BNSF Railway ran a special passenger movement between Kansas City and Albuquerque, N.M., last week, via the Raton and Glorieta subdivisions, in anticipation of the return of a weekly freight movement over part of the line. Officially an engineering special, the movement saw CEO Katie Farmer and some of her staff were on board the July 14 westbound move from La Junta, Colo., to Lamy, N.M.; the train returned eastbound on July 15. New Elk Coal began operation metallurgical coal mine 24 miles west of Trinidad, Colo., in late June; according to its website, the coal will move by truck from the mine to a transload facility at Jansen, Colo., for 18 to 24 months until a rail spur can be built to the mine site. The coal is moving by rail to New Orleans for export on a route including the Raton subdivision between Trinidad and La Junta, where it joins the Boise City Subdivision to Amarillo, Texas. — with information from Chip Savoye
Build it and they will come…
In the world of mining, there are probably thousands of known sites simply awaiting affordable and reliable transportation across North America alone. Some years ago, I saw a map of the Yukon Territory showing the known mineral and metal deposits across the Territory–deposits that can remain in the ground for thousands of years to come or could be mined in a few decades depending on transportation.
George,
The New Elk mine proposal has been trying to get going for five or six years with little progress. If the line from Trinidad to La Junta is not up for the tonnage BNSF can run it Trinidad to Pueblo and then on to La Junta.
Charlie
Have I got this timeline right? 1. BNSF wants to abandon the Raton Line, no trains left except Amtrak. 2. Amtrak wants to abandon the route, proposes a bus bridge that raises hell among local communities and politicians. 3. As a result, Amtrak is specifically given 50 – 60 million taxpayer dollars to refurbish the line. 4. BNSF now says looks good for their weekly coal train, let’s use it.
Unless I’m mistaken (I could be!), this is good news for Springer and such places: less pressure to abandon the line and turn the Chief into a bus for part of its run.
Isn’t the New Elk site located near the right-of-way of the former Colorado and Wyoming line that went from Trinidad area to Stonewall? If so, it shouldn’t be too much of a project to restore the line. The rails are gone but the grade is still there in a lot of places. Too bad it was pulled up.
Beautiful train.
I’m in heaven! I’m reliving my rides on the Super Chief El Capitan in the early Amtrak years!!!