Western Railroad Discussion > La Junta Area on Friday

We were headed home after our visit to the Rio Grande narrow gauge, and our route took us through La Junta, Colorado.  I had been through on the train before but never by car, and certainly had no knowledge about routes or operations.  Driving through, we noticed the Santa Fe 2-6-2 on display.  Stopping to take a few photos, the fun soon started.

1. As we photographed 2-6-2 #1024, a BNSF freight rolled in behind SD70ACE 9028 and SD70MAC 9869.  It made for quite the contrast.

2. Back on the road, I noticed we were overtaking a coal train.  I quipped that I wouldn't worry about it unless one of the locomotives was in an older paint scheme.  Well, I ended up worrying about it.  We stopped alongside the highway several miles east of La Junta.

3. Several miles further east, the highway crossed the tracks on a overpass before it and the railroad went their merry ways.  We pulled over and got a quick shot of the coal loads before heading off to our overnight stop at Hays, Kansas.

It made for an interesting interlude on a long day.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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When are they going to restore that old tea kettle to operating condition? 

ExStarlightHog Wrote:
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> When are they going to restore that old tea kettle
> to operating condition? 

Whenever someone decides "they" aren't going to do it, comes up with a plan, money and a team, and tackles it.  Or, no time soon.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Nice shots.  Shot 3 btw is at Las Animas Colo. The Boise City Sub takes off in a southerly direction here and heads towarsd Amarillo Tx, and is the more active of the lines out of Las Animas. It is right along US287 all the way into Amarillo. The other line, which follows US50 east towrds Garden City/Dodge City and over to Newton Ks is the old ATSF Passenger Main which see's Amtrak and a few freights. Thanks for sharing. Ben

ns2557 Wrote:
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> Nice shots.  Shot 3 btw is at Las Animas Colo.
> The Boise City Sub takes off in a southerly
> direction here and heads towarsd Amarillo Tx, and
> is the more active of the lines out of Las Animas.
> It is right along US287 all the way into Amarillo.
> The other line, which follows US50 east towrds
> Garden City/Dodge City and over to Newton Ks is
> the old ATSF Passenger Main which see's Amtrak and
> a few freights. Thanks for sharing. Ben  

Ben, I'm going to quibble with this.  It is true that large portions of the Boise City Sub are next to US287 SOUTH of the Colorado-Oklahoma border.  North of there to Las Animas, the line is off in the boondocks.  I learned this the hard way in 2020 when I tried to chase that line.  Nice shots, Mary, thanks for posting.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
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> ns2557 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice shots.  Shot 3 btw is at Las Animas Colo.
> > The Boise City Sub takes off in a southerly
> > direction here and heads towarsd Amarillo Tx,
> and
> > is the more active of the lines out of Las
> Animas.
> > It is right along US287 all the way into
> Amarillo.
> > The other line, which follows US50 east towrds
> > Garden City/Dodge City and over to Newton Ks is
> > the old ATSF Passenger Main which see's Amtrak
> and
> > a few freights. Thanks for sharing. Ben  
>
> Ben, I'm going to quibble with this.  It is true
> that large portions of the Boise City Sub are next
> to US287 SOUTH of the Colorado-Oklahoma border. 
> North of there to Las Animas, the line is off in
> the boondocks.  I learned this the hard way in
> 2020 when I tried to chase that line.  Nice
> shots, Mary, thanks for posting.  
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

Nick, Yeah , I can understand your point. From Springfield south the tracks are within 1-2 miles to the east as one goes south, but one can see anything on the line. There are some county roads that follow the tracks out of Las Animas South, but unless you are familiar with them, not an easy thing to do. At Campo after crossing the tracks at the north end of town, the tracks follow pretty much the remainder of the way south to Amarillo. They get a bit west of the hiway coming into Boise City from the north, there are some places where they come back alongside US287 thru here but you can usually see what is one the line. And once south of Boise City, they are pretty much right next to US287. South of Dumas they again wander from the hiway again to the west but one is never really far from them. This gives one a chance to get ahead of anything that ya can come across down this way. It's when one gets close to either end where following one can be a challenge.  

   I used to travel this route at minimum 3-6 times per month so got real familiar with it. Have quite a few shots taken thru the years along this line. Stratford Tx is an interesting spot. The UP ex Rock "Golden State" crosses the BNSF/ATSF. There is a wye here also for UP trains that can get on the ex Rock. Wye is in the North West quad of the crossing. Etter and Cactus Tx offer some action also.  Kerrick Tx., on the Ok/Tx State Line, used to be where the only NB on the Boise City Sub turned at to head back south. Always seemed to catch it here on my way thru. Even got a few meets here.  But once again, it's all rather close to US287 from at minimum, Springfield Co south.  Thanks for the comments. Ben