Work Train Over Raton Pass

[frontrange]

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!

Below are three images from the day. And, if you'd like to see more, here are all the shots from the day.

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[blue streak 1]

The track, Ballast, rail surfacing all look like the route could immediately be used for quite a bit of traffic

[diningcar]

Thank for the memories Kevin,

I was with Santa Fe's Engineering Department many...many year ago and have ridden a motor car and walked the track at all of the Santa Fe locations you have photographed.

Then there were four passenger trains plus the fast mail: #'s 17 and 18, the Super Chief; #'s 19 and 20, the Chief;  #'s 21 and 22, the El Capitan; #'s 123 and 124, the Grand Canyon and #'s 7 and 8 the fast mail. In the open areas like Levy the semiphores were very good at alerting motor car occupants of approaching trains because you could see the signal from a sunstantial distance and they gave about five miles notice that a train was in the circuit. However, in the mountains like Raton Pass, Shoemaker canyon and west from Las Vegas the sight distance to a semiphore was frequently very short and we relied on motor car indicators. A few close calls for me and a track supervisor acquaintance was killed because he was "too comfortable" on his territory and was hit by #22 at a location he passed by every day.

I would do it all again with gusto!!!

[eolafan]

Now THAT is what can certainly be called "the end of an era" in railroading to be sure!

[MP173]

Thanks for posting those great shots.  The photos at Wooten Curve are really special.  Never been out to that line, but the background mountains make me want to take a vacation to your state this summer.

 

Ed

[SFbrkmn]

Actually BNSF has operated a few jobs on the Raton line within the past yr. These have been a couple of officer spcls and in October, a job was working based from Trinidad west of there for a couple wks as they pulled many stored flats and baretables. Word was about a yr ago there was something like 64000 feet of stored equip between Raton & west of there (location unknown). When Raton shutdown as a home terminal last yr, the jobs now running across there are worked from La Junta. Boards 6 & 8 Would work La Junta- Las Vegas and Albuquerque crews west there. Again any such movements  are few and far between but those are the crewv districts in place incase something needs to be moved.