This little and very old film isn't especially remarkable in anyway, but is another example of Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Company's early progress in producing story films. Filmed in August of 1903, Porter made "A Romance of the Rail" between his more famous "headliners": made after "Life of an American Fireman" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and before "The Great Train Robbery". 1903 was probably the pinnacle of Porter's career.
The story is supposed to be something of a comedy, with the added attraction of train travel, the latter of which was a very popular subject in early cinema. Both of these aspects require some explanation to modern viewers. Many actuality films, or proto-documentaries, were made back then; often, these were "phantom rides", with a point-of-view from the train and of the scenery. Presumably, "Romance of the Rail" would be included in programs offered by exhibitors along with "phantom rides" and other scenic views and films of trains. "The Great Train Robbery", another example of early cinema's fascination with trains, was also exhibited in similar fashion. Thus, "Romance of the Rail" features the train in every one of its six shots, and shot four is mostly an extended scenic tour. You won't see scenes like it outside of the earliest years of cinema; just when you think nothing in shot four is going to happen besides watching scenery and watching the two characters watch scenery, the camera slightly pans and a porter briefly talks to one of the main characters. Then and just as abruptly, the scene ends.
I wouldn't have more fully understood the comedy here if not for Charles Musser's research ("Before the Nickelodeon"). As he says, the film is a lighthearted spoof on advertisements by the "Lackawanna Railroad", which transported coal but advertised that its passenger trains were clean: "The Road of Anthracite" was one of their slogans, which is displayed on a sign in the film's second shot. The railroad clearly sponsored the film, so the film is an advertisement parodying promotions for the same company that the film is endorsing. Additionally, there's a marriage, and the final gag reveals tramps getting out from under the train. Going back to the clean train spoof, the tramps are well dressed and refuse a dusting off by a train attendant. The main two characters and the priest who marries them all wear white for the same purpose of playing on the train's clean image.