Brown banquettes upholstered in what the French euphemistically call moleskin but North Americans know as leatherette line both walls of the long, narrow railroad-car-like dining room, and there's a little bar just inside the front door where your bill is tallied and taxis are called.

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She thought so again while she watched from her dining-room window a garda car arriving, and an ambulance soon after that.

NEWYORKER: Bravado

Passengers travelling first-class are politely summoned into a dining car, where a portrait of the Kenyan president grins down at white linen-covered tables, while attendants shuffle dutifully about the corridors, dispensing blankets stamped with faded Kenya Railways logos.

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We gather our luggage and our four small children, and make our way to the compact compartment fitted with two seats and a washbasin that will be our bedroom, dining car and playroom for the next ten-or-so hours as our train pushes south through the night towards Luxor.

BBC: Travel with children: The night train to Luxor