Where in the lower 48 is probably located the spot along rr tracks that gives you the most distant and continuous look at a moving train? This is not a quiz. Just a thought.
I can think of three places you can see a train approaching from ~ 50 miles distant continuously – form the microwave repeater station at Wendover, Nevada, looking east on the former WP, you can see to Knolls; from the upper level of Arnold Loop, Nevada, also on the former WP, you can see all the way to Ola; and from the repeater station at Lakeside, Nevada, you can see almost all the way to Ogden, Utah. The first one is the most reliable because it’s perfectly straight track until a curve just west of the state line at Wendover.
S. Hadid
On the prairies I think the line of site is around 14 miles, or is that the ocean? they are both just as flat.
Well the longest straight track was on the Central of Georgis if I remember correctly and over 75 miles. The problem is vegetation in the east so it would have to be somewhere in arid country. The bridge over Great Salt Lake would be a good spot also. D&RGW claimed that riders of the Zephyr could actually see the curvature of the earth looking east while climbing the east slope of the Rockies to Moffat tunnel.
Somewhere on the Golden State route there is a very, very long section of tangent track. Do not know if there are any small hills to obstruct the view though
Distance d in miles to the true horizon (a perfectly smooth landscape) is in simple terms
d = the square root of 1.5h
where h is the height above the ground of the eyes (in feet)
standing on the ground with the eyes 5’7" above the ground the horizon is 2.89 miles away
standing on a hill or tower 100 feet high the horizon is 12.25 miles away
On the ocean you could see the tip of a 300-foot mast at a distance of about 25 miles, weather permitting. But you could not do that on the prairie because the prairie is not flat – it just seems that way.
Unless the tangents on the Golden State or in the Carolinas are seriously dished, or you can find a tall radio tower to climb, you could not see much of them from any one location. The key to the long site distances in the Great Basin are almost perfectly flat topography for the railroad (the crossing of the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake causeway), a big hill to climb on, and lack of humidity and dust in the atmosphere. I have never seen anything else in North America that’s comparable.
I suspect if you climbed some mountains over on the northwest side of the Black Rock or Smoke Creek Deserts west of Winnemucca you might find something somewhat comparable on the WP. I can’t think of any locations on the Santa Fe or Sunset Route that gives you distances in excess of 20 miles; there’s just too much topography.
S. Hadid
Wow, the things you find out that you never thought of before. Doesn’t the ocean curve just like the prairie?
I’m as amused as you are.
That’s nowhere near 50 miles. More like 10 or 20 rail miles. And I don’t think there is anyplace where that could be a continuous view due to the track winding along the flank of the range.
From the point where the gravel road to Shafter NV turns to run parallel to the track (former WP) you can see (from trackside) west along the track past Shafter and some distance up the Pequop range beyond. I believe this to be a longer distance than the view from Arnold Loop.
Try standing on the mountain above Arnold Loop – you can see almost all the way into Wendover. You’re correct that the visible distance is nowhere near 50, but neither is it 10 – try about 25 miles. The distance from Silver Zone to Sage – the continuously visible distance, starting at the end of the big cut at Silver Zone to where the track turns south and disappears from view west of Sage – is much less, however, only about 12 miles.
I wonder if you stood on Pilot Peak, and the air was very clear, if you could see a train all the way from Silver Zone to Knolls.
S. Hadid
Well, actually, I was being serious. Curvature of the earth is not just something that pops up in everyday conversation. If you thought I was making fun of your post, I’m sorry. That was not my intent. Can you clarify what you’re saying about the ocean and prairie? I didn’t understand that part that I highlighted in blue. Thanks
“Flat” as in “no intervening topography.”
Thank You ([:I])
…Just some data I have seen:
Longest tangent railroad track in the lower 48…located between Hamlet and Wilmington, N C. {On former Seaboard Railway} 78.86 mi.
Talking about how far one can see out across “flat” landscapes or water, etc…Believe the earth curves about 8" per mile in distance.
On the mention of sighting out across locations {above}, on the Sante Fe RR…From the east side of Kingman, Az. looking east…one can see the block signals {on a clear evening}, out to the east almost to infinity. Many, many miles…Can’t give you a direct number. It is quite a site.
Just my [2c]
Even if the earth were perfectly flat the difference between the geometrical horizon (flat earth) and true horizon (spherical earth) is insignificant. Go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon
That sag is about 13 miles long (Berry to Antares).
Somewhere around Dalhart, Texas, if memory serves.
I’ve said it before here–any place that you have an unobstructed view of a train, from one end to the other (especially a mile-plus of doublestack or unit coal train) is going to be impressive. It’s nowhere near the superlatives that we’ve been reading about here, but on UP’s main line between Meredith and DeKalb, the view of a train from Illinois 38 (to your north) will make a believer out of anyone.
As for straight stretches, look to the west as Highway 38 crosses the tracks in DeKalb. It goes into a bit of a dip and beyond to the horizon. The next curve in the tracks is at Creston, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re seeing most of the way to that curve. And this is double-track, 70-mph railroad.
I think one or the other of those has got the rest of the country beat-- there’s not too many places where you can see for 10-20 miles or more in each direction.
I’ve never been atop the Wendover hill so dunno how much route-mileage you can see looking west, but add it to the 40? miles you see looking east and it’s a contender.
Looking west from Lakeside I couldn’t decide whether a headlight would be visible beyond the Newfoundland hills-- and I don’t recall whether the track to the east disappears behind Promontory Point. I suspect it does, and if it does, Wendover is a likely winner.