The Moffat Tunnel
There was one moment in my total of, let’s see, ten full days of train-riding that I felt nervous, and that was in the six-mile long Moffat Tunnel in the Colorado Rockies.
We had had some engine trouble in Nebraska, so we borrowed a Union Pacific engine in Denver and chugged along on our merry way. Ok, fine. But then, midway through the Moffat Tunnel, under I don’t know how many thousands of feet of rock in the middle of a goddam mountain, the train slowed… and stopped. For several minutes. There was an announcement telling us not to worry and I didn’t panic but I did have a few uncomfortable moments of wondering how exactly they’d get us out of the tunnel if the engine had died. I knew they’d get us out… but it was the HOW that worried me! Ughhhhhhh tunnels. But then we started back up and everything was fine. *whew*