If there's a single means of transport today that most preserves some of the old-time romance of travel, it surely must be rail travel, thanks to its close-to-the-ground, human scale, and in many countries, rolling stock which is literally vintage. Latin America is a good example - though these days intercity rail travel in the region is limited, the trains still in service run through some lovely landscapes, and many are throwbacks to the past. A prime example is Ecuador's elegant Tren Crucero ("Cruise Train"), recently resurrected to run on a narrow-gauge line from Guayaquil on the coast up to capital Quito in the Andes.
This four-car wooden train takes you on a four-day journey through some of the continent's most spectacular scenery, thanks in part to a short but notoriously nervewracking stretch of switchbacks carved into the side of a mountain known as Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose, also known to locals as Cóndor Puñina (Condor's Nest) - though the condors are long gone, driven away by the railway's construction).
Read more in our post The Devilish Delights of Ecuador´s "Devil´s Nose Train."
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