SUNSET LIMITED
it’s all traffic and noise, but on the beach,
it’s more like a village.’
Just along the tideline, the Ferris wheel
and rollercoasters on Santa Monica’s pier
are quiet. By noon, they’ll be packed with
sightseers, but for now, the only people
around are a few fishermen casting their
lines into the surf. Below them, Pacific
breakers boom around the pier’s iron
stanchions. Above them, a blistered sign
reads ‘Santa Monica 66: End of the Trail’.
It’s the official end of America’s iconic
road trip and also marks the final stop on
my transcontinental train voyage across
America. A few days ago I was standing
on the broad banks of the Mississippi,
watching steamboats and barges; today,
I’m gazing out over the Pacific, watching
gulls circle overhead.
But there’s no rest for the Sunset
Limited. Back at Union Station, beds are
being made, cutlery cleaned and windows
polished for the return journey. Soon the
nation’s oldest train service will hurtle
back towards the other side of America –
just as it has for the last 122 years.
‘People say it’s
like stepping
onto a movie
set here’
Stuntman and actor Austin
Buchanan (also pictured leaping
from the mission building,
opposite) at Old Tucson StudiosCLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
Santa Monica pier; Nick
Ostrogovich, owner of Santa
Monica Surf School; a lifeguard
hut on Santa Monica beachOLIVER BERRY has travelled by camel and
bike while writing for Lonely Planet Travel-
ler, but this was his first assignment by train.