On Training

How did Owen Hardy, who wrote “Tracking the World’s 10 Best Train Experiences,” overlook the Copper Canyon train ride in Mexico? I made this trip myself five years ago.

The train, departing daily from Los Mochis on the western end, goes over 37 bridges and through 88 tunnels, rising from sea level to a height of 8,000 feet before it ends 400 miles later at Chihauhua. Copper Canyon is four times the size of Arizona’s Grand Canyon and 280 feet deeper. The line took nearly 100 years to build across the Sierra Madre Mountains and through Copper Canyon. Among the sights along the way are the second highest single-drop waterfall in the world and the land of the Tarahumara Indians.

All along the way there are hotels and posadas so that visitors can stop overnight, explore the area and catch the next day’s train. It is a spectacular train experience that ranks right up there with anything described by Hardy.

RAY KOVITZ

Mission Viejo