Table of Contents
| Introduction | ix |
| The Alaska Railroad | 2 |
| The Adirondack | 26 |
| The Copper Canyon | 48 |
| The Rockies by Rail | 72 |
| The Canadian Rockies | 96 |
| The Coast Starlight | 118 |
| The American South by Rail | 142 |
| Alaska's Gold Rush Train | 166 |
| Appendix | How to Book Your Own Great American Rail Journey | 191 |
| Index | 193 |
Read an Excerpt
Many people have a special connection with trains, a romantic, almost magical attraction. Often it dates back to some childhood experience or distant memory. Sometimes it is only a vague sensation, but almost always it is a happy feeling. This explains part of the appeal of train travel, but there is so much more.
With train travel, the going is as important as the getting there. The train glides along at a rhythm that allows you to become immersed in the landscape. It provides an opportunity to experience the out of the ordinary, the unexpected. While you won't find something new around every bend in the tracks, there are plenty of surprises and new experiences to be enjoyed when you ride the rails -- like stopping for a grizzly bear to cross the tracks in the Alaskan wilderness, or cruising along the Pacific Ocean on rails that seem to surf the waves, or spending the day glued to the window as the train curves through strange and remote canyons of the Rocky Mountains.
Traveling through the towns and the countryside by train, you get a "behind-the-scenes" look at America. As folklorist Nick Spitzer told us when we filmed the "American South by Rail" television program for PBS, "You're moving at a wonderfully mellow pace across the landscape. You see the backs of yards, you see... fishing camps, you see little dance halls and honky-tonks in the crossroads of towns."
The wide windows of the train offer a remarkable and rare perspective from which to examine areas that are less traveled and occasionally places that can only be seen from the train. In addition to the dramatic vistas, train travelers also can witness wildlife at close proximity. "Today, we saw a golden eagle sitting on a fence post right next to the train," rail lecturer John Borneman reported during the "Rockies by Rail" trip. "Most of these people had never seen a golden eagle before. And we saw a mule deer right along the side of the train. You never know what you're going to see, and it's really exciting."
Most railroads in North America were built for commerce, not for tourism. Leisure travel wasn't even a consideration when railroads like the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway and the Alaska Railroad were constructed. Today tourism is what keeps many trains running. "Train travel is so much fun because you're not having to worry about driving and being somewhere," says Matthew Wheeler, whose photographs of Via Rail's Skeena train are featured in "The Canadian Rockies" chapter. "This dome is like a traveling village," he says, referring to the train's bright glass-domed cars. "It's just an instantly constructed little place where you meet people from all over the world and they have fascinating stories they tell you." Throughout Great American Rail Journeys you'll meet lots of people like Matthew Wheeler, John Borneman, and Nick Spitzer. They are among dozens of what we call "local storytellers," people who share their enthusiasm and love for trains and for the places we visit along the tracks. On these journeys you'll also meet the delightful tour guides of the Alaska Railroad, the remarkable chefs of the American Orient Express, the friendly Mexican staff of the Sierra Madre Express, and the informative and courteous conductors onboard Amtrak and Via Rail trains.
From Great American Rail Journeys, © 2000 by John Grant.
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