Western Railroad Discussion > Surprised nobody mentioned this yet...

BNSF is also running a unit oil train west on the Transcon going to the new Plains All American unloading facility southwest of Bakersfield. Train reportedly has a KCS unit leading. I believe arrival in Bakersfield is tonight.

Reportedly the oil is from southeastern New Mexico but that hasn't been confirmed yet.



Allen

That's interesting, supposedly there was a facility to be built off the cement spur
at Gallup, didn't think that was done yet. The Farmington area has become major oil
patch and that's got to go somewhere.

Out

Lead unit is KCS 4780.


Allen

No rail out of Farmington, NM since the steam days.

Yes, we know that, the spur in Gallup is about as close as it gets. That doesn't
detract from the point that Farmington is starting to look like oil patch Texas.

Out

The train in question is the U NCCLVP0 01T. It originated in Guernsey, WY and is showing for Bakersfield/Levee, CA. Last reported it is in Barstow, CA.

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, we know that, the spur in Gallup is about as
> close as it gets. That doesn't
> detract from the point that Farmington is starting
> to look like oil patch Texas.
>
> Out


I'm pretty sure that if there isn't now there will be a loading facility in the Gallup area for the oil trucked down from Farmington.

Getting the truck drivers they need might be a different matter...



Allen

qnyla Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The train in question is the U NCCLVP0 01T. It
> originated in Guernsey, WY and is showing for
> Bakersfield/Levee, CA. Last reported it is in
> Barstow, CA.

Too bad Raton is no longer used by freight. That would be a possible direct route for this train, vs. the newer, longer routing down to the transcon.

Much of the Four Corners oil is refined in the the area at Bloomfield or transported through a 1950s era pipeline to Ciniza on the Transcon where it is refined. The Gasoline from these two refineries is distributed to AZ, NM, UT and CO. Also, there already is a minor oil transloading facility at Thoreau on the Transcon. There also are major gas pipelines out of the Four Corners, and gas is where much of the energy growth has been in the area.

The Thoreau site, at least from appearances, seems to be getting busier. The transload I was
speaking of was supposed to be a dedicated site but as you say most of the Farmington area crude
is being processed locally. Most likely there won't be a bigger push up there until the crude
prices recover some. WTI at $73 doesn't leave much for exploration rigs.

Out