Iconic journeys across America

On track daily is Amtrak’s The Capitol Limited, the historical, all-American rail journey spanning from the nation’s capital to Chicago. The 764 mile route is only accessible by train and follows the original Baltimore and Ohio line of the first ever Capitol Limited back in 1923.

Taking 18 hours to connect the two key cities, the journey passes through scenic West Virginia and historical Harper’s Ferry, the Potomac valley, historic battle sites, quaint towns, the Allegheny Mountains and the cornfields of Ohio and Indiana.

Along the way are a number of historic points of interest to include: The Appalachian Trail, the longest footpath in the world at 2,050 miles which crosses the tracks; Harpers Ferry, in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, which was the main trading post in 1733 for Virginia and Maryland but in 1863 after the railroad built a bridge, the ferry went out of business. It was here where John Brown led his famous raid in 1859. (Federal troops, arriving by train, forced surrender, making this the first occasion that rail was used for military purposes).

Today, the town has museums and monuments that date from before the Civil War. The Capitol Limited also crosses the Mason-Dixon Line into the most central of the 13 original colonies.

Spectacular scenery follows the route with mountains and tree-lined ravines as the Potomac River runs through countryside which can be viewed only from rafts or the train to see deer on the wooded cliffs. The train travels through the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachians which stretch over 500 miles, past a small town called Hancock which has a unique address being in three states – West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the station in Martinsburg which stands as the oldest working train station in the US.

For more information, log on to Amtrak.com.