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Why He Thinks Trains Are The Future Of American Travel

Reinventing U.S. Travel, One Sleeper Train at a Time

This week, I sat down with Joshua Dominic, cofounder of Dreamstar Lines, a startup that’s reimagining how we travel in the U.S.—through overnight sleeper trains that let you skip the airport and arrive refreshed with your own car.

Joshua’s story is wild—from a nightmare train ride in Myanmar to pressure-testing his own startup idea until it refused to die. What started as a dream from his backpacking days in Europe became a fully operational vision to modernize rail travel across America.

Why Trains, Why Now?

Joshua realized that Americans spend half a day traveling for business or pleasure, time that could be saved by sleeping en route. He asked a simple but powerful question: “Why doesn’t the U.S. have overnight trains like Europe?”
And then he tried to kill that idea—over and over—until it survived every test.

Building Dreamstar Lines

He didn’t just pitch the vision. He partnered with Union Pacific, mapped out track use agreements, and gathered a community excited to trade early flights and long drives for a better travel experience.

What Dreamstar promises:

• A hotel-on-wheels overnight train experience

• Private sleeping cabins with showers

• A lounge car for food, drinks, and networking

• Auto-ferry service so you can bring your car with you

• An experience that’s as luxurious as it is practical

The Zero-to-One Journey

With no real playbook for modern train startups, Joshua leaned on his Air Force logistics background and an “investor-style” mindset. His motto: “Try to kill your own idea. If it won’t die, it’s worth building.”

It’s a refreshing take, especially when most founders rush to validate rather than invalidate.

Advice Worth Saving

When asked what he’d tell his 18-year-old self, Joshua kept it real:

If you're tired of TSA lines, car rentals, and losing half your day to travel, Dreamstar might just be your new favorite way to get from LA to SF (or beyond).

🛤️ Follow their journey and get updates: dreamstarlines.com
🐦 Connect with Joshua on X: @JoshuaKDominic

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