Hi, Well it looks like I will be going to do some work in Albuquerque NM. What are the shops and train sites around there? Thanks!
WIG-WAG, LLC. They are Trainboard advertisers. I've never bought from them but their ad looks pretty good.
... I almost forgot, a trip on the New Mexico Rail Runner up to Santa Fe would be worth your time. Also, the New Mexico Rail RunNer's (They had the name years before the commuter line) N-Trak group has running sessions on Saturday's. Here is their website: www.nmrailrunners.org. They have an amazing layout! Chris
Belen is about 30 min south. BNSF has an inspection point there, loads and loads of trains daily. Harvey House museum, too. TrainsWest has a nice book selection, IIRC from 2003.
You can take the Rail Runner south to Belen, too, to see this terrific museum. You can see it from where you get off. Just take a walk over the BNSF yard to the other side using the road bridge (just north of where you get off), then turn left. Along the Rail Runner route you will see car repair shops in Albuquerque. Very neat! Use the Google Maps satellite view to see these, just south of downtown, and you will see where the roundhouse was as well. In Albuquerque the train stops at a replica of the old ATSF station, the Alvarado that burned down. The entire Rail Runner route, with the exception of a segment where you begin to climb in elevation and the follow the freeway for awhile, follows the original ATSF tracks. That includes the tracks going through Santa Fe. On the way to Santa Fe from Albuquerque you will run by several pueblos (the Sandia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, and Cochiti reservations). (Don't take photos!) The Santa Fe yard has been wrecked in an effort to make it look touristy, but you will still see terrific landmarks, including the ATSF depot, the D&RGW depot (now Tomasita's, a great restaurant), and the Gross Kelly warehouse. The old Harvey House--the La Fonda--still stands downtown as well. You can take a free shuttle there. The landmark Guadalupe church and convent still stand just north of the D&RGW depot. The street that fronts the depot--Guadalupe--used to be where both the D&RGW (Chili Line) and NMC railroad tracks ran. And from the ATSF depot you can take a tourist railroad, the Santa Fe Southern, toward Lamy.
If taking the NMRR and if your timing is correct, you can take what is knowk as the "circle route" which is the NMRR to Santa Fe, the SFS to Lamy and Amtrak back to ABQ. If I was told correctly it's $50ea but should be worth it. The show next week at the Fairgrounds is mostly Railroadiana but the NMRR will have a layout there. The NMRR normal facility was flooded out when the landlord did not pay for heat and the temp hit -5 last February. They only last month got back into their 'storefront' and are building new yards for the layout. Yes we are here within about 1 mile of the tracks.
We had an unplanned stop due to car trouble in Albuquerque two or three years ago so got to visit Wig Wag shop. Everyone was so nice and helpful even my wife got a kick out of looking everything over especially the consignment table (she is a bargain hunter). You might call ahead, my impression is that when they go to a train show the retail shop is closed until they return. Prices are so good that I have ordered stuff from then since as mail order. Mike B.
At least until a few years ago, the old ATSF shops stood south of ABQ. With a two hour drive, you can see a preserved (sans turntable) ATSF roundhouse up in Las Vegas, NM as well ( if going to Santa Fe, just keep going on I 25) Also, a civil war battlefield and those Indian cave dwellings up there. Not to mention old town ABQ and SF, and may old spots along route 66. If you have time, instead of taking I25, go east several miles and head north on the old Turquoise Trail. You will recognize the town where they filmed Wild Hogs about halfway to Santa Fe. I second Belen as a working facility to watch trains, and there is a crossing not far from there, as well. Further out is Vaughn, NM which probably isn't as good a train watching spot.
The Santa Fe Southern is currently not running between Santa Fe and Lamy due to required bridge repairs. Our local club (New Mexico Rail Runners) was going to make this trip this weekend but we had to cancel. Our club layout is currently not in operation as we are building some new modules but you are welcomed to visit. We will have a layout at the May 21 Albuquerque Railroad Fair at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. By the way, Wig-Wag is an excellent N-scale hobby shop.
Vaughn hosts both BNSF & UP (previously ATSF & SP/CRIP. Currently you would see about 60+ trains a day with about 70-80% being BNSF. EVERY UP train changes crews there so they almost all have excellent photo ops. The crews bunk at the Oak Tree and eat at Penny's Diner. About 18 months ago UP installed excellent lighting at the center crew change point so even great night shots are possible. The other set of lights are where the interchange turnout cuts off to climb up to the BNSF. The fill that the BNSF crosses over the UP on is single track and about 1.25miles long so it is a bottleneck that can have BNSF trains stopped in the Vaughn yards for a long time. The interchange between the two lines is in use again (as of the UP/SP merger) and can create some interesting sights as double stack trains back up the 3%+ grade from the UP into the BNSF yard. In recent years it has been harder to see interchange moves but they still happen. Vaughn is an area where standing at almost any point within a 10mile x 10mile area you can watch a constant stream of trains on both lines. The weather is normally pretty excellent with occasional days that include cloud patterns that can change constantly and a breeze that keeps it from getting too hot in the summer. Occasional (once in 100+ visits) fog made for some really stunning shots of traffic on the SP thru, around, and under cars stored in the ATSF yard.
Thank you everyone for this information. It is looking like I will be in Albuquerque in the next few weeks. I now have lots of activities for my spare time!
