In the US, embarking on a train trip means taking the track less travelled. Once the symbol of technological advancement and westward expansion, the country’s railroads have had a hard time moving into the modern era. But when you ride the rails in the US, you’re afforded the opportunity to peel back the layers of this land and experience it on a human scale.
From the train windows, passengers bear witness to the epic diversity of landscapes that have shaped the country’s history and people — the snowy Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains, the rugged West Coast cliffs that plunge into the blue Pacific, the placid swamps of Florida and Texas and the oceans of prairie grass in the Midwest. Watching that scenery roll by is a highlight, but taking the train in the US is also about opening a backdoor to parts of the country rarely seen by travellers, from underappreciated small towns to the industrial underbelly.
Many Americans have never taken a crosscountry train on home soil. Amtrak, the country’s only long-distance passenger train operator, is barely more than 50 years old, founded as a quasi-public company in 1971 — but US train travel can feel like a journey much further back in time. The long-distance lines have wonderfully evocative names, such as ‘Coast Starlight’ (Seattle to Los
