Every so often, you’ll spot one of Amtrak’s long-distance trains with one or more vintage railroad cars hooked onto the end of the train. Most of those wonderful old cars are owned by private individuals, most of whom belong to an organization called the American Association of Private Railcar Owners. Last April, when I…
This is one of my favorite rides. The Cardinal runs between New York and Chicago, but it takes a meandering southern route that makes it, without doubt, one of the two or three more scenic Amtrak rides in the eastern part of the country. After the westbound train leaves New York’s Penn Station, it heads…
The next morning, back in the desert and not quite halfway through its journey, the Ghan reaches Alice Springs. It stops for several hours here, allowing passengers to tour the area. The statue in the railway station depicts an Afghan camel herder, from whom the train got its name. “Ghan” is, in fact, Aussie shorthand…
(The following is the first part of a story I wrote for the Dallas Morning News relating my experiences on Australia’s two trans-continental trains.) As early as the mid-1800s, Australian railroads hauled grain and ore to seaports and carried passengers between state capitals. But it wasn’t until 1969 that tracks spanning the continent all conformed…