Tired of searching for the perfect ten-hour yule-log video to stream at your in-laws’ this holiday season? We’ve got the answer: these videos of trains gliding through the winter landscapes of Switzerland, Norway, Chicago, and more. They’re the perfect relaxing backdrop for any transit fan.
This trip — in which an electric locomotive on the Albula Railway powers through the Swiss canton of Graubünden — is a certified classic, the Hallmark movie of train streams. It’s got everything: Alpine train stations; crisp morning sunshine; dramatic tunnel exits; and chalets, half-buried in snow. There’s a Saint Bernard with a barrel of hot chocolate around its neck somewhere in here, I’m sure of it. If you watch one stream, watch this one.
For those celebrating Christmas in a T-shirt and shorts but dreaming of a ferocious winter storm, this four-hour Norwegian trip should do the trick. An electric locomotive travels over a mountain pass from Geilo to Bergen, through tunnels rimmed with ice, buffeted by howling winds, along tracks heavy with snow while a signal light blinks red in the distance.
Sure, crisp mountain passes are gorgeous, but there’s also a subtle beauty in watching this passenger train trundle across the heavy stubble of a Pennsylvania winter. Rivers flow beneath rusting bridges. Snow lies in heaps along the road, dirty with exhaust and gravel, as heavy industrial equipment passes on parallel tracks. Perfect for the Springsteen fan in your life.
Take a break from freight trains hurtling through the wilderness to watch an electric railcar navigate downtown Chicago’s elevated Brown Line. This late-night storm features empty platforms, snow melting on the lens, and sleepy skyscrapers. The Chicago Transit Authority writes, “Things are about to get trippy, hop aboard and enjoy the ride!” Who are we to question them?
If you’re tired of watching winter trains traverse immaculate Swiss villages, might we suggest… some immaculate Japanese villages? This slow trip across central Japan takes us through snow, sleet, and sunshine, along the river valleys of the Gifu prefecture, famous for its UNESCO World Heritage–designated traditional thatched houses.
The Bernina Railway runs from the Swiss ski resort of St. Moritz across the Italian border to Tirano, past dramatic tunnels, breathtaking bridges, mountain valleys, and burbling creeks. Conventional for a train video? Perhaps, but as any coach will tell you, it’s mastery of the basics that allows you to elevate the form. And the Bernina sticks the landing.
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