COME OFF IT. Destination: Freedom rides the rails to Glasgow, Montana.

It’s about as far “off the main line” as you can get. The place was once called “Siding 45” because it was the location of the 45th siding west of Minot, North Dakota on the Great Northern Railway. Today it is known as Glasgow, Montana. Legend has it that somebody, maybe railroad founder James J. Hill (the “Empire Builder” for whom the train is named), touched a globe and his finger pointed to Glasgow, Scotland, and that is how the town got its name.

Glasgow is a community of about 2500 in northeastern Montana. It has as much rail service as cities like Columbia, South Carolina, Omaha, Nebraska and Reno, Nevada; and more than Cincinnati. Every afternoon at 12:26, the “Builder” is scheduled to stop on its way to Seattle and Portland. At 3:47, it is scheduled to stop on its way to Chicago. So a visit to Glasgow can last for approximately 201 minutes, plus any multiple of 24 hours.

There is no scheduled transit in Glasgow, but the “locals” still have some mobility. That is because of Valley County Transit, a provider which has no scheduled service. Instead, the county provides demand-response service in the local area to anyone who needs it. Local service is provided within Valley County, and the fare within Glasgow is $1.50 (75 cents for seniors and persons with disabilities). Out-of-county trips can be arranged, if a van and a driver are available.

The real public transit secret, dear reader, is that the Empire Builder exists in part to provide a day train across the northern counties of North Dakota and Montana, through old railroad towns, many of which tell you stories about Yim's globe, that are as far from the interstate highway system as you can get in the contiguous 48 (a northeatern Montana milepost may show mileage to someplace like Harlowton to the south and Lethbridge to the north) and with the shakeout among air carriers, possibly one puddle-jumper plane a day connecting at Spokane or Billings (Billings?) or Denver to the jet operators. I suspect that residents of the Bay Area or Portland or Chicago or some neighborhoods of Cleveland might find the Destination: Freedom assessment of transit options limited.

The people of Glasgow, Scotland have plenty of intercity trains and local transit. The people of Glasgow, Montana have limited airline service to Billings and Denver; as well as a train to Chicago, or to Portland or Seattle, every day. They also have local transportation whenever they want it. Not many Americans outside of New York City have that level of mobility without an automobile.

East coast readers: the western trains get good reviews. Give one a try. (And bear in mind, in the West "local transportation" might mean Glasgow to Minot or Shelby to Rugby).

West of Chicago, it's a bigger and better Amtrak world. At Union Station, my wife, Laurel (she made the balance of the trip with me), and I walked along an impressive string of tall, gleaming Superliners, searching for our sleeper, No. 731, the New Hampshire. (Naming sleeping cars is a long-standing railroad tradition.)

Just hope that the dining car is adequately stocked and that the toilets work.