Nostalgia & History > ATSF/BNSF Transcon - Vaughn to Fort Sumner

While researching abandoned ATSF railbeds/ROWs in New Mexico via Google Earth, it appears that the Transcon between Vaughn and Fort Sumner originally paralleled US 60, or likely predated US 60, making it the original line constructed in 1906/1907. It also looks like ATSF later redid the approach to Fort Sumner and the Pecos River on the west side of town, likely to ease the grade since the US 60 alignment is rather harsh. Does anybody have any history or more information on this?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/12 22:30 by Detector_Out.

Detector_Out Wrote:

> While researching abandoned ATSF railbeds/ROWs in
> New Mexico via Google Earth, it appears that the
> Transcon between Vaughn and Fort Sumner originally
> paralleled US 60, or likely predated US 60, making
> it the original line constructed in 1906/1907.

While I'm sure they surveyed several possible routes before construction began, I've never heard that the Belen Cutoff between Ft. Sumner and Vaughn was relocated after the tracks were first laid. The stations on the current line far south of US-60 - places like Ricardo, Buchanan, and Duoro - were established at the same time as the stations at Ft. Sumner and Vaughn, and their depot buildings matched the style on the rest of the Belen Cutoff. This photo shows the end of the Ricardo depot:

http://debaca.nmgenweb.us/Ricardo.htm

Bob Burton's article at the follow link even indicates that construction crews working from the east and west met at Duoro when the line was first built.

http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/burton/Belen.htm

Crookton Cut-Off in 1960,El Dorado Reservoir relocation in 1980 or so. Those are the two major ones I can think of, but maybe someone can think of others.

atsffan Wrote:

> I think what you're seeing along 60 is either the
> previous highway or possibly a pipeline or
> fiber-optic line laid along side it in a trench.
> Some early highways, when they were rebuilt, were
> constructed parallel to the existing highway in
> order to minimize disruptions.

The road that is now US-60 has indeed been reconfigured since the first highways were built following the AT&SF. Among other changes, the original route was *north* of the main line between La Lande and Taiban, and the highway more closely followed the current railroad alignment west of Fort Sumner, veering south to Ricardo before turning west:

http://www.drivetheost.com/abopass.html
http://atlas.nmhum.org/atlas.php?gmap=3

This 1909 topo map shows the railroad cutting its zigzag path across the landscape between Vaughn and Ft. Sumner, a few years before statehood and the highway.

http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=States/New%20Mexico/NewMexico1909c.sid&wid=1000&hei=800&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl

This one from 1922 probably isn't the most accurate rendition of the route of the Abo Pass Highway (red line), but does show it following the AT&SF (black line) south of Ft. Sumner to Agudo and Ricardo

http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=States/New%20Mexico/NewMexico1922a.sid&wid=500&hei=400&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl

> With the exception of the Sullivan's Curve
> realignment in Cajon, I can't think of any other
> substantial relocations that have occurred on any
> other post-1900 constructed lines.
> (I'm sure I'll be proven wrong in just a short
> while!!)

There have been a few relocated due to impounded lakes (WP between Intake and Oroville, CA is one, and the 1980 relocation mopacrr mentioned is another), but I can't think of many post-1900 lines that were relocated simply because the original alignment was inferior (curvy, steep, poorly graded). I'm not sure we can count the Crookton Cutoff in Arizona, since the older of the double tracks it replaced dated back to the A&P in 1882.

atsffan Wrote:

> And I should know this since I wrote a story about
> it in The Warbonnet, but when was the original
> line from Ash Fork to Phoenix constructed? It was
> pre-1900, right?

Track was placed in service 1893-95.

SFe also broadened one? two? horseshoe
curves on the former-eastward line betw
Ash Fork and Williams circa 1978.

At Quinlan,OK just East of Woodward there is a line relocation of about a mile to straighten a curve.
Don't know if something that you are requesting.
Have not been there in over 12 years.

Uncle Joe-just east of Tampa

PS The west end of the Pecos River Bridge at Ft.Sumner was one of my favorite photo locations.

I agree that what I am seeing could just be an old roadbed for US 60, but it sure looks like a railroad ROW. It is just suspicious because since the Transcon predates any highways in that area, one would usually see highways constructed to closely follow the railroad, not diverge as much as US 60 does from the Transcon in that area. Hence the reason I become suspicious of old cuts and fills along highways.

There are several areas along US 60 between Vaughn and Fort Sumner where the old roadbed curves north or south of the highway before returning to the current roadbed, especially just west of Fort Sumner and about 8 miles west of that. I’ll be able to lay eyes on that area in a few weeks so I can check it out, and particularly some old support structures that appear to be in tact where the old roadbed crosses washes or rivers. I’ve certainly been fooled by Google Earth before regarding old ROWs, but most of the time I have a pretty good eye. Thanks for info!

retcsxcfm Wrote:

> At Quinlan,OK just East of Woodward there is a
> line relocation of about a mile to straighten a
> curve.

The station of Quinlan wasn't established until 1900, but the original line through there opened in 1887. It became the siding when the new, straighter main was built, and was finally abandoned when the line was double-tracked.

Somebody check the Ft Sumner-Vaughn
SFe mileage in the 1910 Guide. Bet
it's just about the same as now,
which would rule out the 1910 RR
running where the hwy is now.

I have looked at all of the maps and info provided above, and it is almost certain that I am seeing old US 60 alignments instead of railroad ROWs.

timz2 Wrote:

> Somebody check the Ft Sumner-Vaughn
> SFe mileage in the 1910 Guide. Bet
> it's just about the same as now,
> which would rule out the 1910 RR
> running where the hwy is now.

The 1910 Employee Time Table shows the line as the Fifth District of the Rio Grande Division, with mileposts counting miles from Clovis rather than Atchison. Ft. Sumner was MP 60.1 and Vaughn was 130.8, so 70.8 miles between them.

By 1942, the line was the First District of the Pecos Division, and mileposts had been renumbered to reflect miles from Atchison (which was typical for most main lines on the Western Lines and a goodly portion of the Eastern Lines). Ft. Sumner was MP 716.8 and Vaughn was 787.5, so 70.7 miles.

By 1995 and Santa Fe's very last ETT, the line was the Clovis Subdivision of the New Mexico Division, and CTC signaling had replaced 1942's ABS. Ft. Sumner was still MP 716.8, but the location known as Vaughn had moved west a mile to 788.5, marking the west end of 15 miles of double track from Joffre rather than the old depot. So without any actual line relocation, the timetable distance had stretched to 71.7 miles.

The distance Google Maps calculates between Ft. Sumner and Vaughn via today's US-60 is 57.8 miles.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The distance Google Maps calculates between Ft.
> Sumner and Vaughn via today's US-60 is 57.8 miles.

Doing a quick path along the tracks, I get 71.3 miles. This could easily be off by a couple of miles since I don't know the official measurement points, and just picked what looked like the center of RR activity at each end.

While Rte 60 is certainly shorter, I suspect that trins like the vertical profile of the track path a whole lot better than they would like driving along the Rte 60 profile.

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