Railfanning in the Southwest

by Dave Freshwater 

Throughout this article, click on the thumbnail pictures to see full-sized versions.

I spent the last week of July and nearly all of August in New Mexico or Texas. With time on my hand on the weekend, and sometimes during the week, I went around to various locations and took LOTS of train photos. Some of the more interesting photos are appear with this story on the web site. Here are a few things I learned while doing this.

A TRAINS magazine article recently featured the BNSF. From that, I determined that I was going to be in or near towns that were on the BNSF (former ATSF) TRANSCON (for transcontinental) line. The article stated that there could be 60 trains a day on the route, so it seemed to be a good place to see things. I did some map reviews and headed out the first chance I got.

Here, in more-or-less chronological order, are the events of and my observations from this trip:

Vaughn, New Mexico

Belen, New Mexico

Amarillo, Texas

A Helium Car in Amarillo

Grain in Amarillo

Dailes, New Mexico

Abo Canyon and Final Thoughts