy to agree. “Want to ride the most magical train in December? Then now is the time to book! It sells out fast!” she wrote last month alongside a TikTok post showcasing her picturesque rail adventure.

But it is pricey – with tickets starting at £61. One savvy traveller shared a helpful tip, noting: “I did this and it was stunning, but don’t pay so much for the Bernina – just get the normal train. The Bernina was just at the end of our normal train carriage, so it was a lot cheaper!”

The footage gives viewers a peek at Eveline’s vantage point from the train, capturing sweeping scenes of the snow-blanketed Swiss Alps as the locomotive snakes its way through the peaks, even gliding through tunnels bored straight into the mountainside.

“POV: it’s December, and you took the train from Switzerland to Italy,” Eveline noted on the clip as she went on to reveal the train’s interior, with its floor-to-ceiling windows allowing for a full appreciation of the majestic landscape. She continued: “This is the Bernina Express, and it will take you on a scenic ride through glaciers and palms, parts of the route are a UNESCO heritage.”

The railway links the Swiss Alpine city of Chur with Tirano in northern Italy, stopping at various points along the way. The entire journey takes roughly four-and-a-half hours, with travellers treated to endless views of stunning snowy peaks through the carriage windows.

In winter, passengers also pass through snow-draped forests that look like something from a perfect winter fairy tale. The full four-and-a-half-hour journey costs approximately 66 CHF (£61) per person for standard seating or 113 CHF (£104) for premium class travel.

Yet Eveline revealed you can easily halve this cost by getting off at one of the stops along the route. “Or travel with an InterRail pass and then you only need to book a seat for 32 CHF in first class,” she added. Passengers should make sure they buy tickets from the official website; otherwise, they risk ending up on a “normal” service without the panoramic windows.

Comments flooded in from impressed viewers, with many saying they desperately wanted to try the train journey themselves. “Omg this is a dream,” one person wrote, whilst another declared: “Omg, this is like a movie.”

Another recounted their own journey, remarking: “Me and my hubby travelled on the Bernina Express last month, it was stunning. Window shopped in St Moritz – such a beautiful part of the world and not far from Italy.”

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

READ MORE: ‘My top winter buy is on sale – a self-heating blanket that costs nothing to run’

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The train was travelling from Bangkok to Thailand’s northeast when it derailed after a construction crane fell on to it.

At least 22 people have been killed and around 80 others injured after a construction crane fell on a passenger train in northeast Thailand.

The accident took place on Wednesday morning in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230km (143 miles) northeast of Bangkok. The train was headed from the Thai capital to Ubon Ratchathani province.

Thailand’s Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn in a statement said there were 195 passengers on board and that he had ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.

Those killed were in two of the three carriages hit by the crane, he said.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok, said the train was reportedly travelling beneath the construction site for a high-speed rail when a crane working overhead collapsed.

“The train then was derailed when it hit that crane and there was a brief fire that ensued,” Cheng said.

“Initial reports said there were only four fatalities. That very quickly jumped to 12 and we now understand from the Thai police who told Al Jazeera that it’s 22 and at this stage they are expecting it to climb,” he said.

The fire has been extinguished and rescue work is now under way, according to local police.

Local resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, was at the scene when the incident happened.

“At around 9:00 am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions,” Mitr told the AFP news agency.

“When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages. The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half,” Mitr said.

Al Jazeera’s Cheng says the route that the train was taking is “very commonly used”, serving heavily populated regions of northeastern Thailand.

“This route has been the site of a high speed Chinese rail project, which has been under construction for quite some time now – about a decade,” he said.

“It is supposed to be bringing a high-speed rail which is on a concrete platform above the existing rail line. Pictures that we have seen of the scene seem to show the crane which was working up there, has fallen from these big concrete columns,” he added..

A few days before Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, Bryce Dessner admitted with a laugh that he’d come to Los Angeles without a tuxedo — something of a problem, given that he was up for an award.

“The movie people think about what the actors are going to wear, of course, but the composer — who cares?” he said last week over lunch in Beverly Hills. “I was like, ‘Guys, do you have something I could borrow?’”

He might consider getting a tux of his own: Though Dessner and Nick Cave inevitably lost the original song prize at the Globes to the chart-topping “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters,” their title theme from director Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams” made the shortlist for an Academy Award nomination, as did Dessner’s score for the movie about a laborer in northern Idaho in the early 20th century.

Adapted from a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, “Train Dreams” follows Robert Grainier (played by Joel Edgerton) through 80 years of life in all its turmoil and routine; we watch as he cuts down logs in the forest, as he nurtures a romantic relationship and becomes a father, as he returns home one day to a nightmarish discovery from which he never quite recovers. A stirring meditation on work, love, nature and grief, the film doesn’t contain much dialogue — critics have compared it to the movies of Terrence Malick — which means that Dessner’s gently rippling chamber-folk music is an almost equal partner to the images in the storytelling.

“It’s the water of the river that moves the film along,” Bentley said.

The title song features a haunting vocal performance by Cave, the veteran Australian post-punk singer and songwriter, who was so taken with Dessner’s music that at first he was reluctant to take part.

“The last thing someone who’s crafted a beautiful score wants is some rock star to come in and sing all over the top of it,” said Cave, himself an experienced film composer. “It’s happened to me many times.”

Best known as a member of the Grammy-winning indie-rock band the National, Dessner, 49, is one of a growing number of rock musicians finding a place in Hollywood. Last year’s winner of the original score Oscar was “The Brutalist’s” Daniel Blumberg, who got his start in the band Yuck; other composers on this year’s shortlist include Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (for “One Battle After Another”), Nine Inch Nails (“Tron: Ares”) and Daniel Lopatin, who makes records under the name Oneohtrix Point Never (“Marty Supreme”).

And Dessner isn’t the only member of the National to establish a successful career outside the group: His twin brother Aaron is an in-demand pop producer who’s collaborated with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Brandi Carlile, among other acts.

Yet “Train Dreams” feels like a breakthrough for Bryce Dessner — the point where his backgrounds in roots music, concert performance and film scoring converge.

He came on to the movie early, having previously worked with Bentley on 2021’s “Jockey” and 2023’s “Sing Sing” (for which Bentley and his creative partner, Greg Kwedar, earned an Oscar nod for adapted screenplay).

“They sent me the script and I composed a fair amount of music” as Bentley was shooting, Dessner said, “which tends to be a bad idea.” He recalled a similar experience about a decade ago on Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “The Revenant.” “I wrote like two hours of cello music and then Alejandro — he’s the nicest person — he was like, ‘So, I have to tell you — I don’t think we need cello.’”

Dessner, who lives in Paris with his wife and young son, was dressed in his usual all-black, as indeed he would be the next night during a live-to-screen performance of “Train Dreams” at the Egyptian Theatre.

“But in this case it worked, I think because it’s a different kind of film — more like a cinematic poem,” he said of “Train Dreams.”

Some of Dessner’s cues evoke the chugging rhythms of a locomotive; others, he said, were inspired by the raw splendor of the Pacific Northwest — a landscape he immersed himself in by recording much of the score at Flora Recording in Portland, Ore., where the National had worked before.

“It’s got analog gear and old ribbon microphones and a janky upright piano,” he said of the studio. “I wanted some dust on the sound.”

Nick Cave at the Royal Festival Hall in London in October.

(Jonathan Brady / PA Images via Getty Images)

For the movie’s title song, Bentley said Cave was the only person he could imagine striking the right tone: a delicate blend of weariness and gratitude.

“I actually don’t know if I could’ve moved on if he’d turned us down,” the director said.

In a phone call, Cave, who called himself a huge fan of Johnson’s book, said he watched the movie “with one hand over my eyes just because I thought they might’ve done a terrible job of it.” He laughed. “But within a few minutes, I just eased into it. I was very moved.”

He said the song’s lyrics, which lay out a succession of stark images from Robert Grainier’s world, came to him as he slept after seeing the film. “It was a gift from a fever dream,” he said.

As a parent who’s lost two sons, did Cave identify with Edgerton’s portrayal of a father in mourning?

“Very much so,” he said, adding that he’d first read Johnson’s book years ago, before his teenage son Arthur died in an accidental fall from a cliff near the family’s home in Brighton, England. “Obviously, it was a book about grief, but it didn’t affect me in that way. Then I read it again — no, actually, I listened to Will Patton’s audiobook, which is a work of art in itself — and suddenly it wasn’t something I read from a distance.” (Bentley’s movie employs Patton’s narration in voice-over.)

Asked whether he has a favorite line from Cave’s song, Dessner — who hears “Train Dreams” in a kind of conversation with the singer’s latest album, “Wild God” — picked the song’s chorus, in which Cave sings, “I can’t begin to tell you how that feels.”

“It’s like the whole film, in a way,” the composer said. “It’s about what art can do.”

Dessner and his brother grew up in Cincinnati, where Bryce was playing flute and classical guitar by the time he was 12 or 13.

“He was also really good at math,” Aaron recalled. “The combination of those things always felt related to me.”

For the Dessners, music was “just what you did as suburban kids at a time when there was nothing to do,” Bryce said. “You either do drugs or you play music.”

Bryce joined the National in New York after earning a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music. (The band’s other members are singer Matt Berninger and a second set of brothers in bassist Scott Devendorf and drummer Bryan Devendorf.)

Aaron Dessner, left, Matt Berninger and Bryce Dessner of the National perform in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2022.

(Roberto Ricciuti / Redferns via Getty Images)

“It was a little bit of an accident that we ended up in a band that got popular,” Aaron said, but that’s definitely what happened. By the mid-2000s, the National’s albums were regularly topping critics’ lists; by 2011, the band was headlining the Hollywood Bowl.

Bryce got seriously into film music after Iñárritu heard a piece he composed for Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil in 2014; the director called him the next day, Dessner recalled, and asked him to work on “The Revenant.”

These days, the members of the National are “really enjoying a break,” Dessner said, after dropping two albums in 2023 and touring behind them in 2024. He’s confident the band will come back together but figures it’ll be a year or so before he and his bandmates get anything going again.

Until then, he’s focusing on concert music — “I just got asked to write a concerto for the ondes martenot,” he said, referring to the early electronic instrument Greenwood famously used on Radiohead’s experimental “Kid A” album — and occasionally collaborating with his brother on Aaron’s pop productions.

“Bryce is always going to do something interesting in any setting,” said Aaron, who recently asked him to orchestrate a song for Florence + the Machine.

And of course there’s the long road to the Oscars with the quiet but powerful “Train Dreams.”

“I’m kind of excited to be a fly on the wall in a room with Spielberg and Scorsese and all these people,” he said ahead of the Golden Globes.

As awards season kicks into gear, does Dessner harbor any hope of somehow triumphing over the world-conquering “Golden”?

“I have to say yes,” he replied with a laugh. “But no.”

If you’re a history buff or nature lover, look no further than Lincolnshire for your £9.50 Holiday this year.

After all, this is a county that is not only home to some of England’s most historic buildings and documents, but also has a coastline packed with nature reserves rolling into the unspoilt countryside of the Lincolnshire Wolds. 

A great starting point for your deep dive into history would be Lincoln with its impressive Cathedral and rare Magna Carta status, or a Georgian market town like Louth.

For something more out-of-the-ordinary, you could hop onto a vintage steam train or discover the small, family-run Claythorpe Watermill that dates back 300 years (tip: seasonal opening, closed in winter).

And to embrace nature, you could simply gaze at the sea and birdlife from the comfort of a marine observatory, explore a nature reserve or even witness seal pups being born.

We’ve spoken to Sun readers who have visited Lincolnshire on £9.50 Holidays to get their recommendations of the best local natural and historic attractions to visit.

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We’ve also asked local experts and holiday park staff for their top tips, and have our own suggestions, with options that are all within easy reach of your £9.50 Holiday.

Here’s what you need to know…

Explore Louth

Around half an hour inland, Louth is a historic market town that’s home to the tallest mediaeval parish church spire in England.

Alex Trembath, creator of the Lincoln and Beyond blog, said: “You can climb 199 steps to the top of St James’ Church with its 55-metre-high tower for views all the way to the coast.”

A great way to keep costs down is to use the Callconnect Bus Service, which runs six days a week (Monday to Saturday).

Joanne Green, General Manager at Sunnydale holiday park, said: “You can call or use the app and they will pick you up from the park and take you to Louth for £2 for a single ticket.”

Once you’re in Louth, Joanne recommends the weekly markets that sell everything from fresh bread to local meats and crafts.

She added: “Louth is lovely. It’s quite an oldie woldie town with little trinket shops, delicatessens and locally owned businesses.”

Vintage woodland cinema

How about a cinema experience with a difference? The Kinema In The Woods is an old-fashioned, two-screen cinema dating back to 1922.

Housed inside a 19th-century sports pavilion in Woodhall Spa, it’s the UK’s only fully functioning cinema in the UK to use back projection, and watching a film here is like heading inside a time warp.

Sarah Al-Aidi, General Manager at Southview Holiday Park, said: “They have old-fashioned confectionery and during the intermission, an organist comes up through the stage – so it’s a real event.

Just around the corner, there’s the vintage Tea House in the Woods so you could go for a cream tea before a movie night (cream teas cost £7.50).”

Cathedrals and castles in Lincoln

For a dose of culture, it’s worth making the hour’s drive inland to Lincoln.

This compact city has a rich history, with Roman waterways, Viking street names and a Medieval Bishops’ Palace to discover.

It’s also home to the Lincoln Cathedral, which was the world’s tallest building for two centuries and Lincoln Castle, which was built by William the Conqueror and contains one of only four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta.

Sun reader Linda McDonnell, 71, is from Lincoln and recommends the historic Bailgate area.

She said: “Have a look at what we call the Bail. It’s got a Roman arch (Newport Arch) and lots of nice cafes and independent shops. There’s so much history there.

“I like the White Hart Hotel, too – it has a good restaurant.”

Lose track of time on a vintage steam train

Alex Trembath recommends the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway for a blend of history and nature.

He said: “You can ride on an old steam train through the picturesque Lincolnshire Wolds.

“You can pick from a themed event, like a Santa Special or Father’s Day experience, or even ride in the cab of a steam locomotive from Ludborough to North Thoresby and back.”

While some of the experiences, like riding the footplate and operating a signal box, are for over-18s, kids will love the Santa experience, which includes a journey accompanied by elves and Santa, plus a gift at the end.

See seals at Donna Nook

North of Mablethorpe, Donna Nook is one of the UK’s largest grey seal colonies, and one of only four in England.

More than 2,000 seal pups are born every year on this remote stretch of sand – and you can see them in the breeding season (October to December).

Tip: Make sure you stick to the viewing area. It’s located at the foot of the sand dunes, to minimise disturbance to the seals and keep visitors safe.

Abandoned or injured pups are cared for 12 miles away, at Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary and Wildlife Centre. Come here afterwards to meet rescued seals, seabirds and other animals.

Explore the coastal nature reserve

The Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park is not to be missed, especially if you enjoy wildlife and walking.

Stretching for five miles along the coast from Sandilands to Chapel St Leonards, it incorporates eight nature reserves and numerous beaches.

The vast, open coastline and sand dunes provide the perfect habitat for wildflowers, reptiles and birds – keep your eyes peeled for oystercatchers, short-eared owls and swifts arriving from Africa.

Walking routes range from coastal strolls to long-distance treks inland and there are routes by Lincolnshire County Council you can follow.

Head further south, passing through Skegness, and you’ll reach another nature reserve by the sea – Gibraltar Point.

Alex Trembath recommends this for a day out with the kids, saying: “Gibraltar Point is great for families.

It’s a nature reserve with educational activities on beach, sand dune and saltmarsh habitats.

There is lots of signed information and volunteers so you can ask questions.”

North Sea Observatory

Linda McDonnell recommends the North Sea Observatory as a wet weather option.

Opened in 2018, it’s the UK’s only purpose-built marine observatory. Inside, you’ll find maps and info boards about the surrounding nature, and there are pop-up art exhibitions.

There’s also a cafe, which provides binoculars so you can get the best views of the sea life, which could include wild swans in winter, breeding species in summer and swallows in September.

Linda said: “It’s a great place to go and watch the birds and wildlife, and it’s indoors so good even if it’s raining.”

It’s also a bargain – completely free to enter (although it costs around £1 for two hours parking).

I’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructure, annihilated vegetation and air-freighted fine dining – in short, profoundly unsustainable.

However, if there’s a way to have a green family ski holiday, then sign me – and my husband, Joe, two kids and my mum – up. Here’s how to do it.

Choose how you get there

Travel usually makes up the largest part of your ski trip’s environmental impact. “The greenest ski resort is the one you get to without flying,” says Dom Winter from Protect Our Winters UK, a charity whose mission is to rally the outdoor community to take meaningful climate action. You can get to the French Alps by train, so that’s where we’re heading.

We hop on the Eurostar Snow train in London at 9am on Saturday, and change at Lille to the high-speed TGV that reaches many of the leading French ski areas – Val d’Isère, Tignes, Les Arcs, Courchevel, Méribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens, La Plagne and La Rosière – by evening. If you don’t fancy a whole day on the train, there’s also the option to go to Paris for the day, then jump on the ski sleeper train after dinner and let it zoom you south to the mountains by morning.

There are many benefits to the train – more space to move around, play, snooze, and no limits on weight for regular-size bags (provided you can carry them), liquids or picnic goods, provided they are consumed during the journey. And, of course, there’s the visceral sense of going somewhere. The fields, lakes and towns of France whiz by and our kids marvel at the distance on the map. As sunset approaches, we see snow-capped mountains – at first hazy, then crystal clear.

We step into chilly evening air at Bourg Saint-Maurice, the terminating station. It’s staggering to know that the carbon footprint (CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent) of our journey from home is only 4.7kg (10lb 6oz) per person (UK train from Hertfordshire to London St Pancras, Eurostar to Lille, French TGV to Bourg St Maurice). If we’d taken a taxi to Gatwick airport, the plane to Geneva and a coach transfer to the ski resort, we’d be weighing in at 110kg of CO2e each. The bottom line: sustainable skiing is flight-free.

Rent your kit

Renting skis, boots, poles and helmets at the resort is a no-brainer. But what about clothing? We do plenty of outdoor adventures but don’t own specific snowsports clothing. I don’t want to spend hundreds on kit that we’ll only wear for one week a year, nor buy cheap, poor quality gear.

Enter Ecoski – an award-winning skiwear rental company. You can hire everything from gloves and goggles to snowsuits and even ski socks. It stocks dozens of high-performance brands, from sizes XXS to 4XL, and all of it is cleaned and sanitised, fully waterproofed and sent direct to your home a few days before you travel. When you get back, you stuff it all back in the box – no need to clean anything, not even the socks – and return it so that it can be cleaned and used again by someone else the following week. If you love your kit and want to keep it, that’s an option as well – so it works as a “try before you buy” service.

I select jackets, salopettes, goggles and gloves bundles, and add in several pairs of socks, winter boots and base layers. The next morning, the team are in touch to get our exact measurements and even colour preferences. They can also send items early so you can check the fit and try alternatives if necessary.

Go high and choose sustainable

Climate change is transforming the Alps. The snow line has edged higher and, at last count, 186 French ski resorts have closed. Some resorts are ramping up artificial snow-making – which demands copious energy and water. Some even use helicopters to drop snow. Other places have made the strategic decision to step back from unsustainable management practices. These are the resorts to pick – and aim for higher altitudes, where they’ll probably need to make less snow each season.

In France, the Flocon Vert (green snowflake) scheme certifies ski destinations that meet exacting sustainability criteria across resource management (water, energy, soil, biodiversity and waste), governance, sustainable employment, and social and community aspects, including accessible tourism and support for local needs. The focus is on concrete actions and long-term collaboration. So far, 18 destinations have achieved 1 Flocon Vert, 13 destinations have achieved 2 Flocons Verts. With help from the travel company Inghams Ski – which has a target to halve its emissions by 2030 – I pick the 2 Flocons Verts and B Corp-certified Les Arcs, which is at the forefront of sustainable skiing.

Marie Clémence Vallier is in charge of quality, safety and environment at ADS, the company that operates Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry mountain resorts.

“We’re committed to managing the mountain respectfully. We’ve set ourselves a limit on how much water we use to make snow each season. When the water’s used up, we’ll stop. And we’ve pulled back from grooming some routes. Our visitors care about this place – they understand why we’re doing it,” she says.

ADS produces 10% of its energy using meltwater hydroelectricity, has improved the affordable accommodation for seasonal staff and is investing in summer tourism, too, including hiking and mountain biking using ski lift infrastructure. “Our visitors have fun, and go home knowing that their choices make a difference and that every small action helps. We’re doing it together,’ Vallier says.

Les Arcs boasts a quick transfer from Bourg train station (by free funicular and shuttle bus, or by minibus), and the resort villages, at 1,600 metres, 1,800 metres, 1,950 metres and 2,000 metres, are all car-free and offer access to 265 miles (425km) of ski runs – from wide green beginner slopes to off-piste black runs, all open when we visit in December.

We opt to stay at Arc 1950, where the majority of accommodation is self-catered ski-in/ski-out apartments, clustered around snowy, skiable lanes and a quaint village square, complete with clock tower, artisanal bakery and twinkling fairy lights. It’s all purpose-built, but rather than feeling inauthentic, it simply feels well designed to make things easy, cosy and connected.

Learn and enjoy

There’s an old adage: you look after what you care about, and you care about what you know. It’s true of nature and our environment, and I’m excited my kids can experience fun and wonder in these beautiful mountains. Our first morning is an excited rush to Precision Ski, where we collect boots, skis, poles and helmets. Then it’s a snowball’s throw to the meeting point for our ski lessons with Evolution2.

My beginner group instructor, Louise, has us quickly scooting about on one ski, then two, then sliding down a tiny slope. I fall over. Twice. “Very good!” calls Louise as I clamber to my feet. “You’ll learn quickly if you don’t mind falling. Keep your weight forward!” I lean into the fronts of my boots, where my shins are already tender. And for a few seconds I’m balanced on my skis. I remember to breathe and look forward rather than down and slide to the bottom of the little slope without tumbling or flailing my arms. Louise grins and high-fives me. We’re off.

We finish two hours later and I’m exhausted – I remind myself that learning new physical skills is rocket fuel for a healthy brain. I rendezvous with the family: my mum has had a fun morning sketching the mountains, my kids are grinning and Joe looks alive and joyful. After a 25-year break from skiing, he has remembered how much he loves it, and his intermediate level group is going to spend the week finessing skills and exploring routes across the mountain.

We’re all ready for a good feed. Lots of the restaurants and cafes in the village offer fresh-made regional specialties – from soups and stews to fondue made from the region’s cheeses.

The next afternoon, Mum, my four-year-old and I meet mountain guide Michel to go snowshoeing. We trace a slow and gentle line through the forest, bum-sliding down the powdery slopes and looking for animal tracks – we spot deer and fox footprints, and hear about the wolves, marmot and bearded vultures that also live here. Mont Blanc is resplendent on the other side of the valley and, when we all stop, the deep hush of the snowy forest envelops us. It’s magical.

At the end of the week, ski instructor Louise takes our exuberant group for hot chocolates and awards us achievement badges that are normally reserved for the kids’ lessons. I’m delighted to be awarded a “Yeti 1” level, celebrating my very basic beginner’s competence. It’s been a joyful week in these beautiful mountains – ethical, sustainable and adventurous. Green skiing – for as long as the snow lasts – is the future.

The trip was provided by Inghams Ski. A seven-day ski train package, including travel, transfers and accommodation in Arc 1950 costs £999pp; lift passes, ski rental and ski lessons can also be arranged at discounted rates. Mary-Ann’s Ecoski rRental costs covered by Ecoski and Inghams; £130-200pp for a week’s clothes and boots rental

Train travel spurs stories and memories in a way that air travel just doesn’t. Maybe this is a simple result of traveling more slowly and closer to the ground. Or maybe it’s something else.

After publishing a story about my time on the 43-hour Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago, many wrote in to tell me their own favorite moments on trains. I’ve loved reading these tales. For a possible future story, I wanted to expand the invitation to keep on sharing your memories. In the form below, tell us where your favorite train trip took you, and what made it special.

To get you started, here are two of my favorite train moments:

One: Thirty years ago on VIA Rail’s cross-country Canadian train from Vancouver to Toronto, a snafu down the line forced us off of the train’s usual route through the Rockies. The detour took us on a historic route near Banff and Lake Louise that all the experts aboard (and there were many) said was even more scenic than the usual way. Jagged peaks! Green valleys! Ecstatic rail fans!

Two: Last year on the Southwest Chief, I woke up at dawn as we were rumbling through the Arizona desert. The sunrise turned the scene golden.

Now it’s your turn.

AS the train pulls in to Stourbridge Junction station, I wonder if I’m in Legoland by mistake.

The tiny shuttle carriage could carry four dozen people at a push — and with its goofy looks, it’s like something out of a cartoon.

But this Parry People Mover railcar is the only one of its kind in the world.

Its driver, David Hardwick, says: “We’ve had people come here specially to ride the train, from Japan, Australia, Africa.”

“From every continent except Antarctica,” adds his colleague Ross Bevan, whose website has provided information for hundreds of trainspotters since they began venturing here in 2009.

But it’s not just the train that is unique — it’s the line that it serves too.
I hop on board to discover more. And like the best things in life, it’s all over in a few minutes.

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The branch line that connects Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town in the West Midlands is less than one mile long — the shortest rail line in Britain, and one of the world’s shortest.

That’s why this dinky railcar, which uses a flywheel to generate energy from braking, was invented to serve it.

I see the rail yards and sidings as we pull out of Stourbridge Junction. A train peels off on the main line to Birmingham, and on the left is a housing estate down a slope.

In the distance, I can see an old church tower with a St George’s Cross fluttering on top.

The train rounds a curve and passes under a bridge — the drama is almost too much — before creeping into Stourbridge Town station.

After watching the little train depart (there’s just one service every ten minutes) I head to the high street to see what Stourbridge has to offer.

For centuries it was an important market town. After the Industrial Revolution exploded in the Black Country, the town became the world centre of glassmaking.

There are handsome historic buildings like King George VI College and the Victorian Gothic red brick Town Hall which has hosted many a live music event over the years.

One local street artist has recently painted huge murals of big Nineties home-town bands The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin on the sides of several buildings.

As I grab a lime and soda at the Cock & Bull, Wolverhampton’s Slade are blaring out from the speakers.

Then it’s time to head back on the tiny train to Stourbridge Junction.

The train, designed and built in the Midlands by inventor John Parry, almost hits 20mph on its three-minute journey.

Ahmad, who runs Cafe Presto on the platform, tells me to look out for George, the station cat — who is now world famous, with tens of thousands of followers on social media.

I track down the ginger Tom at the ticket office, where he’s getting his belly rubbed by staff members.

Even George has travelled on Britain’s shortest railway line — and they’ve even named the train after him.

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In the last episode of The Envelope video podcast before the 2026 Oscar nominations, Joel Edgerton describes the transformative experience of making “Train Dreams.” Plus, our hosts share the names they’d like to hear called on nominations morning.

Kelvin Washington: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Envelope. Kelvin Washington, Yvonne Villarreal, Mark Olsen, and it’s great to have you both here as usual and especially when this is our last episode before Oscar nominations. So I’ll start with you, Yvonne. It could be a movie, a director, or some rising star or just anything that you hope once they read those nominations that morning, you’re gonna hear.

Yvonne Villarreal: I’m not going to say the usual suspects because that’s covered. I really want to see Chase Infiniti get nominated for her role in “One Battle After Another.” I just think she’s been such a revelation for me as somebody who watched “Presumed Innocent.” Seeing her in this role — and I don’t want to spoil anything, but she really finds herself in a hairy situation in this film and the way she sort of rises to the occasion and really has a moment of triumph for herself, I think it was just striking to watch. And she’ll be in “The Handmaid’s Tale” spin-off “The Testaments.” I’m really looking forward to see what she does there. But also I’ll say, as somebody who got thrown into the bandwagon of “KPop Demon Hunters” because of my 6-year-old niece, I wanna see that get some love in the animated category.

Mark Olsen: And in the music categories. Best song.

Washington: It better! Do you know how much I have to hear that song in my house with three daughters, 9, 7 and 4 [years old]? Like, I’m going to be “Golden.”

Villarreal: Are they memorized?

Washington: That’s an understatement. It’s to the point I got concerned. Is it like some robotic AI that’s taking over my daughter’s brain? Instantly. That and 6-7. I have to deal with that every day.

All right. Mark, swing it to you. What do you have?

Olsen: Well, you know, the actress Rose Byrne for the movie “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” She won a lot of critics’ prizes leading up to the nominations. And I think it’d be so exciting if the filmmaker on that, Mary Bronstein, also got recognized either for the screenplay or as director. You know, Mary’s someone that she made her first film, “Yeast,” more than 15 years ago and had not gotten a second project going and had sort of been living a life and doing other things. And to see her sort of reemerge with this project in particular, which is so powerful and so specific, it would be really exciting — as great as it is to see Rose being rightfully recognized — to see Mary get some attention as well.

Washington: So I’m gonna jump in with a couple. One, because she’s been on the radar for years as just a multitude of things, she’s multifaceted: Teyana Taylor can dance, she can sing, she’s just all of that and now acting alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Very impressive for her. And not a debut, but maybe for those who aren’t familiar. So I’d be interested to see, I have a feeling we’re gonna hear her name. And then I’m going super popcorn, Raisinets, Junior Mints, going to the theater. “F1,” for me, I know it was kind of —

Villarreal: Whoa, that’s a throwback.

Washington: I know, but hear me out. It was fun. It was just fun. And it’s kind of one of those movies like, you know, you forget that you go to the movies, it’s gonna be a little fun, maybe a little cheesy, but dang it, I’m here. I’ve got my popcorn. All of that. That for me was another one that was like, “Oh man, that’s kind of the moviegoing experience sometimes we’ve forgotten.”

Olsen: And it’s always good to see the Oscars recognize a film like that as well. I mean, it helps just for attracting audience to the telecast. But I think it is important that the Oscars recognize a breadth of filmmaking styles and one of the things that’s so exciting about the movies is that it can be so many different things, from like a really small personal story to some big high-tech film like “F1: The Movie.” And so I think, yeah, to see that recognized in some of the major categories would be really exciting.

Washington: You know why I like Mark? Because he tried to legitimize my choice. And I’m OK with that.

Olsen: There’s no try. You don’t need the help.

Washington: Look at how I look in the camera. You know, why? Because I know someone’s going to be highbrowin’ me right now. And I get it. And I am with you. However, as we know, we can get all the types of mergers and some things will happen. Are people going to be going into movies anymore? And I was sitting in it going, “Oh, yeah, this is kind of what that feels like.” So ha! Take that.

Villarreal: My reaction was more, it had been a while since I heard the title.

Washington: It felt the same.

Villarreal: Sorry!

Washington: I like what I like, OK? I enjoyed it. That’s all I have to say about that.

All right, Mark, coming to you now. We’re talking about Oscar buzz, and just buzz and a lot of traction that someone can get from a role. Talk about Joel Edgerton playing a logger in Netflix’s “Train Dreams.” What was that conversation like?

Olsen: It was a really terrific conversation. This is a movie that premiered at Sundance last year and was picked up by Netflix there. And even though it has that machinery behind it, there is still something that feels very organic about the success of this movie. It genuinely feels like it’s word of mouth that people have been discovering the film. And it has just a really quiet power too. And a lot of that comes from Joel’s performance. You know, he originally pursued the rights to this book himself and wasn’t able to get it, the rights were already taken. And so he sort of like thought, “Oh, well, that’s that.” And then years go by and the project comes back around and he’s offered this role that he’d been so interested in playing. And he feels like it’s hit him at a very specific time in his life.

The [story] is set in the early part of the 20th century. He plays a logger in the Pacific Northwest. And it really is just a portrait of a life. And the story deals with grief and family, and Joel, in the subsequent years, has become a father himself. And he said how, if he’d have played this a few years ago, he thinks it’d be totally different than the way that [he’s] playing it now. Also he is a guy who’s been in the business for a few years now. He has, I think, some really sharp opinions, views on like what this business is, what the industry is like right now and where it’s going. So it was a really terrific conversation to have with him.

Washington: It sounds like it. Let’s get straight to it. Here is Mark and Joel right now.

Joel Edgerton in “Train Dreams.”

(Netflix)

Mark Olsen: As we’re talking, the movie has been building this sense of momentum around it with reviews and awards. And while there is an awards campaign around the movie, there is something about it that feels very organic. This movie seems to be catching on through word of mouth, just people seeing it and responding to it. How do you feel about the response to the movie?

Joel Edgerton: It feels very good. Coming from an independent film background, I love it when small movies make a lot of noise. And I can’t really analyze or diagnose why, but I get this feeling with “Train Dreams” that it means different things for different people and it holds up a bit of a mirror to their own experience, being that the film is really this celebration of an ordinary life and shows the majesty in that. What my character goes through, they’re universal experiences and so people find something of their own experience in it and I think that’s part of the reason why. It’s a small movie but it’s also a very big movie.

Olsen: The other side of that, in a way, you were recently on a red carpet and you were asked about some comments that James Cameron had made regarding movies on streaming services and the awards race. And I don’t know if you want to say anything more about that, but also do you feel like people do somehow hold it against “Train Dreams” that it’s on Netflix?

Edgerton: Look, the world we live in now is so in the hands of the audiences because of social media. I feel like in the old days, well before I was born, we were told who our movie stars were. The studios would make those decisions for us, and things were very narrow. And now people have the power to choose what they want to watch, who they want to watch, they choose the movie stars. They speak about the movies, and Letterboxd, for example, is such a big thing. And in that same vein, it’s really interesting to hear what people, regular people, moviegoers think of how movies should be exhibited, how they feel, regardless of whether they know about the business side of things or not, or why things are the way they are. They have feelings, sometimes very passionate points of view on where and how we should watch movies. And of course, for all of the business side, if we put it aside, I do believe people want to go to the cinema and watch movies.

My comments come from understanding now where I am in my life. I’m all about creativity and all about story, but I do understand business, and I feel like I emerged out of my bubble in Sydney and felt like the whole world of cinema had suddenly changed. My views on streaming had started to evolve just after we showed a movie at Cannes called “The Stranger.” Another very small movie we made down in Adelaide and Netflix picked up the movie and I remember thinking, “Should we go with them?” So many people saw that movie because it was on a streamer. And so my feelings are very mixed and they’re very much tailored to what the movie is — and therefore according to what the movie is and how big or small it is, where it should live. I’m all for pushing to fight for keeping cinema alive and I believe a younger generation feels the same thing. But I also feel like there are chances that some people have that are narrow as they get their start in the business, which means sometimes the first things you can do, you’re not necessarily going to get a 2,000-screen release on your very first movie. So I have many, many opinions about it. But I feel like we all need to fight for cinema. We also sort of hopefully don’t allow streaming, as great as it can be, to take over everything. That’s my feeling.

Olsen: You’re also a producer as well. This feels like we’re in the middle of a transformative moment for the industry. What is it like for you as a person in the middle of that tide, just trying to navigate that for yourself?

Edgerton: Again, it’s all about what is the story and where should it live. My feeling always is that if I ever get behind making something, I want as many people as possible to see it. I also want to have an exchange at the cinema. One of the great things about “Train Dreams” is I’ve done about 50 Q&As so far — I haven’t counted them up, but around that, and we’ll do a bunch more. We’ve been to a number of festivals and we have an exchange with the audience. We get to watch and see people’s reaction to the film in like an analog way. Sometimes the feeling with letting a movie go on streamer without any fanfare is that it feels like it disappears with a whisper, and you don’t get to have that exchange. And I think that’s very important.

My dream would be to make a film exhibited at the cinema, knowing that at some point it will end up on TV screens and in people’s lounge rooms all over the world. And finding the right way to get a balance of both. There’s nothing better than sitting in the cinema and watching a movie with a bunch of other people. The sad thing at the moment [is] it seems — and again, I don’t know the full diagnostics of it — you get a cinema release and you’re there for like two weeks and then you’re replaced by something else. I’m old enough to remember the days where a movie would sit in the cinema for six, seven, eight weeks if it was good.

Olsen: I don’t want to belabor the point, but I’m so curious about this. I’m assuming when you went to the Gotham Awards you were not thinking “I’m going to give James Cameron a piece of my mind tonight.” Do you find in the time that you’ve been doing this, now you may show up to something and you have no idea what someone’s going to ask you, you have to be ready to talk about just about anything?

Edgerton: You’re right, and I never expect a red carpet is a mine field. I do go home sometimes and think, “What did I say?” I knew what I said. And I also stand by what I said. What I don’t love is the process of reduction of someone’s comments. Someone had sent me this thing that said that I “lashed out” or used a word that was quite a violent one, like I was lashing back at James Cameron. I was like, “No, I wasn’t doing that at all.” I actually had a fair and balanced opinion about the fact that James is, excuse the semi-pun, a titan. He is a pioneer and an inventor and we’ve seen that he’s created technology that has made movies better. He can exhibit movies in this broad scale because he’s dared to dream big. And I feel like there’s a world where there are people who are never going to get their first film on 2,000 screens because it’s a small story, movies like “Sorry, Baby.” They’re not 2,000-screen release movies. There’s a world where they live somewhere, whether it’s in small art house cinemas or whatever. So I was like, “All right, don’t make it feel like I’m putting the gloves on and have a fight with James Cameron, because he’s probably going to win if that’s the case.” And that’s certainly not what I was doing at all. Just saying my point of view is slightly different. And I also understand his point of view. But [comedic wrestler voice] “I’ll meet you on the top oval, James. Let’s do it.” I’m not trying to start a fight. I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Olsen: To start talking about “Train Dreams,” you’ve talked a lot about how you read the book around 2018 or so and the rights weren’t available so you set that idea aside —

Edgerton: Sulked a bit.

Olsen: What do you feel like you were responding to then in that book?

Edgerton: I’ve heard the term neo-western, which I understand now, but it didn’t really make sense to me at the time. When I first read the book, we come into the story with this violent act towards the Chinese worker, for anyone who’s seen the film. And I didn’t know Denis Johnson’s work at all at the time. The book had been gifted to me as a wrap gift on “Boy Erased.” I thought, “If someone gives you a book, it means they think there’s some meaning in it for you, that it will resonate with you,” and it did. But I thought, “Oh, this is a western.” And then within a handful of pages, I realized it was a different kind of western. It would look and feel like a western, but it was a rumination on a life itself. Not that it was going to answer the big elusive question of the meaning of life, but swirling questions of what is the purpose of a life and what is in the extraordinary details of a life we may never care to remember because the person is not the great inventor, the great general, the great president or superhero. I love the ordinariness, I love the idea that it resonated with something that my parents had always instilled in me, which is that every single human being has a great story to tell and that we all shouldn’t be considered insignificant. And I just was so moved by the sort of glimpses of one man’s entire life. Wanted to get my hands on it, couldn’t, and I’m happy to say that it’s good that I didn’t get my big fat lumberjack hands on it then. Mostly because I think [director and co-writer] Clint [Bentley] is a remarkably sensitive, excellent filmmaker [and] has done a much better job than I ever would if I was in control of things. And because in the four years since he reached out to me to be in the film, I’d become a dad. And that was like everything to me. And if you’ve seen the film and you know what’s inside of the film, I really believe that my performance, I don’t know what my performance would have been like pre-Joel the Dad, but now that I am a dad, it’s like there’s stuff inside of me that makes this performance possible.

Olsen: But when it came back to you, do you feel like you responded to it differently? Did you recognize that difference right away?

Edgerton: One hundred percent. And I know it, there was a significant moment. Clint came to meet me in Chicago, I was shooting “Dark Matter” and I was very excited that this had somehow come around to me, knowing that I loved the book and the character so much. Then I watched “Jockey” and knew that he was a really solid filmmaker. His adaptation was extraordinary. And then when I met him, I realized as a filmmaker he was like a director version of the central character of the film — kind, honest, generous, a really great observer. And I went home and I spoke to my wife, and she obviously, her two big questions every time I want to do a project [are] when and where. Because it means moving us around, uprooting our family. I told her and Spokane didn’t exactly make her click her heels, because her life is about being plugged into big cities. She said, what’s the story about? And I started trying to tell her the story, and when I got to the stuff that happens to Robert in the middle of the film, and my 1 1/2-year-old twins are in the other room, I couldn’t even finish telling her the story. And I realized then how much the story now kind of terrified me. But also was so much more connected for me. And she watched me, my chin was quivering and and she was like, “All right, I guess we’re going to Spokane.”

Olsen: Have you done a project that felt this personal before? And did that have its own kind of anxiety attached? Did you have any reluctance to do this for the reason that you were connecting to it so strongly?

Edgerton: I feel like I learn something about myself on every job and every time I approach a new job, I always describe it in rudimentary terms, like a toolkit. What aspects of myself do I bring to this? Which parts do I leave behind? And how would I approach this? For example, “Gatsby” for me felt like, “This is about me turning myself up to 11 out of 10, bringing something bigger.” And with “Train Dreams” what I’ve really learned was how much in the past I’ve tried to hide from myself. And I feel like it’s a trap a lot of actors fall into, is thinking they’re not enough and you have to adorn a performance to be really seen or heard or impress. And I realized how much I’ve avoided playing characters that are very much like me. And though Robert’s a lumberjack, I’m putting all the trappings of it aside on an emotional level. How much is a character like you? And I’m constantly trying to play dress ups and really interested in being people that I’m not and I think that my favorite actors have often been transformative character actors. So I felt like my task in my mind was always to do something different and run away from the idea of just showing my own self really. And I realized that as a husband, as a father and as a guy who’s constantly guilty and struggling with the idea of being away from my family for work, these are all things that Robert is [dealing with], just doing a different job. A contract worker, which I am too except I’m not chopping down trees. And I have my greatest fears around my kids and the safety of my kids. So it felt to me like this was a chance to be very open about my own feelings and bring that to the work without feeling like I had to put too much garnish on things. And that’s a bit scary for me. But it now makes me realize it’s probably a better path in the future to do a bit more of that, just be a bit more open rather than hiding who I am, if that makes any sense.

Olsen: Completely. Because a lot of reviews of the movie, I sort of said this myself, have noted how it feels almost as if your career has been building to this performance, leading to it somehow. Does it feel like that to you?

Edgerton: I know that in decades to come I’ll look back and say always that “Train Dreams” is one of the great experiences I’ve ever had. The process and the result. I think the movie’s fantastic, but what I got out of it personally, it was extraordinary. Look, I hope that I’m building towards something else extraordinary in the future, and it’s like a new mission with each film and each story and each character. But this one definitely feels special for me, and it feels like I use the word “suitable,” which feels so boring. But I played characters that are not suitable for me in the past, and I’ve really challenged myself to bend into shapes that are different from who I am, rhythms that are different from what I’m like, successfully or relatively unsuccessfully. I can’t really judge it for myself. But this felt really suitable. It felt like it belonged to me.

Olsen: You’re also a director, writer, producer. What is it like for you when you show up to a project and you’re just an actor? Does it allow you to focus more on your performance? Or are you always like, “I was thinking you could put the camera over there.”

Edgerton: It’s such a relief. I think directing is the best job in the world, but I wouldn’t want to be doing it every time I went to work, because there’s a lot of stress, a lot of responsibility. Many times I’ve described the difference between acting and directing. An actor is like a child. Literally you could turn up to work in your pajamas, somebody will put makeup on you, dress you, you have one — well, I don’t want to be reductive about it — but you have one job, to play your character and fit into the story, serve the story. As a director you’re running the household. You’ve got to do everything. You’ve got to stock the fridge, you’ve got to make all the decisions about everything in the household, and there’s so much responsibility to that.

I was curious after I directed my first film, how I would be walking onto another director’s set. And it would just be a sin to walk onto someone else’s set and start to look over their shoulder and check their homework and sort of impose yourself on that process. I realized the two things that fascinated me the most were what lens was being put on the camera according to what the shot was. So I just became like really quietly observant. Actors who direct get this sort of great luxury of visiting so many sets and watching other directors and learning from them, good and bad things. And behavioral stuff. It’s not just about how their craft works or how they apply themselves as filmmakers, but how they conduct themselves as people, how they treat their crew, how they elicit the best out of their heads of department and give them freedom or not. Like Clint, for example, on “Train Dreams” is amazing at deputizing his heads of department, giving them freedom, and I think that’s the greatest show of power as a director, the confidence of relinquishing control because you hired the great people and you’re trusting them to collaborate with you. So as an actor I love the freedom of just being there to serve the story. And then watching and putting little things in my ideas bag for next time if I’m lucky enough to be the director again.

Olsen: You were recently on [“Late Night With Seth Meyers”] and he said that he thought it was a very wonderful performance and he noted how you don’t have very much dialogue in the movie and you said you think it’s wonderful because there isn’t much dialogue. And you were kidding, but I wonder if you could unravel that a little bit. How do you think the lack of dialogue in the movie impacted your performance?

Edgerton: Words are there to confuse us in the world. There’s the things we say, what they actually mean, there’s so many layers to any conversation you have with any person. There’s something really interesting about people who don’t speak very much. There’s a mystery often to them. I think there’s a lot of mystery to men that I grew up with in my life. I find myself drawn to people that don’t speak very much because I’m wondering what they think, what do they think of me, what’s going on in their mind. As an actor, I guess I really cut my teeth on “Loving” with Jeff Nichols. He’s a character, again, a very good man who had a lot of feelings and a lot to say, but for whatever reason or for different reasons, with Richard Loving and with Robert, chooses not to say things or doesn’t know if he has the right to say certain things. As an actor I think what becomes the focus is knowing that the camera sees, is looking into your soul. The thought is the imperative, to put the thoughts in the right place, to just be present, knowing that the camera will read those things. And of course the story’s job is to help guide us along and we have a narration. But I was always hoping that the camera will see what’s on my mind and for me to then fill that with words would actually kind of be counter to what the character is, which is one of these very stoic nonverbal men that I think we can all identify with or that we’ve met in our lives. So it’s just putting the right thoughts in my head.

Olsen: It is remarkable how often in the movie it’s as if we’re just watching you feel, you’re sort of taking in your surroundings, you’re not really saying much, but it does feel like we’re in your head, that we can understand what the character is thinking and what you’re conveying as a performer.

Edgerton: Thank you. I was smiling because I was remembering the square root of eight. Do you know what I’m talking about? There’s an episode of “Friends” — is it Joey who’s the actor? — he’s like, “When you’ve got to act and you’ve got to look like you’re really trying to work something out, you’ve just got to think of the square root of eight.” It actually works. But I wasn’t using it in “Train Dreams.”

Olsen: The story does build to this scene with Kerry Condon where your character actually does explain himself. What was it like to flip the switch and have to be verbal and emotional in a more conventional way?

Edgerton: Talking about emotion was one of the tricky things with “Train Dreams.” Clint and I had many conversations, very cerebral conversations, theoretical conversations about story — and emotion was one of them. So Robert’s a character, one of these men who is not really willing to show his emotions. And when he does he’s very quick to put them down, or in the case of the film he apologizes for showing his grief. But it’s all building to this moment, and this is one of the things I love about the film, is that it illuminates the importance of human connection. Robert meets this character Claire that the audience feels like maybe there’s a romance about to happen, which I love that it doesn’t steer in that direction. These chance encounters with strangers that we maybe don’t know that we need to have met on our journey, that are a chance for us to express ourselves. And he has a chance to, whether he knows it or not, he’s going to tell her about his feelings of strange complicity in something he had no responsibility for. And we knew that we were building towards this and yet at the same time we’re still trying to keep a lid on the emotions, but finally Robert gets to speak and it makes so much more sense of his silence up until that point if he we finally hear him string more than a sentence together to try and talk about what’s inside of him and those scenes we shot them in a short one-and-a-half hour window of magic hour with Kerry, who’s just extraordinary. And it felt like time was standing still, even though you would think that there would be a sense that we were rushing. It felt like we had hours.

Olsen: As you’re making the movie, are you talking with Clint or William H. Macy or Felicity Jones, having these kind of big picture, thematic conversations? Because the movie invites these questions of, what makes a life? How do you define being a man? Are you having those conversations while you’re making the movie?

Edgerton: There’s something fascinating about “Train Dreams.” Something I say is so special about Clint is, I know this because I read so many screenplays and I think about story all the time, is this draw to tell an audience what to feel all the time. Whether it’s through words, the story itself, music. “Train Dreams” does this thing that as much as I can speak about it objectively, and it’s the same in the novella, these moments that aren’t telling you what to feel, they’re just layering on top of each other, and I feel like there’s some compression of all these things. It pulls something out of people in their own way. They find their own experience out of it, which can be quite emotional and quite cathartic in a good way. Particularly anyone who’s been through moments where they’re being knocked down in life. I think there’s some sort of hopefulness in watching Robert’s story. It’s hard to define, but there’s a confidence in the way Clint’s rendered it. It’s not telling you each time what to feel. Robert’s not telling you, it’s not screaming to the heavens. There’s nothing sort of overly melodramatic or cathartic about it. And yet these layers build and compress. I had a very similar experience watching “Into the Wild,” Sean Penn’s film. It’s another character isolating himself in in nature. The credits roll and something in me just was like it was like, “I needed to feel something.” I call them a happy cry movie. You know, you’re crying but also happy at the same time.

Olsen: There’s a a moment in the film that I find so haunting and I’ve been trying to unravel it for myself. It’s late in the film, it’s the 1960s, you’re portraying the character as an old man. And in the voice-over the narrator Will Patton says something like, “He never spoke on a telephone.” And there’s something about that I just find deeply moving and really haunting. And I’m struggling to even define for myself what it is about that idea that really gets me.

Edgerton: Because there’s these great things in the movie that I call little sidecars or whatever, this idea that the world is sort of moving so quickly it’s going to leave us behind. It reminded me of my grandmother, who when I pointed a video camera at her for the first time, she didn’t move because she was thinking I was taking a photo of her. And I was saying “It’s OK, this is a camera that’s gonna capture you moving.” She was like Robert. She never saw some of these things. She never experienced a lot of things. I think she went on an airplane, like a jumbo jet, once in her life. And there’s a great thing in the book actually, about Robert and his point of view on the world and as he’s aging, and it talks about his body and his spine and the way his shoulders moved. For example, that scene where Robert goes up to the window and realizes he’s staring at a man walking on the moon and he’s looking up at the sky, wondering, “How is that even possible?” There’s this sense of his physical dilapidation as he moves. It’s this guy that every time he turns his head has to move his entire body from all the hard work. But all this is sort of just a general sense of wonderment that I remember in my grandmother’s eyes when she would look at new things. But this sort of awe and childlike wonder at the world, which I found very special.

Olsen: Part of the story also deals with just how to know when your time has past. And you and I are about the same age and it’s something I grapple with a lot, wanting to be sure that I still have something meaningful to contribute. Do you worry about that for yourself? In a way it comes back to where we started this conversation, that there are people who would tell you that movies are on the way out.

Edgerton: Relevance is a weird thing. I always saw myself as the youngest person in the room. I started very young. I was young at drama school. I was always young, and now I’m not. The beauty of being an actor if we’re allowed to keep doing what we’re doing, if AI doesn’t mess everything up, as long as my brain keeps working, I can keep learning about the new versions of myself as I get older. You know, “Train Dreams” is a good chance for me to see myself in the middle of my life. But I wonder about relevance. I wonder about my character staring at a chainsaw in the movie and wondering how it’s going to affect his world. I wonder at that for myself, as I’ve never downloaded ChatGPT. I’m sort of terrified, but I also feel like I need to not turn a blind eye to it. I have young kids. I’ve got to accept this thing. But I do worry about what it’s going to do to movies. What I feel optimistic about [is] — I always evoke Jonathan Glazer’s film, “Zone of Interest.” Because I think the genius of that film is the beautiful human thought behind the point of view of setting a Holocaust film in the general’s house over the wall in an opulent setting. And I keep thinking, “I don’t think AI is going to come up with an idea like that, think outside the box.” I think it pushes us into more of a challenge of the unique thought, the unique piece of art, doing things that are bespoke. I don’t think we’ll ever want to stop watching human beings or listening to human stories told by humans, starring humans, music made by humans, paintings painted by humans. I hope. Yes, we can enjoy the wildness of what computers create for us. But I don’t think zeros and ones are going to entirely ruin our lives. But then I can be pessimistic too. I won’t rant on that.

CHRISTMAS has been and gone and now our pockets feel empty of cash – so it’s a good thing there are some great free things to do across the UK this week.

As the kids go back to school and you feel like you’ve spent way too much money, it can be hard to know what to do in January to make sure the month isn’t entirely miserable.

The good news is that thanks to the New Year, there are a host of new exhibitions and activities taking place where you don’t need to spend a penny.

Inns and Alehouses, St Albans Museum + Gallery

Launching this week at St Albans Museum + Gallery is a new exhibition called ‘Inns and Alehouses’.

The exhibition allows visitors to step back in time and discover the history of nearly 100 drinking spots that used to exist in St Albans.

The exhibition explores the city’s drinking culture as well as showcases photos, objects, stories and Victorian memorabilia.

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The Sussex Baby Lab, Brighton

Have a newborn? Well, this event might be useful for you.

At the Sussex Baby Lab, a new study has explored whether babies are drawn to patterns in nature.

And between January 4 and February 1, you can head to the lab with you baby (aged between zero and 12 months) to see whether they too are drawn to natural patterns.

You will leave with a sensory baby book, T-shirt and a certificate celebrating your ‘baby scientist’.

Harold Offeh: Creating Patterns, London

Until Sunday you can head to Somerset House to see a piece of art created using six roller skaters.

Created by Harold Offeh, the piece of art documents the movements of the skaters in response to different moods and prompts.

Visitors can see their tracks which were captured on a large scale print.

Gymshark66: The Kick Off, Solihull

Does one of your New Year’s resolutions involve fitness? Well, head to Gymsharks Lift Club in Solihull near Birmingham.

On January 10 from 10am to 2pm, visitors can head to the club or free for the start of a global fitness challenge known as GS66 2026.

Across the day there will be free training sessions, challenges and discounts.

Winter Wassail at Highbury Orchard, Birmingham

We are still in winter, which means wassails are still happening.

On Sunday January 11, between 1:30pm and 3:30pm, heading to Highbury Orchard in Birmingham to ‘bless’ the trees for the year ahead.

There will be singing and poetry, bird feed making, hot spiced apple juice and homemade treats.

Joan Miró: Painting and Poetry, Burton at Bideford, Devon

Located in north Devon, until January 18 you can head to the Joan Miro: Painting and Poetry exhibition at the Burton.

The exhibition showcases 26 lithographic prints which were created to celebrate the French surrealist poet Robert Desnos.

The Magic of Middle Earth, Gosport Museum and Art Gallery

At the Gosport Museum and Art Gallery in Portsmouth until January 24 you can explore The Magic of Middle Earth exhibition.

The exhibition explores the fantasy world created by author J.R.R Tolkien which is set to be both mythical and familiar.

Visitors wills get to explore the legacy the world has created including the painting, sculptures and even Lego sets the world has inspired.

European Figure Skating Championships Fan Zone, Sheffield

The European Figure Skating Championships officially starts in Sheffield next week and from January 10 there will be a fan zone in Sheffield.

Located in the city centre there will be a Fan Zone complete with an ice rink for the public to use for free.

There will also be a big screen broadcasting the competition coverage, food stalls, entertainment and activities for families.

Mediated Realities, New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, University of Salford

At the University of Salford, you can head to the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery until January 30 to see Mediated Realities.

The exhibition includes images of war, disaster and protest, question how humans understand what is real.

Some works in the exhibition even include reworked newspapers and how media shapes and sometimes warps the public’s perspective of events.

Novel Ideas, Edinburgh Old Town

In Scotland, head to Edinburgh Old Town to the Scottish Storytelling Centre to hear from students currently working on novels.

During the gathering, visitors can hear authors read extracts from their novels ans speak about their writing processes.

The event is ‘pay what you can’ which means you don’t necessarily have to spend a penny if you don’t want to.

It will take place on January 10 from 3pm.

No trousers tube ride, London

It’s not everyday you can leave the house without your trousers, but on Sunday January 11, you can.

Those participating simply don’t wear trousers and meet in Chinatown in the afternoon before splitting off into groups to head to nearby tube stations.

They then head down to ride the rube trouser-less (but still with pants!) at 3pm.

Whilst it is free to participate, you will need to of course pay for your tube ride.

For more things to do in the UK, a historical theme park with no rides reveals opening plans for UK site with four ‘villages’, live shows and three hotels.

Plus, a new experience launching in the UK where you can learn to be a train driver for the day.