Just for reference, in general the air pressure in airliner cabins is equivalent to somewhere around 7000' altitude. So the air at Moffatt Tunnel is definitely noticeably thinner than in an airliner cabin.
Unless you undertake some strenuous activity while at the higher elevations, I don't think you will notice the thinner air. Just sitting and gazing at the spectacular scenery should present no problem.
Hah! Growing up in Denver, I found that safety seals over consumer products shipped from lower altitudes were sometimes taut, but nothing ever exploded. Makes you wonder about soda and beer bottles and/or cans. I imagine they must be sealed at a pressure level to accommodate multiple elevations.
I know I got intoxicated quicker while drinking Great Wall Red Wine in Lhasa, but that is neither here nor there, because that Red wine had more alcohol content than your regular wine that we are familiar here with does.
Rock Springs, eh? And you left to go to Chicago? :unsure:
I worked as a reporter and photographer in Rock Springs from 1976-78. I quit the paper to undertake a freelance screenwriting project the week before the Ed Cantrell incident.
Fun times, weren't they? And that then lead to Dan Rather and 60 minutes showing up in Rock Springs, terming the city "Sin City USA". Meanwhile, Green River was comparatively boring, with the Green River Star featuring, at one point, the news story "Sheep Jump through Court House Windows", when during a harsh winter local dogs chased sheep through the windows. Not quite as exciting as widespread city corruption, shootings, prostitution rings, etc....
You said it. I have a photo around here somewhere I shot of Dan Rather strutting his way up Broadway while being filmed. But I liked the trains even then. One of my most vivid memories is of sitting at the Rock Springs station on an icy February morning and watching a long, long Union Pacific freight train head east with car after car of Pacific Fruit Express.
This is true, at higher elevations the effects of liquor are increased. Makes for a lower bar bill at the end of the night, assuming you know what to expect.
Typically, humans start to become hypoxic (effects of altitude) at around 13,000 feet. The FAA requires pilots of unpressurized aricraft to have supplimental oxygen at 12,500 feet and higher.
Moffat Tunnel, the highest point reached by Amtrak, is at elevation 9242. Add eight feet for the upper deck of a Superliner: five more feet for an upper berth.
Indeed. My mistake. But my point still stands.Moffat Tunnel, the highest point reached by Amtrak, is at elevation 9242. Add eight feet for the upper deck of a Superliner: five more feet for an upper berth.
Humans become hypoxic above 13,000' if they have not acclimatized. With proper acclimatization I believe they can carry on without getting hypoxic upto quite high altitudes. I personally have been upto 18,000' without becoming hypoxic, but I got to acclimatize at 15,000' overnight and did not stay overnight at 18,000' a little above Khardung La. Just trecked up from Khardung La, walked about for a few hours and then came down. OTOH people who come up from Manali at 6,400'' straight upto Sarchu at 14,000' and try to overnight there often get quite sick. The Indian Army maintains a medical post with hyperbaric chambers to deal with this flow of tourists with hypoxia. I have overnighted at Sarchu on a memorable freezing night with howling winds coming down from Baralach La Pass and a freezing drizzle falling, in the middle of summer of 2001, without any problem, since I had acclimatized at 12,000' before getting there.
Hypoxia can occur at any altitude. It is affected by the body's condition, what you eat or drink and if you smoke. Some medical conditions can also affect the altitude of the onset of hypoxia, As for drinking and smoking: Smoking produces carbon monoxide, which sticks to hemoglobin much easier than oxygen. This reduces the hemoglobin available for transporting oxygen to the brain causing Hypemic Hypoxia - which is the inability of blood to carry oxygen.
