HOW IT ALL WORKS - All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide - page 191

to resume service as quickly as possible. Washed-out track can
usually be repaired in a relatively short time, but not always.
In the summer of 1993, for instance, there was such severe and
widespread flooding throughout the Midwest that service on
Amtrak's western trains was disrupted for several weeks. And
in January of 2008, heavy rains in the Cascades caused a mas-
sive landslide north of Chemult, Oregon, that buried tracks and
diverted or shut down rail service for almost five months.
There are also safety procedures that automatically go into
effect when the weather turns dicey. For instance, it's standard
procedure for crews to reduce speeds once the temperature drops
below 0 degrees Fahrenheit for more than a few hours. Preventa-
tive measures are also taken. If you're traveling on a mountain
route or in areas that are very cold in the winter, look for cylin-
drical tanks located next to switches. They contain propane used
to feed gas burners—very similar to the burners on the top of a
gas stove—which fire up automatically to heat the switches and
prevent them from freezing in bitterly cold weather.
Delays or interruptions in train service can also be caused
by other natural events. Earthquakes can twist rails out of align-
ment. In mountainous areas, rock- or snowslides can obstruct
tracks. Look for “slide fences” in many mountain passes. These
are several horizontal rows of wire strung on posts located beside
the tracks in slide-prone areas. Their function is not as a barrier
for falling rocks—rather, the instant one or more of the wires is
broken by a rockslide, a signal is automatically sent to the operat-
ing railroad. Trains are warned by radio about a possible obstruc-
tion at that location, and a crew is dispatched to clear the track.
Courtesy from Crew to Crew
The headlights of a locomotive—which are very bright, as you
might expect—can be dimmed in much the same way you dim