Western Railroad Discussion > Vaughn, NM on May 25

On my way back from ABQ to Oil Patch City on Monday, I took the scenic route which involved heading south from I-40 at Moriarty to US-60 at Willard and then east to Vaughn before going south on US-285. Just as I reached Willard, a hot eastbound piggyback containing JB Hunt, FedEx, Roadway and other trucks rushed by on the curve. After I passed through Willard I saw it overtake and pass an intermodal just east of that small community. When I caught up with it I matched its speed (55 mph, also the highway speed) for about ten miles until it veered south before Encino. I caught up with it at Vaughn where I went down to the Hawk (or Hank?) road crossing.

1, 2 and 3. Piggyback train led by BNSF 6577
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/15 14:54 by Cumbresfan.

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4. The eastbound piggy back was followed immediately by the intermodal passed outside Willard.
5. As soon as it cleared, a westbound intermodal led by BNSF 7577 passed over the crossing
6. Here is the crossing in it's temporary form. Five tracks are shown. The first, third and fourth tracks are not in service yet and I'll be looking to see the final configuration. The fifth track on the far north side is the connector from UP. Further back are hundreds of stacked pipes whose purpose is unclear, likely for refined product or natural gas.

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7. From the west side of the crossing, the unballasted tracks can be seen with a UP train in the far background down below.
8. It won't be long before the deck plate girders that have sat for five years or longer east of the Allsup's will be moved to their new home over the UP track. Since my last visit in April a white guard rail has been welded to the girders.
9. Looking north from the highway. A second UP train has just arrived for a change of crew.

Here in rural New Mexico a 20-minute driving break saw three BNSF trains and two UP freights. From the crossing, the gravel road or the highway you can shoot endless photos of both railroads without trespassing.

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Now that is desolate country!

Tor in Eugene

You were two days early to see the steel girders up over the UP, they were put up Wednesday.
The pipes were brought in by train earlier this year and are supposed to be trucked out for a pipeline construction project in the area.

Probably a oil line or gas pipeline. upkpfan

Thanks for sharing your photos !

So, is the single-tracked Pecos River bridge at Fort Sumner the last bastion of single-track on the Transcon?

Todd Greenberg
Round Rock, TX

reeb88 Wrote:
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> So, is the single-tracked Pecos River bridge at
> Fort Sumner the last bastion of single-track on
> the Transcon?

Well, not really.  There's the Missouri River bridge at
Sibley that won't be done any time soon, and the 
driectional running between Elinor (Emporia) and 
Mulvane.  I have not heard of any plans to change
this.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA