The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: January fifteenth, taking a choo-choo to Chihuahua.

The Chihuahua Pacific railroad, which traverses Mexico's Sierra Tarahumara mountains, may be the world's most dramatic rail journey. A marvel of engineering, the single, 400- mile track took a century to complete. Rising in the west at the port of Los Mochis on the Gulf of California, the line twists a precipitous path up through a series of increasingly steep mountain canyons, cresting the continent at 8,000 feet before tracking across the high plains to the city of Chihuahua.

The journey through the mountains is a thrilling experience, a real railroad roller coaster ride, piercing cliffs, clinging to the walls of chasms a thousand feet deep, vaulting great voids on high trestles. This 100-mile section required 39 bridges and 86 tunnels, one of which doubles back over itself in a corkscrew turn. Each day, one passenger train each way makes the breathtaking, 13-hour trip. It's a wild west experience, complete with a train robbery now and then. The ride in either direction is spectacular, but west to east is better, since the most scenic parts are done in daylight.

The journey is also a bargain, with a first class ticket on the minimally-maintained Mexican coaches costing about $40. A more comfortable option is a private carriage attached to the end of most trains. Several luxury trains also operate in winter and spring.

But though the Chihuahua Pacific provides access to the Copper Canyon region, it offers only tantalizing glimpses of the abysses themselves. To appreciate their magnificence, you must get off the train and explore. That's just what we'll do tomorrow.

FMI For Copper Canyon railroad information contact: www.railsnw.com or 503.793-0523. For tours Columbus Copper Canyon Travel www.canyontravel.com or 1 800-843-1060. For hotel information or reservations, contact Balderama Hotels in Mexico, (681-8-70-46)

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