Overnight train - Did I imagine this?

No, you didn't imagine reading this. I did, too, and similar stories about sleeping car passengers being robbed but I, too, can't remember where. I remember thinking at the time if this is some sort of urban legend but it also sounded very believable.

You probably didn't imagine it, but it sounds apocryphal anyway.

You can find all sorts of horror stories in the Rick Steves Travel Scam section. Some are for real and some are obviously real in the "minds" of some of the people. Honestly, they could scare you into NEVER stepping foot onto the continent of Europe.

Some of the stories I find there relate to the little commuter train from Naples to Sorrento, the Circumvesuviana. I was scared witless by the time I actually rode on the little train. However, it turned out to be harmless. Yes there were a few beggars and performers but they didn't take me hostage, rob me, or leave me unconconscious on the side of the tracks as some of the stories would have led me to believe.

If you look at the Graffiti Wall under the topic "Sleeping on Trains" the post at the top is similar to what you posted. The poster stated that everyone should be careful and not open the door for strangers. Honestly, it is always better to be safe than sorry - and she shouldn't be upset with your concern for her safety. PLUS . . . it makes for an exciting story to tell about her travels.

You didn't imagine the story (whether it was really a true story or not), but you and/or your daughter fell into the trap of traveling in fear rather than traveling with reasonable caution. It's a good lesson for those reading to be aware of potential scams and be alert to them, but not allowing yourself to crawl into a shell.

The good news is that nothing bad happened and though she likely got a lot of attention from the police when she did finally open the door, she'll now have a great story to tell and has taken a big step to becoming a travel veteran.

Maybe someone can elaborate for me:

I've read all over that on night trains an attendant takes your passport and ticket for the night and takes care of the border stuff for you, returning your documents in the morning.

But, I'm looking at trains from France to Italy, which is part of Schengen, so why do they even need this? I feel that all they'd need to do is check that I had one when I got on the train, but I haven't seen anything that shows they actually check individual passports at borders. Any info on how this works? Do they check at other borders when crossing via rail? What all is done?

Thanks!

Heath - typically the attendent keeps your passport overnight and handles any border checks. But not always.

Sometimes the police will come through and check IDs and sometimes the attendent does not keep your passport.

The police still check documents at some borders. France/Italy is one of them I've encountered. Sometimes they check everyone's, sometimes they zero in on certain passengers.

Checking at borders was very common 20, 30 years ago. However, I cannot remember the last time we were checked crossing into any of the western European countries. Last year we crossed Italy to Switzerland - no check. France to Italy -- no check. Even the old practice of holding passports overnight at hotels has diminished to just a photocopy or a couple of hours.

If you assume, which is easy to do from reading travel board, that everyone is out to get you, then you will have problems. As someone posted -- traveling with fear is not productive. Use common sense, ask questions. Ask the conductor, "Will there be a passport check at the border crossing." At least you didn't pass along the urban story about whole trains being gassed.

The only border crossings where I have had to show my passport in the past ten years were: France-England, and Italy-Switzerland.