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On Sunday, 8-21, I was driving to Colo. Springs for a Memorial Service along I-40. Between six and eight PM east from Gallup there were 30+ freight trains in a 65 mile stretch where you can view the BNSF Transcon line for a majority of the distance. This is the time the SWC is scheduled to be at this location but I never saw it. Perhaps it was in one of the locations where the Transcon is not visable.
The BNSF has double track CTC through here with crossovers ever 7 to 10 miles and the dispatcher was doing one heck of a job because they were all moving. Although some slower scheduled freights were made to wait briefly so that those with greater priority could switch from one track to the other it was amazing to see the efficiency of this operation. I presume if the SWC was on schedule, or near to, it was switching back and forth also.
Certainly with higher fuel prices many truckers are electing to piggyback and with the economy busy with shipments to and from the Orient this route will grow in train density. But what a sight to see, and hear on a scanner, as so many trains keep on the move, several at 70 MPH.
George Harris Member # 2077
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This line has got to be approaching the point of needing a third main track, particularly since it has lots of long grades of around 1.4%. Maybe once they finish double tracking the freight line east of Albuquerque, they will start adding third main tracks to parts of the line west of Albuquerque. Or, maybe the Hi Line (Empire Builder route) will start getting double tracks. A second Cascade Tunnel someday, maybe?
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