Railfanning in the Southwest

by Dave Freshwater 

Amarillo, Texas 

From Albuquerque, it was off to Amarillo, my next travel stop. Amarillo is a great place to railfan. You not only have the TRANSCON line, but it is also on the BNSF route for Powder River coal headed for Houston. There is some UP presence in town. The first night I got there, I found an UP covered hopper freight tied down. The motive power, an SD70MAC, the UP United Way SD-40-2, and a Dash 9, were completely shut down with no crew around. I went by a day or so later and the units were still there. Later in the week, the motive power was finally gone but the covered hoppers remained for the grain rush.

There is a large yard that is easy to get to and  photograph from surface streets. There is a mother and slug set for both ends of the yard. The north end set is still in ATSF freight paint while the southern set is in BNSF Warpumpkin. A couple UP engines and a SP engine were also in the servicing area of the yard. Because of the yard, there was a lot more to shoot than containers and piggybacks that predominate traffic on the TRANSCON. There is even a railcar rebuilder on the eastern outskirts of town near the airport.