If my various resources are correct, through service or even good connecting service between Denver and Southern California on Santa Fe was pretty much gone prior to Amtrak.
I'd venture to guess that there will never be rail service between Denver and Albuquerque. There's no market for it and the stretch between Raton and Trinidad is so steep that even Amtrak takes an hour to cover those 20 miles.
ATSF offered rail service from Chicago to LA, via Albuquerque along the northern route in New Mexico and was considered to be outstanding passenger service. Having ridden on the Super Chief growing up, I can attest to that. ATSF never went through Denver.
Denver and Rio Grande Western operated the Rio Grande Zephyr along the route from Denver to Salt Lake, going through some of the most beautiful country in the US. In 1988 it purchased the Southern Pacific and eventually merged with the Union Pacific. The California Zephyr runs along that route from Chicago to San Francisco.
When ATSF and BNSF merged, it gave BNSF other trackage in eastern New Mexico, where it runs north/south freight over instead of the steep grades from Albuquerque to Raton. The only train that runs north of Lamy, New Mexico, is the Southwest Chief so there is no reason why BNSF wants to maintain that trackage for two trains a day.
The latest I've heard is that Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas will probably figure out a way to pay BNSF to keep the line open but I don't think it will be decided until next year. I'll keep the group posted as news becomes available.
The Raton Pass mainline is a critical link for future rail passenger service between Denver and Albuquerque. What gets me is that predecessor ATSF offered reliable service between Denver and Southern California and yet BNSF can't?
Thanks for the link. It's nice to see that at least a little bit of freight is moving over part of that line. Wouldn't we love to see a couple of unit trains to/from Colorado having to go through there every day!
But there seem to be huge economic forces weighing against the long-term viability of the Raton Pass route. The passenger business just isn't going to pay the bills to keep it viable up and over to Trinidad. It's not hard to imagine some of it turned into another Tennessee Pass line--not torn up, just basically abandoned in place.
https://youtu.be/9DL-653nOvY
Rail traffic north of Albuquerque is sporadic but on this fine Saturday morning in March, Northbound Lamy Local, led by BNSF 1906, a rebuilt EMD SD39-2 built in November of 1980 as ATSF 5134 and followed by BNSF 1890, an EMD SD40-2, built as ATSF 5116 (SD40-2), in October 1979, pulls a consist of two grain cars and 6 asphalt tank cars. The train has a red signal on the main line as it awaits NMRX 105, the southbound Railrunner to depart the station at Sandoval 550 and take the siding at downtown Bernalillo.After getting a green signal, the Lamy Local proceeds northbound to Rosario, NM.While researching these two BNSF engines, I came across a couple pictures of them together in California.
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