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Seems we spend a lot of time going downhill.
This is ‘eeos country’. Coal Creek Canyon, on the mainline over the continental divide of the front range. This aerial drone shot is spectacular! This train is coming downhill out of the mountains behind. This is the most difficult part of being an engineer… keeping 10,000 tons of steel rolling downhill on rails under control. Your tools consist of dynamic locomotive drag, and tricky airbrake pressure settings. If a certain speed limit is exceeded, you are required to pull the emergency brake, which blows air pressure out of the entire train and sets the brakes on all the cars. If you are lucky, it is enough to bring the train to a stop… eventually. If the emergency brakes are overwhelmed, you have a runaway train, and your best bet is to jump for your life. If the emergency brake stops you, you must now try to re-pressurize the airbrake system, and in some cases a conductor must walk the length of the train and inspect all the air hoses for disconnects or leaks. In any case, you are stopped for hours, clogging the main line. Downhill mountain railroading… it’s all about pressure.
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/596254/