<VV> Re:Grades

[Scott Cable]

Vairheads,
I normally don't comment on topics like these, but for this one, I'll make an exception.
There are some significant grades out west, one is the "roller coaster" between  Phoenix and Flagstaff on I-17.  The other one is on I-10 between Chiriaco Summit and Palm Desert (Palm Springs).  It varies between 6% & 7% and is 13 miles long (or better).  Don't even think about using your air conditioning in July and August when static temperatures routinely reach over 118 degrees F. Every-time I've been on that stretch of highway, I've seen cars broke down either on the side of the road, or overheated in the rest area at the top of the "hill".
  I recall in the mid-eighties a train derailment in Redlands (just east of San Bernadino).  
The tracks run parallel to I-10 most of the way from Blythe to LA.
A massively long train lost it's brakes at the top of the "hill"(Chiriaco Summit), it came off of the tracks doing in excess of 100 mph where the tracks curve to the south to go around Redlands. I remember it was a real bad scene, people were sleeping in  their beds when de-railed cars slammed through their houses.



Scott Cable
Jamestown, ND
s2cable1 at yahoo.com
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