Western Railroad Discussion > Raton Semaphores

This should be the last group of photos from my trip west. On this trip a friend and I flew into Denver and had planned to go north to the MRL but a blizzard in WY caused us to change plans and go south instead. On way to Copper basin and the BNSF transcon we chased trains over Raton Pass.
On Wednesday April 17 we arrived in Denver got the car and headed south. First stop was semaphores at Levy siding near Wagon mound, NM in time to see Amtrak #4
1. Opposing signal dropped to approach on main and stop on siding
2. Opposing signal drops to stop
3. Train arrives.

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4. Siding clears (this I don't quite get)
5. Approach
6. All Clear where it stays for another 18 hours or so till #3 comes along.

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On Monday the 22nd we returned to Raton to chase both trains. Day started in Trinidad, CO with train #3
Station stop at Trinidad and the climb up Raton pass.

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10. Curve at Wootton
11. Raton Station stop
12. Semaphores at Levy

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13. Going away at Levy with Wagon Mound in distance.
14. Watrous semaphores.

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15. East signals Chapelle
16. kicking up dust at Chapelle
17. Quite a lot of date nails in the ties. Oldest nail I saw was 53 in Chapelle siding. Quite a lot of 67 on the main. Also liked the tie plate stamped with Santa Fe. Rail in Siding was made in 1917.

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18. #3 met #4 west of Rowe we waited and caught #4 at east end Rowe
19. #4 at Bernal semaphores
20. Decided that I had shot enough and wanted to ride so hurried to Las Vegas and got out of car and bought a ticket to Trinidad and rode over pass.
Thanks for looking
Derek

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Thanks for posting these fine pics.

Gorgeous!!

You got a date nail, year 1967 in with your tie plate pic. upkpfan

Oh the Semaphores, the wonderful Semaphores! For those fine pictures, I'll forgive you for not coming up to the MRL. Also, what a find with that siding and the tie plate! I hope the siding is forever left in peace and that little piece of the Santa Fe preserved.

Mariah Rich

IF BNSF ever did run through there again, those signals days would be numbered...

Posted from Android

You have done what I would like to do someday. Nice little photo essay on the semaphores at Wagon Mound. I like your shot at Wootton curve too. The Santa Fe signs are so cool! Did you really have to hoof it to get multiple location shots?

Did you really
> have to hoof it to get multiple location shots?

Not too much as interstate 25 follows tracks and has shorter route than railroad. With NM having a 75mph speed limit and amtrak limited to 79 no need to really burn rubber but don't mess around. My friend had already visited last year so he was familiar with where to shoot and what to skip.
You can shoot everything you want on the pass as train speeds are 20-30mph most of the way. From Raton south to Las Vegas we shot it twice but could have gotten it an additional time at beginning but didn't want to miss any shots at blades. South of Las vegas tracks are more isolated but speeds are much slower. We shot it twice but could have easily got it a third but stopped for gas and still just missed it at Rowe.
If you want more detail let me know.

Posted from iPhone

nice shots man, be glad 3 and 4 are just 79, one guy a few years ago on here shot an old pic when they still had the Pepsi cans and I told him I knew they had to be fast as hell to keep up and get a good spot for another shot since before 95 or 96 (whenever) when Santa Fe slowed them down on that stretch of track, they maxed at 90 wherever it was allowed!

The siding cleared because a train might need to leave it if it was used. ABS means Automatic Block Signal. And the block ahead was clear. Clear signal was given. If you had been there sooner, you may have seen both showing a clear aspect. And the main stayed red until Amtrak left the block.

Posted from Android

Don't suppose you happened to spot the work train that was dumping ballast between Springer and Colmor on the 17th? It was only two cars and we left back for Trinidad around noon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/13 08:11 by bnsfjordan.

bnsfjordan Wrote:
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> Don't suppose you happened to spot the work train
> that was dumping ballast between Springer and
> Colmor on the 17th? It was only two cars and we
> left back for Trinidad around noon.

Nope missed that. We didnt get out of Denver airport till 10 or 11 on the 17th

Dumping anymore? I had to come home but my friend is still out there.

Posted from iPhone

howeld Wrote:
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> Nope missed that. We didnt get out of Denver
> airport till 10 or 11 on the 17th
>
> Dumping anymore? I had to come home but my friend
> is still out there.
>
> Posted from iPhone

This was just a one day work train. There were a couple spots where the ballast was getting thin and two cars were all we needed to dump.