In the 737-200 when the RA came alive it triggered a an amber warning light directly in front of the captain. In those days we wound up the RA selector to full scale (2500 ft) during the cruise check and left it there.
Descending into Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands South Pacific) at night we would receive a momentary alert from the RA light and the numbers would flash down for a second or two as we passed over the top of a 7000 ft mountain 15 miles from Henderson Field of WW2 fame. Thus it was a poor man's GPWS and excellent situational awareness.