Happy Thanksgiving all. Did you shop till you dropped or hide out at home? I made the trek to Bass pro and Dicks for some door busters clothing items, but didn't go too crazy. It was a cloudy and rainy Thanksgiving in Northern California. The mountains are covered in snow, and the lighting in the AM ain't half bad. Not sure why this very new GP22-T4 was coupled up to the SD59MX a rebuilt SD60M with EMD 710-ECO prime mover, but it was. I'm sure it has to do with PSR somehow. The GP22-T4 uses a Cat Diesel and DEF to mewt T4 and is a remote control unit. the SD59MX is Tier2 or Tier 3. can't remember which and is usually running on locals and Haulers. With the thrice cursed gensets all off property (Save 2) I'm guessing it's all hands on deck to flat switch.
Taken 01/26/2019, NS helpers at Biltmore, NC shove hard on an eastbound headed for the Loops near Old Fort. The helpers will cut off at Ridgecrest. Note the MP 0 sign to the right and that classic SOU cantilever signal bridge. Line to Saluda is to the right. Here's the same train nearing the summit at Ridgecrest. Just ahead, the western portal of Swannanoa Tunnel at Ridgecrest (1,832 FT), first of seven tunnels in the next 9-1/2 Miles.
"Clear" A clear signal precedes the passage of a CP westbound on Black Friday. "Blue Hour at Soo Tower" Eastbound loaded oil cans drift past the diamonds at twilight.
Got up today to freezing rain and sleet. Had to go out to check on my buddy, so did the cruise around for trains, and here are two eastbounds waiting their turns, Then later today it turned into snow, and then a crew brought over some bad power, and the roundhouse crew is setting up a different pair. This is sitting on the sand track just east of the service track.
That's so cool that those Santa Fe-esque signs are there, matching font and all. What runs on the line now? I recall that it was sold by BNSF?
The only regular trains are the two Southwest Chiefs (one in each direction). BNSF will sometimes run a freight train through the pass, but only if it gets rerouted as such. The Belen cutoff is BNSF’s primary route, so Raton only gets used in emergencies.
I just read that the grade is 3.3%, so I guess I can understand BNSF's decision to divert most everything to the Transcon, which has had its bottlenecks (such as Abo Canyon's single track) cleared. It was 25+ years ago that my wife and I stopped in Raton, NM for gas and I heard a freight working the grade. In unfamiliar territory, we scrambled to find a photo perch near one of the tunnel portals …. and arrived just a minute too late too see the train emerge.
I have been to Raton on the Chief twice, but we always got off there. I have never been further south. There was an article in Trains a few years ago about the pass, which included photos of semaphore signals. They are south of Raton, so I have never seen them in person, although the rest of the route has a lot of cool searchlights that I have seen. There are a lot of long passing sidings, making it appear double tracked in certain places. There is even a set of crossovers protected by cantilever searchlight bridges. I am a big fan of the old Santa Fe signals, as you can tell. I just wish more of them were saved on the rest of the BNSF system. Since the trackage isn’t really owned by BNSF, everything on it is like a blast from the past. Most of the pass has been saved from modernization. A lot of the track is still jointed rail.
Oh, that's good information Trainiac. We live 1600 Miles from Raton, but would love to go back. I too am a signal fan. If you don't have it, you might wish to add Classic Railroad Signals by Brian Solomon (c. 2015) to your Christmas list.
Here are a few photos of signals that I manged to get between Dodge City and Albuquerque on the jointed track. Just east of Granada, Colorado. South (West) of Trinidad, Co. East of Wagon Mound, NM. East of Glorieta Pass.
I don't think bnsf has sold the track yet have they? I think Colorado and New Mexico were talking about it. Raton is also where you will often see boy scouts getting off to go to Philmont high adventure camp. Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk