Five decades of train travel: The European Interrail Pass launched in 1972. It's still going strong 50 years later.
Graphic by Leah Abucayan/Photos courtesy @timofnewbury and Dr Trudy Harpham
Inaugural interrailers: Interrail opened up the continent to young Europeans, including 18-year-old Tim Thomas, pictured here, who was one of 87,000 inaugural Interrailers in 1972. Here he is in Bucharest, Romania.
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European adventure: With a school friend in tow, Thomas hopped on a train to the port of Dover in the south of England and then traveled over to Europe. That summer, Thomas took this photo of the train from Haparanda to Boden in northern Sweden.
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Olympic stadium: Thomas also visited the Olympic stadium in Munich, Germany. The games weren't set to take place until later that summer.
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Traveling the continent: Thomas relied on the Thomas Cook Continental Timetable, a book detailing train times and the distance in miles between stations.
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Train station scenes: Here's a 1973 shot of trains waiting to depart Copenhagen train station in Denmark.
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Myrdal station: This atmospheric photograph of Myrdal station, Norway was taken by Thomas in 1973.
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Flåmsbana: Here's another photo from Flåmsbana, Norway, on the same train line.
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1970s Hungary: On a 1974 trip, Thomas and his friends traveled further east, including to Budapest, Hungary, pictured here.
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Border crossing: The friends found it interesting to go behind the Iron Curtain. This photograph was taken at the border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia.
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Border photo: Here's a 20-year-old Thomas on the West Germany/Czechoslovakia border in 1974.
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Capturing the moment: On his travels, Thomas tried to avoid getting people in his photos, but now the pictures with people in -- like this one of Kärntner Straße, Vienna -- are some of his favorites.
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Double decker train: Traveling around Europe involved catching all kinds of trains, including a double decker train in Germany.
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Exploring Romania: Thomas visited Romania with university friends on his third Interrail trip.
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Capturing the moment: Thomas took this photograph of a market scene in Cluj-Napoca, in northwest Romania.
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From city to suburb: Meanwhile this photograph was taken in the Budapest suburbs.
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Station snap: Thomas liked taking photos of the trains and railway stations -- like Budapest-Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary.
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Making the most of the month: Here's another shot of Budapest in 1974. "We got our full month's worth, and I've kept all the itineraries with the detail of the individual trains and the distances involved," says Thomas of his Interrail trips.
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Camera in hand: Here's a photo of the state theater of Oradea, Romania. Thomas took all his photos with a Hanimex Compact R camera.
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Botanic Gardens: Here's Thomas exploring the botanic gardens in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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Carlsberg Brewery: Here's a shot from Copenhagen, Denmark, taken outside the Carlsberg Brewery.
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The man behind the camera: Here's Thomas in Zadar, then in Yugoslavia, now in Croatia, in 1973.
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Bed for the night: Thomas and his friends would save money by sleeping on the trains where possible, or else they would sleep in youth hostels like this one in Hamar, Norway.
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Trondheim, Norway: Thomas took this street shot in Trondheim, Norway.
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Postcard from Norway: Here's another Norwegian snapshot -- of Bergen, Norway, in 1973.
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Taking it all in: Thomas took this photo of his two friends relaxing in Stuttgart, Germany in 1973.
