It isn't only the train engines themselves that are antiquated in the USA, it's the tracks. I took a train ride with my kids for "fun" and it slowed down considerably at one point for several miles in the state of Pennsylvania. (I'm talking 5 mph / 8 kmh.) When I asked why so ridiculously slow, the train steward said it was because the tracks were very old and too curvy that we might derail at higher speeds. Um ..gulp...okay.