Unfortunately, train fans, the future of railroad travel in America isn't all that bright. The number of jobs available by the mid-2020s will actually decline, with two percent fewer jobs available for train conductors compared to now (source). 

The biggest culprits are the American public, who prefer to drive their own cars for short trips and take airplanes for the longer ones. Who wants to be stuck in a box for four days when you could just get there in four hours?

Not everything's a dark tunnel, of course. There's a teeny tiny chance that train travel could come roaring back in a huge way. After all, European and Asian countries have incredibly fast, high-tech, 21st century-style trains across thousands of miles. 

In America, there's talk about finally building a national high-speed rail line, but for the country that once built arguably the greatest rail system in the world, we have a lot of track to lay, so to speak.

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