I've been taking pictures of trains (or at least riding along with my dad as he took pictures!) for 30 years...yet this is the first pictures I've ever taken a picture of a functional semaphore! The eastbound signal is currently red as a westbound work train approaches.
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BNSF 5784 and work train pass the depot and the empty rail yard that rests idle here in Raton, NM.
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After descending off of Raton Pass, this westbound BNSF work train heads down the mainline at Raton. While Amtrak passes this location twice a day, this is the first manifest through here in months.
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A westbound BNSF Work Train has a clear signal at the east switch of Keota. This is a now-seldom-used 9,300 foot siding on the west slope of Raton Pass.
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After conquering Raton Pass, this BNSF work train is descending down the single tack on the western slope toward the siding of Keota.
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The first BNSF train over Raton Pass in months heads around Wootton Curve. The train is headed for Las Vegas, NM. Since the sale of Raton to the New Mexico Department of Transportation hasn't gone through yet, BNSF still has to do some level of maintenance.
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This may be the most well-known (and most photographed) location on the eastern slope of Raton Pass! Wootton curve is located just a few miles below the summit of the pass.
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A BNSF work train climbs the east slope of Raton Pass on Main 1. You can see cars traveling on I-25 in the distance, the drivers likely unaware of the uniqueness of the train they are passing.
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A westbound BNSF work train is heading over Raton Pass a few miles out of Trinidad. This will be the first freight train to run over the pass past the York Canyon Branch in over a year.
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An ES44AC is being moved from the old C&S Yard down to the old ATSF Yard in Trinidad. The unit is going to take the first non-Amtrak train over Raton Pass in over six months!
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BNSF's Twin Peaks Sub crosses over the seldom-used BNSF Raton Sub about two miles south of the old C&S Yard in Trinidad. This manifest is headed there for a crew change.
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This is one of those shots that I didn't give a whole lot of thought to at the time, but I really like it a lot. A New Image GEVO leads a northbound coal empty toward the yard in Trinidad.
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This northbound BNSF coal empty is about seven miles south of Trinidad. Once in the yard, it will receive a new crew and continue north to Denver.
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A northbound BNSF manifest approaches the south end of the siding of Beshoar. Ever since September 2003, trains have used directional running between Pueblo and Amarillo. Northbounds, such as this one, run on the Twin Peaks Sub, so sidings like Beshoar are seldom used.
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The Angora Sub comes to an end at the north end of Sterling, CO. As the sign on the signal pole implies, this BNSF local is about to leave CTC limits and pull in to the yard at Sterling.
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