I expect that the Colorado passenger rail project will not make much headway until a freight train derails and dumps a car full of sulphuric acid right in the middle of downtown. Then the question will be "Who knew that this was such a risk???" :-(
Anyway, as a reward here is a link to an interesting article. The Edwards Railcar Company in Alabama has built a self-powered car to be used for tourist trips to Machu Picchu in Peru. They recently tried it out on the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad here in Colorado (and New Mexico) which is the right gauge and also a reasonably high altitude (about 3000 meters). http://rypn.sunserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=26581
There is one thing I could not decipher from the poster at the link. Is this a renovated museum car, or a new car intended to look like a museum car, or just a new car with a classic look? *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
My concern would be that the Machu Picchu route appears to go through Poroy at an elevation of 12,000 feet, which is considerably higher than anywhere on the Cumbres and Toltec line. They may find that their diesel engines are not powerful enough at such an altitude. I believe that this problem was discovered in several cases when railroads converted from steam to diesel in the 1950s...steam not being affected by altitude...
I have some book that mentions this effect, IIRC just in a comparison of diesel and steam traction on an Andean line, maybe I can find it tonight (CET). *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
