Is it possible to travel from Los Angeles to South America by train? (Please, no smart ass or dumb answers.)?

south america travel
Kyle L asked:


I am considering travelling by train as far as I can from Vancouver to South America. Is there a possible situation that would allow such a thing? Please refrain from giving me some smart ass stupid answer like if you swim part way or something similar. It’s really annoying for people looking for real information.

4 Comments »

  • 1

    Unfortunately it’s not possible–most of the route no longer has any passenger train service. The noted travel author Paul Theroux tried something like that in the late 1970s (The Old Patagonian Express), and even then it was very difficult and there were large gaps that had to be traveled by plane, bus, or boat. Nowadays, with Mexico having done away with most of its passenger trains and many of the other Central and South American countries having done the same, it’s not even worth trying.

    But, see if you can get a copy of the book–it’s great reading!

    Comment by DON W — May 28, 2009 @ 8:36 pm

  • 2

    no direct connection. would need to use buses or other conveniences to do this .. could also take weeks if any connections are missed.
    but good luck to you …

    Comment by Michael M — May 29, 2009 @ 11:25 am

  • 3

    No, it isn’t. The furthest you could get is San Diego. After that you’d have to take buses.

    Comment by gomanyes — May 31, 2009 @ 3:16 pm

  • 4

    Interesting… there seem to be a number of fragmentary railroads in Mexico. I started with wikipedia, and branched out to their source links.
    is the primary Mexican Railroad, but I can’t find their site in ENGLISH.
    is a passenger route from Chihuahua to Sinola (on the Pacific Coast)

    This seems to show that Rail in Central America VERY fragmented.

    This seems to show rail-transit in South America is also very fragmented.

    Rather sad… It would be a very interesting trip !!

    Comment by mariner31 — June 1, 2009 @ 10:02 pm

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