I was just ready to start writing up the Canada canal trip of last fall when two things happened regarding transcontinental rail routes. One was an additional thought and the other was some interesting correspondence on the subject by a known authority. I at first considered putting those two items as an add-on to Canada, but they were a bit too long for that, and I really didn't want to flip-flop between topics, so I've decided to put them in a VERY SHORT posting by themselves, at about a fifth of the usual length.

N-S Transcontinental in North America?    You'll surely think this thought is flippant, as I did, but it's technically accurate. Look at this map of North America:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BXWmVqWoUJ0/S-vsB7iJ3eI/AAAAAAAABQA/IaIbBwSRmL4/s1600/north-america-map.gif

In 2011 I went by rail to see the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba (2011/27)—see above map, which unfortunately shows roads, not rails. Some people fly there, but that's cheating, since it's famously reachable by rail. Even some that fly, fly to Winnipeg instead, just to take VIA's Hudson Bay train to Churchill. Being the rail purist that I am, I decided that, if you're going to do it at all, you should do it right, so I took Amtrak's Maple Leaf to Toronto, stayed overnight, took VIA's Canadian to Winnipeg, stayed overnight, and then took the Hudson Bay to Churchill, for a three-seat ride. I was very pleased doing it that way, and consider it a tour de force. Since Churchill is on Hudson Bay, I called that the "North Coast" series of five postings.

You'll also note that both New Orleans and Tampa are on the Gulf Coast, which is the south coast of North America. I've also taken, on different trips, Amtrak's Crescent to New Orleans and the Silver Star to Tampa (it goes on to Miami). Now if we define a transcontinental route, not by a single passenger train—which is a rarity—but by steel tracks built coast to coast, then can't we say that New Orleans is connected to Churchill by one north-south transcontinental route and Tampa is connected to Churchill by another? Either one would be a highly impractical four-seat trip, stopping in three hotels between trains—but it IS possible. I'm loath to count those two routes as transcontinental in the same way that Australia's Ghan is, but let's face it, it IS there for the doing.

Future Possible Transcontinental Routes    In the last posting I worked with the here and now of transcontinental rail, and I exhausted the possibilities. But then I heard from a correspondent friend with information about future possible routes.

Tim Littler is the CEO of the company that runs the Golden Eagle, the Trans-Siberian luxury train I took in 2005 mentioned in the last posting. He also runs many other routes around the world. He often rides his own trains, but on my trip, a family matter kept him from doing so. Still, while I enjoyed the trip immensely, there was a matter I wanted to settle, so I emailed him. We got to know each other, and have communicated on and off ever since. I've gotten some good advice from him—he was the one who told me the Chinese had built a rail line to Tibet, and that he was negotiating to run one of his own trains on that route. Based on the fact that he told me such a route existed, I arranged to ride one of the Chinese trains on that route on my 2014 China trip (2014/9).

It worked out that both Tim and I would be in Minneapolis in August 2007 for different reasons, and we arranged to meet. We stayed at the Sofitel in Bloomington, had lunch together, and later that day went to dinner in Minneapolis. I made sure that we rode the new light rail line downtown, just so we'd have an additional rail experience to talk about. This pleasant experience is all described in (2007/13).

One memory of our evening out happened after dinner as we were waiting for the light rail to go back to Bloomington. To pass the time, Tim took out his phone and made a call. That wouldn't be so unusual, except he just casually phoned South Africa. Not only that, he called Rohan Vos, who runs Rovos Rail (hence the name), whose train I took the next year, 2008, from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam. It was just a casual gesture, while waiting for the tram.

I last referred to Tim in 2018/10, when I mentioned that he was centered in Cheshire, not far from where Penny Liley lives—you may recall she runs the Luciole hotel barge in Burgundy. Tim is a follower on my mailing list—as is Penny. But back to the present.

Right after the last posting, Tim emailed me with some comments. I've been posting information given by knowledgeable friends, and so it's appropriate that I give Tim a voice on the subject of transcontinental rail travel. All his comments refer to future possibilities. It's also appropriate that he was making his comments from aboard his train, the Golden Eagle, crossing Russia and headed for Ulan Bator, Mongolia. His first email was from Yekaterinburg and his second from Novosibirsk.

Below is our correspondence. Tim's words are in italics, my responses are not. Any statements of mine from now on that were added afterward are in square brackets ([ ]).

Hope this finds you well. Thanks for email 2019/8 below; very interesting. [I communicated this compliment to the co-author of the posting, Dave Irish.]

AFRICA    It struck me that you may be unaware that Rovos are starting a new service this month from Dar es Salaam to Lobito in [Angola], a new Trans-Continental route. I’m waiting to see how it works before announcing a Cape to Cairo tour in 2022 which will use Rovos from Cape Town to Dar and on to Lobito before transferring to private jet for the remainder of the tour.

[Use this map of Africa (click) to follow the below discussion. The Dar-to-Lobito route discussed is at about "hip level" across the map of the continent.]

http://www.vidiani.com/maps/maps_of_africa/large_detailed_political_map_of_africa_with_all_roads_for_free.jpg

Since I don't follow round-the-world rail anywhere nearly as fully as you (and therefore rely on you to update me), no, I hadn't heard of Rovos's new trip from Dar to Lobito. . . . I spent quite some time this afternoon looking up [on their website] the route Rovos is planning, made further difficult since they didn't provide a map, and so I had to follow their day-to-day. I see it covers four countries, Tanzania, Zambia, DRCongo, and Angola, and I'm sure it must be quite a trip (I've never been to the last two).

However, I must split hairs again. You are a rail enthusiast who also markets trips--as does Rohan Vos of Rovos. On the other hand, I am a rail enthusiast who has the good fortune to be able to sit back, as a rail purist, and apply the strictest of definitions to coast-to-coast rail travel. As I follow Rohan's route from Dar to Lobito I find a "hole" in the route within Zambia. In Mpika in Eastern Zambia, everyone abandons the train and flies down to South Luangwa National Park for a few days. . . . [Firstly, overnighting other than on the train seriously impedes in my mind calling this a rail trip, as nice as it may be.] But then, when they fly back, it isn't to Mpika, but to Ndola in Western Zambia. While I realize time in a 15-day trip is limited, Google Maps tells me the road distance skipped is about 500 km [311 mi], so I assume the rail distance is about the same. I'd say that that large a chunk removed from a coast-to-coast, transcontinental rail trip seriously endangers calling it a rail trip, since, the last time I checked, trains didn't fly. My [objection] is [his] calling it a coast-to-coast, transcontinental rail journey [when] a rail segment is missing. I'm sure Rohan did that to get more squeezed into a two-week trip, but then rail travel is meant to be unrushed.

Rohan did something similar, but less egregious, when I did his Cape/Dar trip, but it was by bus and for a much shorter distance. We were bused from the train at Zeerust in South Africa to go to the Madikwe Game Reserve for two nights. On leaving, the bus brought us to Gaborone in Botswana (described in 2017/14). I just checked, and that non-rail distance is only 131 km [81 mi], not as bad, and importantly, by surface, not air. [But overnighting off the train is an interruption to the rail trip, as is skipping track time. His tour also left the train to overnight in a hotel at Victoria Falls, which was very nice, but a hotel is not a train.]

With that in mind, you'll understand that, though it may be a great tour, I cannot consider your Cape-to-Cairo trip a rail trip, since it not only flies thru Zimbabwe in the Rovos part [not so--negated below], but then flies a second time on to the north. Please forgive my seeming frivolity, but transcontinental travel is quintessentially easy by air. The Devil's Advocate might wonder: if you're going to fly, why not fly from Cape Town to Cairo directly and avoid "wasting time" on the rails? But for those not "glued to the rails" as I am, it could be a wonderful tour.

I was not aware that they were missing 500 km . . . On our tour we set the itinerary and certainly would not be doing what Rovos is offering (we did not abandon the train on our Dar journey in 2008). I have a friend going on this first tour to Lobito and will ask him what he is doing. I can’t see him missing a huge chunk of the route. The only [reason] they are going is because it is "Trans-Continental". I’m waiting for reports on the first tour before deciding our itinerary but it will probably be Cape Town – Kimberley . . . – Pretoria – Kruger – Bulawayo – Victoria Falls – Dar – Lobito (this section replicating the Rovos trip – but all on the train!) [followed by the private jet to the north.]

SOUTH AMERICA-1    I am also aware of a plan to link the coast of Chile with the coast of Argentina in Patagonia for a tourist railroad utilising the existing Rio Turbio mines line from Rio Gallegos, Argentina and extending it from Rio Turbio to Puerto Natales in Chile. I’ve heard nothing about it recently but things can move very slowly in South America!

I've found Río Gallegos and also a map that shows the rail line to Río Turbio, along with Puerto Natales on the other side of the border. That's REALLY south in Patagonia!

http://www.orangesmile.com/common/img_country_maps/argentina-map-2.jpg

[Click on the above map and look way down near Tierra del Fuego, at what I'd call the "ankle" level of South America to find both towns and even the rail line that already comes close to connecting them. I'd say it would be of interest to see a transcontinental rail line developed there. It would be great to see a passenger train run there for tourist use, but it strikes me as not only being much to remote but also connecting two towns of little interest. The three rail lines I've ridden in South America connect Quito with the coast in Ecuador, and, in Peru, Cusco with either Machu Pikchu or Lake Titicaca. I don't see that these two towns have similar drawing power. But never say never.]

SOUTH AMERICA-2    Technically there was an existing Trans-Continental route on the . . . system in northern Argentina with other associated metre gauge lines. One line runs from Buenos Aires to Cordoba and Salta then over the Andes to Antofagasta on the coast of Chile. I know part of the line up from Salta is currently closed but is being repaired.

I've also heard of the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) [in the Andes]. I now see what you mean by [connecting] Salta/Buenos Aires.

[See the previous map to visually connect Buenos Aires northwest to Córdoba and Salta, way in the far northwest. You'll then see the rail line over the Andes to Antofagasta in Chile. Such a transcontinental route, if ever revived, would be at the "hips" level of South America.]

The Line from Salta to the Porvilla (can’t remember the spelling) viaduct is mostly closed for rebuilding. The Train to the Clouds on the Argentinian side is a bus replacement service at the moment for the last c25 km [16 mi] from a town short of the viaduct. I wasn’t aware of a similar train running out of Antofagasta, though it would make sense.

This map (Map by Dэя-Бøяg [Der Borg]) is among the notes I put aside earlier today showing the Antofagasta/Salta route. You know better than I how much of the route is viable. It would seem the name you were looking for is La Polvorilla. [Further research shows the Antofagasta/Salta route is nicknamed the Huaytiquina line, as on the map, since that's the name of the mountain pass near where it crosses. Perhaps I misspoke--I'm not aware of a regular passenger train on the Chilean side, but the rail connection does exist. Perhaps the Tren a las Nubes is presently only in Argentina, as indicated in blue.]

SOUTH AMERICA-3     There also was a line that ran from somewhere in northern Argentina (Santa Fe?) to Sao Paulo and Santos in Brazil, which would link Antofagasta with Santos. After years of neglect the Chinese have put a huge amount of money to restoring the system and I know a couple of lines running into Bolivia, closed for many years after earthquakes, have been re-opened in the past few years. The Chinese also have plans for commercial Trans-continental freight lines, one in Honduras and another across Brazil – if the Chinese get fully behind them, they will be built.

https://geology.com/world/brazil-map.gif

[This final map (click) also shows the locations of Antofagasta, Salta, and Buenos Aires, but is put here to show the location of Santa Fe in Argentina and São Paolo/Santos on the coast of Brazil, with a potential connection to Antofagasta. Such a transcontinental route would now be up to the "waist" of South America. From the bottom of the continent working up, the transcontinental routes would have to be longer and longer. It would boggle the mind if the Chinese built a railroad across the jungles of Brazil at the very broad "shoulder level" of the continent.]

[This concludes this "potential add-on" to an upcoming Canada posting that ended up taking on a life of its own. All the routes mentioned in the last posting exist today. I know, because I've ridden them. What I'm grateful for Tim doing is illustrating future potential transcontinental rail possibilities, although the only one that really sounds viable as we speak would be the African transcontinental rail route. In the next posting, I'll finally get back to talking about the Canada canal trip late last summer.]