Western Railroad Discussion > Highball Lamy!

Amtrak #3 has just departed the 1909 pebble-dash depot at Lamy, New Mexico - 13 minutes late - on March 22, 2020.  Visible in the distance is the west end of Lamy siding, where CTC ends and TWC and Automatic Train Stop begins for westbounds.  

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How many places does Amtrak still run on jointed rail?  Can't be many.

TrackGuy

At ROWE MN, one rail is CWR and the other is jointed.  At least it was last summer.
 

TrackGuy Wrote:
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> How many places does Amtrak still run on jointed
> rail?  Can't be many.
>
> TrackGuy

Pretty much just this line at various points between Albuquerque to Dodge City Kansas and old Buckingham Branch (ex C&O) northeast of Charlottesville Va.  Correct me if wrong out there. 

And now that I think about it further, some lines in New Hampshire and Vermont.  

Just 13 minutes?  WOW !

CompanyNotch Wrote:
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>Visible in the distance is the
> west end of Lamy siding, where CTC ends and TWC
> and Automatic Train Stop begins for westbounds.  

The west end of Lamy siding is also where BNSF ownership ends and NMRX ownership begins.  BSB

Not quite.  Ownership begins/ends north of EE Lamy at mp 834(It's been a few years).  BNSF dispatches up to and including WE Lamy.  I used to have to get track and time through DS 18 in Fort Worth and a track warrant from NMRX when I was a maintainer.  Some of my coworkers hated trying to get a hold of BNSF and doing track and time their way vs. how the NMRX dispatch did it.  I miss the job and the territory. 

BigSkyBlue Wrote:
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> CompanyNotch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >Visible in the distance is the
> > west end of Lamy siding, where CTC ends and TWC
> > and Automatic Train Stop begins for westbounds.
>  
>
> The west end of Lamy siding is also where BNSF
> ownership ends and NMRX ownership begins.  BSB

MadMan is correct - BNSF ownership ends and NMRX ownership begins at MP 834, which is just east of Lamy.  The EE of Lamy is at MP 834.5 (approximately) and WE Lamy is at MP 836.26.

That said, even though NMRX owns and maintains the track from MP 834 through WE Lamy, WE Lamy does represent where BNSF dispatching ends and NMRX dispatching begins.  

Another tidbit about Lamy siding:  Even though Lamy siding is under CTC, it is of the 'rare' form (as far as I know)  that is sometimes known as 'poor man's CTC', whereby train crews still need to stop and manually line the siding switch to enter the siding. The dispatcher does not have remote control of the switch as with normal CTC.  The dispatcher only has control of the siding signals.  A special signal indication tells train crews if they need to line the switch to take the siding.  

CompanyNotch is correct.  There is a spring switch at each end of the Lamy siding.  I thought I had pictures of the west end but all I could find was pictures inside the old cement bungalow.

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While riding the SW Chief last October I noticed that BNSF has a LOT of business on the line between Belen and Albuquerque.  Lots of autoracks at several off-loading facilities, tank cars at large industries, and a yard full of freight cars and engines in Albuquerque.  I was under the impression that BNSF no longer ran over this line north of Belen, and the state of New Mexico owns the entire line between Belen and the Colorado state line near Trinidad.
Please enlighten me!