# Is it possible to go from USA to South America by rail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890 "2011-09-28T15:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/1 "2011-09-28T15:31:05Z")
Can you move a person or cargo by rail from the southern US border to Colombia? In other words, is there an intercontinental connection by railroad? This is not a practical question of a rail trip I want to take. I just want to know if it’s possible. I learned several reasons why this trip would be slower, probably more expensive, and downright dangerous on the Colombian end. I frittered away half an hour using various search terms, and I couldn’t get it to cough up an answer. Thank you for your time. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/2 "2011-09-28T15:37:44Z")
Nope, all roads, it seems, end in Panama. There’s a 100 mile wide strip of jungle on the isthmus called the Darien Gap that’s apparently completely undeveloped and has no roads or rail going through it. > **[Darién Gap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}7°54′N 77°28′W / 7.90°N 77.46°W / 7.90; -77.46 > The Darién Gap (UK: /ˈdɛəriən, ˈdær-/, US: /ˌdɛəriˈɛn, ˌdɑːr-, dɑːrˈjɛn/, Spanish: Tapón del Darién \[taˈpon del daˈɾjen\], lit. 'Darién plug') is a geograp... ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/3 "2011-09-28T16:00:56Z")
Yep. There is no road or rail connection between North and South America. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/4 "2011-09-28T16:11:22Z")
Okay. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/5 "2011-09-28T16:11:54Z")
Get yourself down to you local bookstore or library and get a copy of Paul Theroux’s “The Old Patagonian Express”. It’s about a railway trip he made from New England to as close to the southern tip of South America as possible. (Except, of course, for that little gap in Darien.) Evidently you can go way beyond Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-go-from-usa-to-south-america-by-rail/597890/6 "2011-09-28T16:14:26Z")
I read that years ago, but I forgot about the Darien Gap.:smack: