lakesidelee:
Brilliant Simon! that is just how I remember it, 4 years ago with a flat bed sheeted trailer & yeah, you guessed it I was that driver trying to rescue my sheets as it hadn’t occurred to me that we would be going backwards at high speed! the train driver/guards were not best pleased
Not pleasant but got my daily rest in (although nowhere near refreshed when we arrived in Novarra!) so onwards to Lake Garda, tip, reload and back for the next nights train! it was an experience I can tell ya.
Apparently, if you do the trip in daylight, it’s bloomin’ fantastic. Obviously you can look out and see the scenery rolling by, and what scenery 
As a night trip, you can’t see a thing. Your boss sees you’ll get at least 9 hours off, so you’re expected to get on with the job when you reach the other end (whichever way you’re going). A good nights kip is not going to happen though.
It is an experience. I wouldn’t mind doing a day time trip, but I’d want to go straight into one of the Novara area truckstops for some decent grub, with wine and probably a beer or two and a good nights kip.
Is The Sisters or Alcatraz (at Arluno?), or both, still open? Or Carisio?
I haven’t been to Italy for a long time, I was using the old original ASTM motorway, the one where you had to dodge those bridge supports 
If you’ve used it, you’ll know what I’m on about.
They’ve built and opened a new ASTM, more or less parallel with the old original one I believe. I’ve never used it though.