Amtrak Coast Starlight/dimview (# 0769)

The sharpest drop of just over 1000’ is in the relatively short distance (about 6 miles, straight-line) from Santa Margarita to San Luis Obispo. Because that’s far too sharp a drop for a railroad, particularly a route first constructed over 100 years ago, the tracks make a long and very circuitous loop west to make the drop down to San Luis Obispo. This extraordinarily fuzzy pictures of dirty windows illustrates how tight the turns are on that stretch.