We are in Denver, dubbed the Mile High City for its official elevation being one mile above sea level, which is the capital of the US state of Colorado and famous for its impressive mountainous panoramas.
Situated midway between San Francisco, some 2,000km (1,240 miles) west, and Chicago, the same distance east, Denver was founded in 1858, and historically the first point of contact for many Denver arrivals was Union Station.
“Not many trains run here any more, but it’s a great place to linger in the old station concourse,” says the city’s former tourism director Rich Grant. “It’s Denver’s living room.”
The building is home to restaurants and a hotel but the Rocky Mountaineer train departs from a different station, in the River North Art District north of the Platte River.
The Rocky Mountaineer runs along a spectacular route through the Wild West, travelling at “Kodak speed”, as train host Mike Hannifin says – slow enough for you to take photos of the Rocky Mountains. The elegant luxury train takes two days to cover the route to Moab, in the state of Utah, a distance of less than 600km.