Good Morning- In the week leading up to April 10, 2010, I caught word of a BNSF Work Train that was scheduled to run over Raton Pass. BNSF has been working with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to sell the line to NMDOT. With BNSF's Transcon line a few hundred miles south of Raton, the pass is deemed redundant and unnecessary. Consequently, the last of BNSF's trains were removed from the line over a year ago. BNSF had some cars in storage along various portions of the line, including up the York Canyon Branch. However, all those stored cars were removed by November of 2009. Not a single BNSF wheel has rolled over the pass; the pass has seen exactly two trains per day since then: Amtrak #3 and #4. The Southwest Chief still runs via Raton Pass, but there is speculation that even that might change at some point in the future. With all this being taken into consideration, I figured it was worth the trip down there as this could possibly be the last BNSF train to ever run over the pass! On the evening of Friday, April 9th, my daughters and I loaded up and headed south. We arrived in Trinidad, CO a little after 9pm and checked in to a hotel for the night. Saturday morning, we got up at 6am and headed for the old ATSF Yard. There, we found the work train, sans power. Next, it was off to the old C&S Yard where we came across a sole ES44AC. The crew for the work train went on duty at 5:30am in La Junta and was bussed over to Trinidad. Even though the line over Raton Pass has two main tracks (on the east side), the plan was to hold the work train at Trinidad until the westbound Southwest Chief passed through. With a little time to kill, me and the kids found our way to the Twin Peaks Sub. In 2003, directional running started between Pueblo and Amarillo. Southbounds run via the Pueblo and Boise City Subs from Pueblo to La Junta to Amarillo. Northbounds run via the Twin Peaks and Spanish Peaks Subs from Amarillo to Trinidad to La Junta. This is somewhat unfortunately as the Twin Peaks Sub is far more photogenic for southbounds. However, we still came across some nice shots of a northbound manifest at Beshoar and a coal empty between Beshoar and Trinidad. At that point, the crew on the work train was moving the power from the C&S Yard to the Santa Fe Yard. The crew had enough time to move the light unit into the yard ahead of the Southwest Chief. When the Chief arrived, I took advantage and grabbed some shots. I'm so used to chasing the California Zephyr, it's almost hard to remember this Amtrak was different! Once Number 3 was headed up the hill, it was time for the Work Train to follow. Both trains used Main 1 for the trip on the east slope. Of all the shots taken on the hill, the ones at Wootton were my favorite. After Wootton, the train ran over the top of the pass and headed into single track territory. There are rumors that BNSF will be flipping off the signals over Raton. With only Amtrak using the tracks (for the most part), the CTC is just another thing BNSF must maintain. Once making it down and into the town of Raton, NM, the work train was headed into the New Mexico desert. The silence of the yard in Raton was broken by the train passing through. The yard has been empty and out of service since last fall. Fortunately, the work train was restricted to 45 MPH, making it relatively easy to get ahead of it. Colmor was the next major stop on the trip west. It was here that we came across our first set of blades. Or, if your prefer, semaphore block signals. These are some of the oldest block signals in the country and they are still fully functional. Even after watching or shooting trains for 30 years, this was the first time I'd seen operational semaphore signals. Shots at Wagon Mound, the area near Shoemaker Canyon and Watrous would wrap up the shooting along Raton. At Watrous, it was getting late enough in the day that it was time to head back toward Denver. We happened to arrive back in Trinidad just in time to see a northbound coal empty arrive. As the train pulled up to the office in Trinidad, a new crew was walking out, ready to take the train north to Denver. This gave me a chance to do a little exploring along the Spanish Peaks Sub between Trinidad and Walsenburg. In Walsenburg, we stopped off and checked out the track configuration and the interchange with the San Luis and Rio Grande toward Le Veta Pass. For northbounds, ABS stops and train operate just on track warrants. Our northbound came through around 6pm, at which point it was time to head for home! Here are the shots from the day. ======================= 1. BNSF 4428 leads a manifest toward the south switch of Beshoar, about nine miles south of Trinidad. 2. While it might be slightly better in the afternoon, I'm not complaining with this morning shot of a northbound coal empty between Beshoar and Trinidad. 3. This is a shot that I discovered I really liked once I saw it on the monitor. I like it more so than I realized I would when I took the shot! 4. The crew on the work train bring the ES44AC down from the Twin Peaks Sub (old C&S Yard) on to the Raton Sub (old ATSF Yard). 5. The Southwest Chief finally enters the picture, running about 30 minutes late (before it got stabbed for another 15-20 minutes). You can see the Twin Peaks Sub crossing over the Raton Sub in the distance.
6. The work train wraps around the famous curve at Wootton. 7. The yard in Raton was completely empty (and I believe out of service). The work train passes the Raton depot there in town. 8. Out on the desert now, the work train is approaching the first set of blades (out of pictures to the left) near Colmor. 9. East of Colmor, the work train passes by the first set of blades (semaphores) still active on Raton. 10. The semaphore at the east end of Watrous is dropping from green to red as the work train enters the block.
11. Coal empty coming around a sweeping curve at Ludlow, a half dozen miles north of Trinidad. 12. In Walsenburg, ABS ends (when going north). This little dwarf marks the start of ABS when heading south. 13. Last shot of the day as this northbound empty heads toward Pueblo on Main 2. Main 1 is to the left.
I honestly think this is a mistake for BNSF to give up the Raton Pass. I do agree it is a costly run when you consider the horsepower it takes to run the hill. Selling it out without maintaining trackage rights is a mistake. The native's in York Canyon, may realize they are sitting on a black coal/gold mine that translates income or self sufficiency. Who pulls the coal? Thanks for capturing these pictures. Do you have any with carloads of the M.O.W. equipment?
Thanks for posting those photos Kevin and providing the details of the work train and its "historic"nature. I was wondering why there were some folks standing around with cameras. I didn't think the Southwest Chief was that big of an attraction. Now I know the work train was significant. The day before on the #4, we had slow orders all through Apache Canyon from Lamy to Glorieta with a lot of BNSF MOW equipment and personnel already on site. We were several hours late into Raton and went over the pass in the dark. Got off in La Junta to catch the #3 back to Albuquerque on Saturday.
No problem Russell! I am actually (really small) somewhere in that shot you posted looking out the back of #3 along the work train. As the train passed by, I looked up at the door in the last Superliner and wondered if anybody was up there looking out (I couldn't see one way or the other). How ironic. :tb-biggrin::thumbs_up:
So close, yet so far. You guys missed each other by a nat's hair. Frontrange, Did you get any pictures of the actual M.O.W. equipment? Nice pumpkin, head end shots but I'm more interested in the equipment the train is pulling.
Didn't a coal mine open on the line like 10 years ago? I could have sworn I read something about it and it being a reprieve for the line. I agree, I would be very concerned about the line going away, but it's not being pulled up right? It's being sold to the State. I don't see Trinidad and La Junta and Raton putting up with the SW Chief being rerouted either. Anyway, if NM owns it, and they discover a reason to run freight over it, they will get the rights somehow. Of course as a rail fan, I wish it never went away. It would be nice if the Chief went over the original route through Pasadena into LA, but you can't always get what you want.
Kevin, My uncle, Bill Gordon, was an engineer on the old SF - in the '50's and maybe into the early '60's and lived in Raton. I only got to out there once, but the RR bug had already bitten me! Great shots of what I remember Uncle Bill calling it "The Pass". Since he seemed to be home most evenings, I suspect he ran "helpers" back and forth across the pass. Used to have a pix of him him in an F3, but don't know where it disappeared. Anyhow, you brought back memories of how beautiful and clear New Mexico can be. Thanks!
Well I live in Wagon Mound, so I know first hand how depressing it is not having anymore BNSF traffic! The day the MOW passed through Wagon Mound I heard it as it passed through town. I told my wife that it wasn't the #3. She told me, "yes it was. You just miss the BNSF so much that you're hearing things!" I know what I hear....Well this was a bad mistake for the BNSF to sell the line to NMDOT. Thanks a million Governor Richardson..
I really don't know what the building's origins are. I believe it now might belong to the Cougar Canyon resort complex. At least that is what the sign to the right says.
Well this wasn't the LAST TRAIN. On Tuesday April 27th, I was at home (bout 1/10 mile from the mainline) and I heard a train honking its horn as it made its way into Wagon Mound, 63 miles South of Raton. Well it wasn't Amtrak #3 or #4. I hurried out the front door just in time to see a Canadian National, CN, head unit pulling two single level silver business cars headed South/West. Don't know where it was going or who was in the cars??
