Photo Blog: AmTrak 36 Hour Train from San Francisco to Denver

In the summer of 2018, my parents and I decided to pay USA a visit. It was my first time going to the States, and needless to say, I had high expectations. I’ve only ever traveled around Europe. Getting to see a new country in a different continent altogether was somewhat exciting. But nothing prepared me for the train journey we would be taking (almost) cross country, via AmTrak, starting from San Francisco all the way to Denver.

The Experience

To be fair, when I found out that we were spending nearly 2 days on a train, I wasn’t thrilled. I’m not a huge fan of closed spaces and I always need to elevate my legs to feel comfortable. Staying in one place and not moving seems is another red flag. And the worst: I can’t sleep anywhere else properly unless I am on something that I consider “my” bed. Hotel rooms are fine if I’m not sharing the bed with anyone else. But I’m definitely not that person who can fall asleep on planes even in the middle seat.

I was proved wrong on every point. Everyone travelling by this train was doing so for the love of the journey. It had a great dining car, open-roof compartments, and really clean bathrooms. What’s more: leg spaces were a plenty. I could splay out and recline all the way back and just look out the big windows. I didn’t need to touch a single book or watch a second of any movie as the train made its way through the states from California to Colorado. 36 hours passed by with a snap of a finger. And the miracle of all miracles: I was able to sleep for nine of them. NINE!

In the photo above, you can see passengers and crew stretching their legs by the train as it paused at a small town nestled in the hills. There was a rest stop every two to three hours, which made it super easy to not feel cramped up in the journey.

A Nature Photographer’s Dream

Every experience is best known if it’s lived. I wouldn’t be so quick to recommend this train journey before having a chance to do it. The entire ride, it was as if I was in a strange limbo of some sort, where time passed quickly even when I wasn’t doing anything. And it was possible all because of the views passing by.

Beautiful houses, little rivers, thickets of trees and rolling hills that changed shape, colour and form were all around.

In some photos, you can even see the reflection of the train glass, but that didn’t stop me from clicking:

And to top it all off, a wonderful sunset as the day closed.

Maybe the next time I visit the States, I would take a train like this again, except from some other part of the country to another. It might be too ambitious to say I’d be able to make it from the top of the West Coast to the East, but things are always easier said than done, so I’m going to say it.

As you’re reading this, I don’t have many posts about the USA up yet, but I do have some about Paris. If you’re interested in another photo blog, you can check out my Seine photo walk here.