I also read the article in Parade about trains. He started out by talking about SWC. The one I am going on. It said something like they chugged up higher and higher on the Ratan Pass. I then googled it and found a U-tube video on it. How long does it take to go up this pass? Do you feel that it is high up there? Does your ears pop? Are there big dropoffs? I could only tell the video from the side that the person was videotaping.
Question on something in the Parade today
- Thread starter Gingee
- Start date
Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:
- Status
PetalumaLoco
Conductor
As I recall there wasn't much to it. You'd never know you were up that high unless someone told you.
Here's a blog with some photos.
Raton Pass.
MikeM
OBS Chief
You definitely do go fairly high up (don't recall the elevation exactly) but it's mainline construction and I don't recall any major chasms near the track or anything like that. I suspect if you were moving about a lot on the train, or running outside, you'd notice the altitude, but riding on the train you really don't feel it that bad. The gain is gradual enough your ears probably would pop at some point, but not at all like an airplane. I thought the article in Parade did a pretty good job of covering the major Amtrak long distance routes, you can't beat getting that kind of publicity before summer travel season!
sunchaser
Conductor
Raton Pass is 7834 feet or 2388 meters elevation.
Trainmans daughter
OBS Chief
Whenever I hear "Raton Pass" I think of David Baldacci's terrific book, "The Christmas Train". The pass plays a very big part in the story.
Cho Cho Charlie
Engineer
Could someone here explain the consist I see in this one pic? In particular, between the two locos, and the Superliner cars?
It looks like two private varnish (PV-privately owned) cars have been added between the baggage and the Transition sleeper. I have also seen the cars added at the rear of a Superliner train, but then there is no way to access the cars from the rest of the train (as the doors differ in height from the rails).Could someone here explain the consist I see in this one pic? In particular, between the two locos, and the Superliner cars?
Hope this helps.
Mike
Last edited by a moderator:
RailFanLNK
Conductor
I know you won't "hardly miss it" with the Raton Pass, because the toilets stop working! :lol: The elevation does something to the toilets. Happened both ways for my RT on the SWC.
It doesn't always happen, some cars are more susceptible that other's to the problem. And as long as you have a good attendant, there is an easy fix. The attendant just needs to keep flipping the circuit breaker every 15 minutes or so. Thankfully on the Chief you're usually not above the altitude where problems can occur for too long. It can be far worse on the Zephyr where you remain too high up for quite a while.
- Status
