Editor’s Note: Maybe it’s an era, maybe it’s an age, but I’ve always been fascinated by trains. Here are my MiniMemories of my most memorable train rides, weaving back and forth in time from Cheney, Washington to Boise, Idaho, from Africa to Europe, and back again in the U.S. Is there a last train ride?
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My fascination with trains began not on a train, but in my grandparents’ home in Cheney, Washington. Late at night in the second-story bedroom I could hear the non-stop trains whooshing through Cheney on their way to and from Spokane with their loud train whistles announcing their presence. I’m 5 years old and in love with trains. I had no idea that trains would take me across the U.S., Africa, and Europe, that they would help to open up the world to me.
Boise, Idaho has a classic train station sitting on the top of Capitol Blvd that leads directly to the state capitol building. As a high schooler, my ski pals and I took the train to Sun Valley to ski our hearts out during the day and to party at night. Some years later I took the train from the Boise train station to Ann Arbor, Michigan to begin life with the Peace Corps Volunteer I met in Nigeria, and later married in Cheney, before moving to Ann Arbor.
Stepping back in time: while I was living in Nigeria, Jocelyn “Joy” Vazzana, a Peace Corps friend, and I went on “holiday” with a train trip from Lagos to Kano to Enugu. On the way to Kano the train broke down in the hot, humid, un-air-conditioned jungle . . . for a couple days. We toughed it out aboard while Nigerians set up kitchens and bathrooms beside the train. Some friendly Lebanese guys took quite a liking to us and invited us to their parties once we were in Kano. While Joy partied, I visited family friends, USAIDers, in Kaduna, and then I took the train back to our home in Enugu. None of these travels would be safe to do today.
In leaving Nigeria in 1966, my sister and I bought a Eurail Pass to travel around Europe. What a great way to travel! We flew from Enugu to Lagos on Nigeria Air, and then took KLM from Lagos to Rome via an overnight in Tunis, Tunisia. By train we saw much of Europe from Rome to northern Norway, from the splendors of the Alps to the Nazi horrors of the Dachau concentration camp to the elegance of Paris. Along the way we stayed in hostels and people’s homes, and often ate in train stations standing up at tables or grabbing a sandwich to take aboard the train. On one of our first stops, this in Salzburg, Austria, we first experienced having a couple offer their home for the night. We experienced this many times at train stations. The last was in Copenhagen where we stayed with a young couple in their apartment. From there we traveled around Scandinavia returning to their apartment in between trips. They were very hospitable and even took us to a party at the local yacht club.
Now back to Ann Arbor and the pictured Ann Arbor train station and Penn Station in New York City. We decided to spend the Christmas holidays in New York City with my sister and her husband. We and our old cat, in a carrier, took the train from Ann Arbor to Penn Station/NYC. The cat was very unhappy and, thus, so were we. Once in NYC we stayed in my sister’s tiny studio apartment with their two cats. Just as we were leaving to see the play “Hello Dolly” my parents knocked on the door! They were living in Africa and had made the long journey to New York City to spend Christmas with their girls. What a surprise! For the return trip, my parents and I decided to fly back to Ann Arbor. We sneaked the poor old cranky cat aboard the plane in a small carry-on bag. Those were the days!
And back to European train rides:
Pictured: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Chartres Cathedral in Chartres (yes, I have a thing for cathedrals), and Amsterdam. Another summer in Europe riding trains while living in Paris: While studying at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor, we needed more language credits. We made a wild decision to study at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Bien sur! Where to stay? My parents met a French couple who was visiting Lusaka, Zambia where my parents lived. They offered their Paris flat to us while they went to their 17th century home near Chartres Cathedral. We took French (all I remember is “Ou est Roger? Il est dans l’armoire” which became a family joke.) We rode the Metro all over Paris, rode the train to their summer home, visited the magnificent Chartres Cathedral, and took the train to Amsterdam one weekend. How much weight can you gain living in Paris for the summer? Mireille Guiliano wrote the book “French Women Don’t Get Fat”. Hah! Guess that doesn’t apply to American women because I gained 20 pounds!
And now for my favorite train station.
Washington, D.C.’s Union Station is my favorite train station. Its classic architecture, beauty, and elegance makes it so, as can be seen in these exterior and interior pictures. I’ve taken trains between there and NYC many times. The ride is fascinating, yet realistic about the poverty it reveals in our inner-cities along the train track. A shameful commentary about the richest country in the world.
Well, are my train rides over? Probably, but I do have my bucket list if I ever have one last train ride: The Canadian cross-continental trip. Here are pictures showing the trip from Vancouver to Toronto or Halifax and some crazy-wonderful train pics.
Now . . . do you have a train trip you’d like to take? When? Where?
Copyright © 2025 by Jane Iddings
Thank you for this memory trigger.
My childhood home here in Rochester was three houses from the railroad tracks. To this day there is a haunting, reassuring feeling that comes over me, when I hear the train whistle of a train rolling through an intersection downtown.
Memories of traveling by rail in Europe and the Porter yelling, “All aboard,” the Coastal Starlight stops from LA to Seattle add to the snippets I treasure.
Loved your descriptive train rides through the years and around the world. I enjoyed reminiscing about the one month whirlwind tour by EuRail in 1970 with college friends. Traveling days are narrowing down but my wishes would be a Fall ride out East and a ride through the mountains out West during the summer.
Hi Jane! What a scrapbook of train images and adventures you treat us to! It reminds us to support the passenger trains that still run. I’d like to take the train from Winona to Chicago. It is so freeing to be able to get up and walk around on a train as well as looking out the windows whenever you want. I too would love to traverse Canada by train!
What incredible adventures you had. I love trains, too. My mom and I would take the train to our friends’ home in Whittier, CA each Easter. It was only a two-hour trip, but it ran along the ocean in areas we couldn’t otherwise see. I can hear the train from the little AirBnB I stay at here, and I love the rumbling in the distance at night with the windows open. Thank you!
Jane–I learned more about the well-traveled Jane Iddings in this world tour via trains. The pictures add to the wonderful imagery that is in your description. As you know, Jane, I also love trains and grew up about a half block from the Soo Line tracks in central North Dakota. I so enjoy the ride, the sounds, and the total experience of train travel. I am fortunate to have traveled by train in the U. S., Canada, and Mexico and in France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. Thank you for sharing these experiences with us, Jane.
Thanks for the colorful description of exciting places you have been. Yes, I would like to travel to Canada across the country from Winnipeg to Banff on the train.
Jane…. Thank you for the picturesque memories! I want to take Amtrak from Winona to Seattle …through the Rocky Mountains! Jan
First, as reading this I was struck by how “times have changed.” This includes the sorrow that welled up reading your words that these days it would be unsafe to travel in Nigeria in the manner that you and your friend experienced together. And what a memorable surprise for you, during time in NYC, to have your parents “drop in” from Africa.
I too have experienced the joy and freedom of having a Eurail pass. Scenic Switzerland was a standout. As for hopes and dreams in future years, to follow the tracks again, my choice would be New England in the Fall going up to Quebec and Montreal. I’ve always wanted to get to Toronto as well – someday perhaps – though such would likely be a different route.