The Story Behind Train Dreams

In the forests of the Idaho Panhandle in 1917, modernity is picking up steam. Train Dreams , based on a novella by Denis Johnson , tells the story of laborer Robert Grainier ( Joel Edgerton ), a quiet, bearded fellow who moves between jobs that keep him away from his new family. He aides in the construction of a bridge that, he is told, will save Spokane International Railroad some 11 miles. The steam train will thunder through tunnels, across gorges, alongside thick treelines, a striking and ethereal moving image of modern progress that haunts Grainier. He spends his life in the margins of the first half of the American Century, daunted by its quick pace and only somewhat soothed by seeking refuge in nature, surrounded by Northwestern trees, streams, and valleys—but rarely other peo