Telling Trans-Regional Stories Through Train Travel

Margaret Kargbo in the Silver Lariat dome in eastern Utah, behind Amtrak's eastbound California Zephyr. Photo by Malcolm Kenton.

Stories are the stuff of railroading, as they are the stuff of our lives and, indeed, the stuff of the universe. It is writers’ and journalists’ job to tell stories that inform and/or provoke thought. At Trains, we tell the stories of railroading’s past and present and speculate on its future, which we all are confident is bright. Likewise, the goal of every Millennial Trains Project journey participant’s project is, in some way, to tell a story — each of which is a part of a new American Dream being shaped by young people.

People can tell stories of their own families, neighborhoods and cities in the course of their daily lives. But travel enables broader stories to be told, ones that transcend localities. The railroads, by uniting the country by making trips across it take days rather than weeks, gave Americans a sense of nationhood, and a common story greater than the one of their town, city or state. Train travel remains uniquely capable of offering a space for trans-regional conversations to be had and new stories to be told.

This year’s Millennial Trains Project participants will each explore the stories inherent in their area of interest, letting others on board and the people they meet and places they inhabit in the stops along the way add their own voices to the story. The results will certainly be richer than would have been possible had each traveled from city to city by car or airplane, thanks to the train itself acting as its own meeting place, lecture hall and social lounge. Ultimately, Millenntial Trains Project will bring all these backgrounds and perspectives together and start to ponder what the new American Dream looks like.

Here is a small sample of some of stories my fellow travelers seek to bring forward:

• Jenny Gottstein of San Francisco, founder of 313exchange, seeks to design disaster preparedness games by doing workshops with people in each city, ultimately using play to make communities more resilient in the face of calamity.
• Catherine Tsavalas of Pittsburgh, content/community manager at an entrepreneurially-minded consulting company, seeks to find out how independent bookstores and libraries in each place are adapting to the digital age.
• Karan Satia of New York City, founder of ECOcurious, will reach out to designers, children’s museums, and city planners to discuss ideas and ask questions about designing effective environmental and outdoor education programs for city kids.
• Sarah Al-Khayyal of Atlanta, a social entrepreneur studying sustainable development, seeks to create a Field Guide to Livable Streets based on her experience in each stop and the best practices of local organizations.
• Acasia Olson of northern Virginia (now living in Seattle) will host discussions in each community focused on healing America’s deep and long-lasting racial wounds, building trust and reconciliation.
• Ayla Boyle, an artist from northern Wisconsin, will create artworks by drawing lines that connect buildings to streetscapes, physically illustrating the web of life in various spaces in each community.
• Julia Rhee, the daughter of Korean immigrants from California who grew up behind the counter in her parent’s store, will bring forward stories like hers — of taking leaps into the unknown, of failure and reinvention, and of acceptance and nonconformity.

You can read more about each participant’s project here.

Coming Thursday: from Portland (OR) Union Station, a tour of the first-of-its-kind mobile maker space (including on-board 3D printer) that will be installed inside the Silver Splendor dome-lounge.