What began as a fantasy — first verbalized by a novelist during an interview then picking up steam on Twitter — is now reality: Amtrak has chosen two dozen writers "to experience the beauty of long-distance train travel and hopefully find inspiration for their writing along the way."

According to Amtrak, the writers were chosen from a pool of 16,000 applicants. Each writer will get a round-trip journey, which includes accommodations on a sleeper car equipped with a bed, a desk and outlets. 

Winners include speaker/writer (and occasional WNYC contributor) Farai Chideya; Marco Werman, the host of PRI's The World; and Jen Carlson, an editor at Gothamist. Another winner, transgender author Jennifer Finney Boylan, joked on her blog: "Wait, wait.  I thought they said “trains-gender.”  I was misinformed!  Does this mean I still have to go?"

The full list of residents is here.