Before boarding the Chepe Regional train, I’d heard that the state of Chihuahua was considered ‘drug cartel land’. But I was still a little surprised to pass a policeman with a machine gun strapped to his back in the carriage aisle.
It was day one of my 11-day railway trip through the massive canyons of northwest Mexico, collectively known as Copper Canyon due to their colouring. I wasn’t put off by reports of violence – tourists don’t tend to get caught up in disputes, and the association frustrates some locals.
“It’s sad to say: some tourists don’t come [to Chihuahua] because they feel as though they won’t be safe,” says Gustavo Lozano, a guide in his early 60s. “They miss this wonderful trip. If it was dangerous, I wouldn’t be here.”
The Chepe train route runs 405 miles between the cities of Chihuahua and Los Mochis, trundling through tunnels and forest-dotted canyons, connecting sparse settlements. It launched in 1961 and was supposed to be part of a longer route connecting the US Midwest to the Mexican port of Topolobampo, although it was never completed.
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For visitors, the route initially provided a rugged rural adventure unique in Mexico. In 2018, a tourist version of the train called the Chepe Express was launched.
In contrast to the basic Chepe Regional, the Chepe Express has leather seats, high-end burgers and a bar carriage with thumping dance music. The two train services run a few times per week each, so many tourists travel the route over a day or two. But I decided to ride both the local and tourist trains, getting off at each stop.
I first alight at the small town of Creel, from which a driver takes me to the nearby Valley of the Monks. I walk in the shadows of house-tall natural stone structures that (sort of) resemble monks.
I’m told that this place used to be known locally as a ‘valley of penises’, until Catholic church figures gained more influence and baulked at the reference. Either way, it’s calming to walk around the boulder bases, briefly escaping the…
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