(inspirational music) (country music) Alright, we're here in Colfax, California waiting for the California Zephyr to travel on the Transcontinental Railroad. 150 years after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, Amtrak still runs trains on parts of the original route. Where you headed to? -
Geoffrey
We're going to Reno. The guys are upstairs. We took the train from Colfax to Reno through the Sierra Nevada mountains. You can really see the challenges construction workers faced building a railroad through this terrain. You really don't get it until you actually ride the train. That steep grade up and then down. It's unbelievable. Oh, it is, I tip my hat to the people that build this road. It's pretty awesome, literally. How did they do that? How did they build this railroad in the elements all year round? -
Geoffrey
In some spots, railroad workers had to build trestles to get over deep ravines. In other spots, they carved shelves out of mountainsides. This is like a shelf here. You can see how they just built a shelf, and then it goes straight down. Sometimes, there was no choice but to tunnel right through the mountain. How many tunnels did we go through between here and Turkey? -
Man
About 27. Oh really? Alright, this is the first of our tunnels. Waiting to see the light. Man, I would need to see an hour inside a tunnel. The longest tunnel on the run goes through Donner Pass. What do you call that last long tunnel? Don't you guys call it the Big Hole? Big Hole, yeah (laughs) -
Geoffrey
It's the Big Hole? The Big Hole. It's a two mile long tunnel. -
Geoffrey
Is that weird going into that long tunnel? It is, especially when you're behind the freight train. The whole tunnel's blocked out, so you're always gonna see alerts. We're constantly looking out for signals, listening to the radio, listening to other crews, so you need to know where you're at and what you need to do. -
Geoffrey
Even outside the tunnels, there are several challenges that keep train engineers on their toes. Do you know this spot called Bloomer Cut? It's like this really, really deep cut, and it was supposedly like the eighth wonder of the world when they created it. It's pretty steep. It's on the original number one track. -
Geoffrey
Yeah, I mean you can't even see around the bend there. You can't see if there's anything in your way. -
George
No, the cut itself is pretty steep. -
Geoffrey
What are the safety challenges on that particular run? Well, the grade, the changes. It's not a constant grade, so you have to adjust according to the terrain and that's the challenge. (train conductor makes announcement) -
Geoffrey
Uh oh, that's my stop. (train brakes screeching) (bell ringing)
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