An Ecology of Disturbance
“Around here the land swallows things.”
Trains
The Last Train Trip Before Everything Changed
Solitude, slow travel, and change
The Glory of the Rails
Why we must bring trains back.
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Part 1
“The world before the railways appeared so very different from what came afterward and from what we know today because the railways did more than just facilitate travel and thereby change the way the world was seen and depicted. They transformed the very landscape itself.”
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Part 2
“It is simply not possible to envision any conceivable modern, urban-based economy shorn of its subways, its tramways, its light rail and suburban networks, its rail connections, and its intercity links.”
One Day, 625 Delays
The ripple effect of a single MTA mechanical failure.
The Wreck of Amtrak 188
The search for answers after the worst American rail disaster in decades.
Why Can't America Have Great Trains?
On the failures of Amtrak.
Rolling Nowhere, Part Two
Father and son bond by hopping freight trains.
How to Spend 47 Hours on a Train and Not Go Crazy
A journey on the Sunset Limited, which ferries people from Louisiana to California.
How Fast Can China Go?
On the railways of China and a trip aboard its latest spectacle, a $32 billion line carrying passengers between Shanghai and Beijing at 170 MPH.
