Western Railroad Discussion > Leaving Belen

On a December day a westbound coil train departs Belen, climbing the hill to Dalies. An eastbound can be seen descending into Belen for fueling and a crew change.

Ed

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That's one long cantilever. Wonder how far down the loose end deflects from horizontal relative to the fixed end.

Yes, it is long. Wonder how it feels as you walk out to the end?

Those new cantilevers should would look much better painted in BLACK, or even a rust red. Silver is too garish!

coach Wrote:

> Silver is too garish!

This from the guy who called WP cantilevers painted Perlman jade green "classic?" ;^)

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2011776,2011798#msg-2011798

How about the primer orange that adorned the signal bridges of Santa Fe's new Crookton Cutoff in 1960?

http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212894/page/1
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212918/page/1

The new cantilevers are bare aluminum and don't have to be painted, an advantage over the old steel masts and bridges that would rust if they were left exposed - they HAD to be painted...and painted...and painted...

The question of color is interesting, though. Santa Fe initially painted its signal masts, bridges, and cantilevers black. Some time in the 1920's or thereabouts, the they switched to painting signal masts silver, but the bridges and cantilevers remained black right up to the end (except for those orange things shown above). One local variation appeared late in the game in the deserts of southern California, where some signal masts were painted beige.

SP seems to have painted signal bridges and cantilevers either silver or black, and if there's a pattern, I sure can't discern it. Follow the line over Donner Pass between from Emigrant Gap and Reno and you can still find both colors represented.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2489856,2489856#2489856
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1419313,1419371#1419371
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,684689,684762#684762
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2867225,2867225#2867225
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,783864,783864#783864
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2030312,2030360#2030360

Was there method to the madness, or was it a case of whatever color the paint gang had on hand?

Interesting that they've planned to put in a third track west from
this location. I assume the overpass in the background is I-25,
so, when is this going to happen, or are they thinking far into
the future?

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting that they've planned to put in a third
> track west from
> this location. I assume the overpass in the
> background is I-25,
> so, when is this going to happen, or are they
> thinking far into
> the future?
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

The overpass is NM 314 (North Main Street). I-25 is 2.5 mile further west. The signal bridge and its shadow are readily seen in the Google Earth photo of the area from March of this year.

Further west just east of the I-25 overpass, what might be the beginning of a third track can be seen, but only a short segment is present on this date. (34.703808°N, 106.788291°W)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/12 09:04 by Cumbresfan.