#belencutoff

Beevers

After exploring Abo Canyon a bit, I paused to watch the sunset. This spot, what the BNSF calls Beevers, lies between Belen and the mouth of the canyon; I believe that is Ladron Peak in the distance. We're along the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF in 1908.

West of Isleta

For my final instance of photographing Amtrak's Southwest Chief, I traveled west of Isleta Pueblo. This is where the Santa Fe began their trip west so that they could have a transcontinental line of their very own (without the help from the Southern Pacific). To do this, they obtained use of the Atlantic & Pacific Charter.

From this spot, the train only has a mile or so to the spot where the Belen Cutoff joins the A&P. I had been up at the junction this day, but the train seemed to be delayed, and I thought the unrelenting sun was going to put the zap on my head.

I eventually gave up and retreated toward Albuquerque when I saw that the train was on the move again. I should have returned to the junction (known as Dalies) but just set up at this signal near where I was at the time. A lackluster view for my last encounter with the long-distance train on a historic railway—I end with not a bang, but a whimper.

Abo Canyon Action

We see here an eastbound train climbing up through the canyon. The rail line, of course, is the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF, which opened in 1908. This newer, modern line, avoided the steep grades of Raton and Glorieta on the original main line built across northern New Mexico in the 1880s.

And there are two lines here: the train is climbing up on the original cutoff, while the second track (on the left side of the image) was carved out and opened in 2011. The canyon had been a major bottle neck prior to this.

Sunset at Beevers

After exploring Abo Canyon a couple of years, I paused to watch the sun set just to the west. This spot, what the BNSF calls Beevers, lies between Belen and the mouth of the canyon; I believe that is Ladron Peak in the distance. This is along the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF in 1908.

New Mexico Rail Runner Express—Part Two of Four

Continuing a short series of posts on the Rail Runner Express—we’re south of Albuquerque at this stage...

The first image has us crossing over the Rio Grande at a point about ten miles south of Albuquerque. Again, we’re traveling on on the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway here. The second image shows us the very point where, in 1879, that important railway began a new line westward toward California via the Atlantic & Pacific Charter—at Isleta, New Mexico.

And the third image has us at the southern terminus of the Rail Runner Express at Belen. This is where the Santa Fe’s well-known Belen Cutoff joins the show; nearly all of the freight on the Santa Fe came from the east via this cutoff, and now all of it does so on the successor road BNSF. The tracks one sees above, with the stack trains thereon, will move in a northwestwardly direction to meet the A&P line and then on westward toward California.

Beevers, New Mexico

West of Abo Canyon

After exploring Abo Canyon a bit recently, I paused to watch the sun set just to the west. This spot lies between Belen and the mouth of the canyon; I believe that is Ladron Peak in the distance in the first two images.

The rail line of course, is the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF, which opened in 1908. This newer, modern line avoided steep grades of Raton and Glorieta on the original main line built in the 1880s.