Western Railroad Discussion > Photo gallery: Fullerton - Albuquerque round trip

I visited Mom in Albuquerque, NM last week, traveling from Fullerton, CA via Amtrak's Southwest Chief. The vast majority of the pictures I took were out the rear window of the last coach, but we also got in a day of railfanning passenger trains in NM (mom's not a railfan, but she is supportive). Here are some highlights.

October 10, 2017:

1. There are certainly worse places for a railfan to wait for a train than Fullerton, CA - three main tracks, Metrolink commuter trains, Amtrak Surfliners and SW Chief, plus BNSF freight. BNSF 8341 west came by just before sunset.

2. The eastbound SW Chief, with its abbreviated, off-peak consist of two engines, baggage, three sleepers, diner, lounge, and two coaches, showed up just after sunset.

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October 11, 2017

3. The sun came up around Holbrook, AZ, and I moved to the rear window near Adamana. At Houck, we overtook BNSF 5364 east.

4. Passing the yard in Gallup, NM, we overtook BNSF 6955 east.

5. The "fresh air/smoke stop" in Gallup was just long enough for a dash to the head-end for this portrait of the SW Chief.

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6. Among the trains we met and overtook east of Gallup was a westbound in the beautiful red sandstone country at Marmon, NM (Mesita on the roadmap). This is a going-away view of the DPU.

7. At Dalies, NM, BNSF 6897 east was waiting for us to cross over and take the junction for the line to Isleta.

8. I spent many an afternoon at Dalies with dad back in the 1980's. I try not to get too hung up on what's changed over the years...but I do miss the cantilevers that used to guard this junction. Of course, the generation before me would miss the TOWER that used to guard this junction, so...

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9. Coming into Albuquerque, a remote-control SD40-2 switches as an inferior mode of transportation is on final approach to the Albuquerque International Sunport. You could find remote-control SD40-2's in Albuquerque back in the 80's, too, but they were mid-train helpers on coal trains!

10-11. October 11 was a Wednesday, and therefore a workday for the crew restoring 2926 and an opportunity for visitors to get an up-close look at the engine. She's coming together nicely!

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12. The valve gear inspection plate, showing many visits to the Albuquerque shops in the last four of the engine's nine-year service career.

13. Touching up the lettering on the sand dome as the telescoping stack extension is tested.

14. Ken Dusenbury (right) was our tour guide, taking a break from working on the engine's "plumbing" but still available for consultation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/17 01:54 by Evan_Werkema.

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October 13, 2017

15. On Friday the 13th, mom and I took off up I-25 with the goal of catching Rail Runner trains on the new trackage into Santa Fe, NM, plus the two Amtraks passing old signals on the passenger main. Here's a northbound Rail Runner shoving hard up the grade on the new track from the Santa Fe passenger main to the I-25 median, crossing Waldo Canyon Road.

16-17. The oft-photographed blades at the east and west ends of Chapelle siding being passed by their only clients these days, the east and westbound SW Chiefs. Chapelle is the middle of nowhere, but given the antique hardware in a scenic setting, I shouldn't have been too surprised to encounter another railfan back in there. Fellow TO member trainman7774 was on hand when I arrived, taking in the semaphores on an extended road trip from New Jersey.

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18. We spent the afternoon at the Rail Runner's Santa Fe County / NM 599 station in the median of I-25 west of Santa Fe. The sun kept getting lost in the clouds, but it did peek out long enough to shine on northbound Tr. 512 departing the station.

19-20. Southbound Tr. 517 was the last train through before the sun set.

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21. The telephoto compressed the contours, but even at normal perspective the up and down profile of this line is impressive.

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October 15, 2017

22. Heading for home, the westbound SW Chief was over three hours late. Arriving at the Albuquerque station at twilight, I found a pair of Illinois DOT Chargers (4601 and 4631) behind an Amtrak P42 apparently heading for the test track at Pueblo, CO. These were the ones JimB saw on the southbound Coast Starlight at San Jose, CA back on 10/12:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4396043

23. The current Albuquerque depot is a reasonable facsimile of the original structure that burned down in 1993. It serves both train and bus passengers.

24. The westbound SW Chief showed up 7:19 pm, and I boarded the last coach for the journey back to Fullerton.

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October 16, 2017

25. Sunrise on the desert east of Newberry Springs, CA.

26. Tiptoeing past slumbering giants coming into Barstow.

27. At Victorville, CA, two pairs of big GE's were idling just east of the station. Are these manned helper sets, or are they here for some other purpose?

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28. Climbing the east slope of Cajon Pass, a two-unit UP light power set faces down an eastbound mainfest at Lugo.

29. All four tracks on Cajon were fairly quiet from Lugo over the top and down to Keenbrook, where things started getting congested again. BNSF 6094 west is stopped on Main 1 with the ex-SP Palmdale Cutoff visible on the hillside to the left.

30. Well now, that's different! After an ocean of GE wide noses, finally the angular schnoz of an EMD SD70ACE on a westbound stacker stopped on Main 2 near Devore.

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31. Back to GE's as we overtake the next train ahead, BNSF 8005 west at Verdemont.

32. The smoke stop at San Bernardino with Metrolink F59PH #857 looking on.

33. Departing San Bernardino and passing beneath the Metrolink flyover.

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34. The rear window of a Superliner is an outstanding platform for photographing trains...unless you're trying to show trailing units in a power consist. BNSF 7001 west had six units altogether, three in BNSF orange and three in old Santa Fe colors. More on this later...

35. Passing an eastbound and the old Santa Fe / UP "union station" at Colton, CA.

36. Home at last! Train 3 pulled into Fullerton three hours late at 9:44 am, and had to do a double-spot due to ongoing platform reconstruction. I never did get a head-end view of this train, but the locomotives were 174 and 60.

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37-38. Even though the light angle wasn't ideal, I hung around the Fullerton station to get a second look at BNSF 7001 west, which showed up a little over an hour after the SW Chief left. Power was BNSF ES44C4 7001, ES44AC 5930, GP60 164, GP60 188, Dash 9-44CW 699, and Dash 9-44CW 5133.

Thanks for looking; hope you enjoyed the trip.

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Thanks for covering all that territory. Delightful trip! Appreciate the informative captions...👀🎃

Nice series Evan!

Excellent show Evan!

Great coverage and photography Evan. Thanks for posting this series.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Wow, this is nice coverage. Feel like I took the trip myself. Dalies looks like that would be a neat spot to fan. Nice photos.
Brian Stevens

Great photos! Good to see you posting your photos again.

Those shots from the last car are really clear - were you able to open the rear door?

Regards, Jim Evans