I'm a big train fan. My dad was the western Canada sales rep for a major distributor. CN and CP RAIL would purchase a new Mark IV for example and my dad would show up. Every other week he was in British Columbia somewhere. During school breaks I'd travel with him to BC for the week and get on a rail spike gangs. Long, hot days feeding spikes but nothing beat the scenery. And the cash!
Took a passenger train (VIA Rail) from Edmonton to Vancouver when I was little. There's nothing like going thru the Rocky Mountains. Lots of tunnels cut into the mountains. Huge clffs/drops with natural waterfalls everywhere. Most beautiful scenery I've ever seen personally. I'll have to dig thru the photo albums next time I'm at my dads.
Train horror story. Buddy in high school one night ends up sitting on a flat deck rail after a busted house party. Train starts to roll so the 3 or 4 dudes hop off except he slipped. Train cut his leg off just above the knee.
