Nomad of Mid-America
On the Topic of Topock
When this 7,300' H GALBAR9 26A tipped over to the western slope of the Arizona Divide 213 railroad miles east near Flagstaff, the air was much thinner and cooler on account of a much higher elevation, just shy of 7,400' above sea level. It has subsequently shed nearly a mile and a half of vertical distance--mostly on a constant 1.42% slope--and has reached a localized low point at the crossing of the Colorado River at Topock, AZ, entering California at a mere 450' of elevation atop the 1,500-foot-long Santa Fe-branded deck truss bridge rising 85 feet above the water. Soon it will arrive at Needles, CA, where a new crew will hop aboard to climb its 118 cars back up onto the high Mojave Desert flats for the final leg of its half-cross country journey between the hump yards at Galesburg, IL, and Barstow.
On the Topic of Topock
When this 7,300' H GALBAR9 26A tipped over to the western slope of the Arizona Divide 213 railroad miles east near Flagstaff, the air was much thinner and cooler on account of a much higher elevation, just shy of 7,400' above sea level. It has subsequently shed nearly a mile and a half of vertical distance--mostly on a constant 1.42% slope--and has reached a localized low point at the crossing of the Colorado River at Topock, AZ, entering California at a mere 450' of elevation atop the 1,500-foot-long Santa Fe-branded deck truss bridge rising 85 feet above the water. Soon it will arrive at Needles, CA, where a new crew will hop aboard to climb its 118 cars back up onto the high Mojave Desert flats for the final leg of its half-cross country journey between the hump yards at Galesburg, IL, and Barstow.