Western Railroad Discussion > A visit to Abo Canyon, Part 1

As part of a recent meeting of a railroad bridge technical committee in Albuquerque NM we were given a tour through Abo Canyon to see the double tracking project that was completed there a few years ago. We had as guides 2 of the principle people involved with the construction and BNSF’s bridge inspector. Lewis Ruder, BNSF (ret) Construction Engineer for the project and Rick Worley from TransSystems who was the Project Engineer. William Holland is the bridge inspector. Thank you to all of them for their time and valuable knowledge and expertise.

The grade between Mountainair (MP 854.8) and Belen (MP 897.6) is a pretty constant EB climb with the ruling grade being about 1.25%, which includes the canyon. All of this was double track except the canyon which was single track from MP 870.3 to 875.0. It was opened in 1907 as part of the Belen cutoff. The new second track was completed in 2012.

It was a Wednesday which is considered a “slow” day in the canyon. We only saw 8 trains in the 3 hours we were in the canyon, 4 each way. Traffic levels can be as much as 100+ trains per day. We came in from the west end at the Hwy 47 crossing at the Beevers control point near MP 879.3 and drove along the right of way road to the East Sais control point (MP 875.0) which was the west end of the single track through the canyon.
Our first stop was at Br 874.2, which is the largest and highest of the 9 new bridges built. The bridges on the old line are the original 1907 spans and are still in very good condition. In 2013 they had a train blown off the new bridge. In 2015 they had 2 trains blown off the old bridge on the same day.

The new alignment changes sides a couple times through the canyon to make construction easier but there was still a lot of rock to be moved: about 3.6 million cubic yards.  The new track maintains the same grade as the original but has fewer and gentler curves. Track speeds have not changed as far as I know, still 40 or 50.


Photo 1 is Br 874.2. The new bridge is the nearer one. Train is EB. Sorry about the sun angle but we could not get to the other side of the bridges here due to the large drop off to the stream level. 
Photo 2 is Br 872.9. The alignments have swapped by this time with the old bridge being the southerly one. 

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Photo 1 is at Br 872.9. The old bridge is on the left.

Photo 2 is the underside view of the old bridge at 872.9. Note the wooden planks laid on the bottom diagonals and hanging from the brackets on the outside. These are fro the bridge inspector to access the structure. The outside ones are not used anymore. They use a hirail “snooper” truck now. The inspectors still use the inside ones laying across the bottom diagonals.

Photo 3 shows some of the planks on the outside. Glad they have a "snooper" truck instead of having to walk those planks.

Most of the new bridges are 4 beam steel deck plate girders with a couple that are concrete “T” beam style as seen here on the right.


 

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Continuing through the canyon.

Photo 1 is a WB at Br 872.2
Photo 2, a friendly wave from an EB at Br 871.1
Photo 3 is the same EB heading into one of the many new cuts

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At the east end of the canyon they had to make 2 big cuts. One called Sliver Cut where they moved the old main about 15' north, building a wall out into towards the creek to give enough room to add the second track on the south side. 

Photo 1, retaining wall at Sliver Cut, about MP 871.0+/-
Photo 2, EB along Sliver Cut heading into the Big Cut
Photo 3, the Big Cut as seen from the Hwy 60 overpass at about MP 870.5, looking west. New main on the left going into the cut. Old main on the right going around the hill. Sliver Cut is just past the far end of Big Cut where the mains come back together.

The east end of the single track would have been just behind me at MP 870.3. 

Hope you enjoyed the trip through the canyon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/20 09:37 by xrds72.

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How often are bridges inspected?

Steve

FRA requirements are at least annually. More often if the Bridge Engineer determines conditions require it.

Ah, thanks for posting these!  Brings back some great memories from my time as a bridge inspector (timber only).
There are some scary structures out there!

Hopmere Hank

Appreciate ya sharing the look into Abo. Only way many of us will get to see into it.

Neat thread.   Shows views we likely won't see again for quite a while.  I especially enjoy revisiting different aspects of the project, the whys and wherefores of different aspects of the construction, that add immensely to the post.
Thanks so much for sharing...

That shot of the east end looks like a model railroad done good.

Randy Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Adding my thanks for these.  Although i've never been "in" the canyon, I have been at both ends more than once and it is
interesting to see what BNSF has done here.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Is the canyon still open (there used to be access off the highway)  on the west end? 

Dave

Only if you have keys to the gates and permission from BNSF