To a first-timer, the railway journey from New York to Washington holds the joyful prospect of any new travel experience: the thrill of sights unseen and a journey between two great world cities in the comfort of a smooth-riding train.
But as you stare out of the window a sense of shock begins to invade the senses. Beginning in Newark, just outside of New York, you notice the first gigantic, abandoned factories - empty, with windows blown out and roofs collapsing.
By Philadelphia, the sense of surprise has dulled as more and more vacant shells loom into view. By Wilmington then Baltimore, they are just another part of the landscape.Along with the suburbs and freeways, these hulking ruins stand as testament to a bygone industrial age.
The spectacular decline of large-scale US manufacturing is a sadly familiar one. Each one of those huge, empty buildings represents thousands of jobs on the scrap heap; each job a lost family income.
The most powerful symbol of the entire US "rust belt" is, of course, the city of Detroit, the birthplace of the American car industry.
Recently, news emerged Detroit had suffered a catastrophic population fall of 25 per cent in the past decade; meaning its population now stands at just 700,000, down from a peak of 1.8 million in 1950.
In the face of such sights and figures it might seem that the phrase "future of American manufacturing" is an oxymoron. But that is too simple.Across America a burgeoning class of entrepreneurs and activists is emerging that aims to make manufacturing - the old-fashioned practise of making profits by actually making things - a key part of America's economic future.
The difference this time is the focus is much smaller and much more local. On opposite coasts of the US, two initiatives have been creating headlines.
In San Francisco, SFMade.com launched last year. It helps scores of local manufacturers including bike shops, clothing stores and brewers. It is pushing for a "Made in California" label for goods.
In New York, another organisation, called Made in NYC, is doing similar things. If you make things in New York the group will help you find buyers for your products, advertise and promote them and expand your business. The idea is local companies will make local products for local people, creating a sustainable micro-economy to replace the lost big factories.
It is not just on the coasts. Small local companies can still thrive in the US, making a lie of the idea that all manufacturing has simply left for cheaper labour markets.
Down in Louisiana, the McIlhenny Company still churns out seemingly endless amounts of its famous Tabasco sauce. Just like the old 19th century industrialists, workers at the factory and company farm still live in cheap, quality, company-owned housing. Every single bottle of Tabasco is made there.
Such ancient hold-outs are joined by hot spots of technology manufacturing in cities such as Austin, Boston or Silicon Valley, making a range of goods including solar panels and computer chips. Creating millions of "green jobs" through a vast new industry of environmental manufacturing companies has long been a dream for White House economic planners.
For the past few decades the US and UK have sought to compensate for the loss of large-scale manufacturing by encouraging service industries and finance.
The result during the global downturn has been economic disaster followed by an uncertain recovery marked by stagnant wages and lingering mass unemployment.
Germany, meanwhile, continued to rely on its quality manufacturing base and, after a scary 2008-2009, has roared back to life with last year being one of its strongest economic performance in two decades.
It seems an obvious lesson to an economy such as America's that has almost made a virtue of sending its factories and jobs south to Mexico or west to China.
Those engaged in promoting local manufacturing are trying to reverse that trend. In many ways they are doing a fine job. The companies they promote make quality products and employ many people, but most often they are small-scale, niche companies.
As you ride that train from New York to Washington and pass so many empty old cathedrals of industry, it is still hard to be optimistic the jobs and communities they once supported will ever truly come back.
The future of manufacturing may be local but the future of a healthy, sustainable American economy with low unemployment still probably lies elsewhere.
