The effect is a Diamond Jim Brady look in a fairly modern rail car. The decor not unpleasant. All compartments in the apartment cars seemed to be occupied by families or groups of foreign travelers. In the salon cars people stow their baggage overhead. No chains or locks truss the baggage to the racks.
Chile is a relatively crime-free country and private property is respected.
Soon whistles blow, metal scrapes on metal, and the train pulls away. Now the start of any train trip is not a pretty thing. Santiago's gas works, tire heaps, and rebar rod factories fill the windows. Soon, though, industrial Santiago is replaced by well scrubbed suburbs which in turn thin into Chile's famous vineyards. The train makes its way south of Santiago and skirts the Maipo River valley, the heart of Chile's wine country.