When you hear someone talk about a train ride, they’re most likely talking about it as a means of getting from Point A to Point B. But for many peop

Meet the U.S. Tourists Who Only Travel by Train

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2021-09-11 03:30:04

When you hear someone talk about a train ride, they’re most likely talking about it as a means of getting from Point A to Point B. But for many people, a train ride is a vacation in itself.

Today’s railroads can take you to pretty much every corner of the country—from lakes in Louisiana to the mountains in Montana, forgotten towns in the midwest, the Pacific Ocean, and everything else in between—and loyal train travelers tend to love them for the same reasons: the people you meet, the scenery you see, and the ease and convenience with which you can pop out and explore new places. We spoke to four people who plan their vacations around the rail system. They opened up about their love for the rails, what ignited it and what keeps them coming back for more. Here’s what they said.

Jim Loomis lives in Hawaii, so the first 3,000 miles of any trip has to be by air. But once he makes it to the mainland, it’s all trains from there on out. Throughout the course of his rail travels, which have encompassed over 300,000 miles, Jim has written books on what it’s really like to travel by train and continues to post tips and stories to his blog Trains & Travel.