You might be driving Interstate 5 in the dark, with no markings but the reflector tape and the floating heads of your fellow motorists. Then a flicked cigarette explodes in the air. It strikes the pavement and skitters toward you at 80 m.p.h., and you remember how you’re all racing each other and setting fire to things.
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Yes, trains are magical and slightly overpowering and quite romantic. It’s fun to dream about going on the classic ones like the Orient Express, the PanAmerican, the Ghan train from Adelaide to Ayers Rock, the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok. Ah, so many adventures, so little time . . .