North to South America

Here's an off the wall question. I wasn't sure what forum to even post this in, but I was wondering if there is a railroad connection between North & South America? I know trains run through Canada, the US, & Mexico, but can they go further South ?

Currently, no. There have been various proposals for a rail link, but so far none have come to fruition. South of Mexico rail lines are different gauges and many countries' railroads are not connected with their neighbors.

I did read some on it. Seems, like you say, the gauges down in South America are different & the tracks don't always go to the right places for an international connecting system either. Some were industry specifc & a lot of them are now out of service due to changing markets, or war, or whatever. They just don't have a standard gauge, developed, modern system south of Mexico that could easily tie in with the rest of it.

You might find the book entitled "The Old Patagonian Express" interesting. It's a travelogue of an individual's trek from Boston to South America [Tierra del Fuego?].

The author was Paul Theroux, if you want to look for it. An interesting read.

ExCon90 wrote:The author was Paul Theroux, if you want to look for it. An interesting read.

I have it. I just need to read it one of these days.