Europe By Train; Great Britain By Train; Switzerland By Train

These inexpensive programs produced by Taylored Video Services (Europe and Great Britain were produced for Eurail and BritRail, respectively) are, first and foremost, incredibly purple paeans to trains. Trains and train rides are described as: "stagehands in a vast human drama," "unique in its own universe," "a poetic paradox," "serendipitous adventure in motion." Five minutes into any one of these programs, you can't help but wonder if riding a train is a religious experience (even if you can't quite understand what the nature of that transcendent experience would actually be). The programs on Europe and Great Britain follow basically the same format: lots of scenic shots, lots of gushing narration, and lots of specific information about using the Eurail and BritRail passes in their many permutations (FlexiPass, Rail/Drive, SaverPass, etc.) The tape on Switzerland differs in that cable cars, boats, and buses are also part of the Swiss Travel System which, we learn, is a "masterpiece of access." The pluses of these programs are that they are pleasingly shot, informative about the various rail systems, and inexpensive. The minus is the tortuous narration combined with the fact these are basically video flyers for Eurail and BritRail. Optional purchases, at best. (Available from: Taylored Video Services, P.O. Box 220513, Charlotte, NC 28222.)