Hello all!
I posted this at Train-Sim.com and figured I shuld post it here as well.
I seen this on the news last night (but I missed most of it due to The Simpsons) and thought it was interesting. As you know, Abo Canyon is one of the few remaining stretches of single-track on BNSF’s transcon (one of only 3 places in NM with single-track). Apparently this teenage girl is concerned for the Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep and says that the railroad wants to blast through some of the narrow canyons to make room for double track, effectively destroying cliffs and steep slopes and forcing the sheep onto other land, making them vulnerable to predators such as Mountain Lions.
Personally, I don’t like the double-tracking either, but for different reasons. Most of those reasons are from a railfan point of view though (I think they should just leave the single track, but that’s just me, and I understand that the railroad needs the extra capacity, wants to run more trains, make more money, run all their trains at 60 MPH and not the current 40 MPH, and make more money).
On Route 78 in Northern N J, there is land bridge “paved” with grass and trees that allows the wildlife to cross safely from one side of the expressway to the other. Perhaps one or two of these could be part of the construction project.
Give me a break. I seriously doubt adding another track through there will have any effect on wildlife what so ever. Get real. The desert is a big place. It’s not like the animals out there are running out of real estate.
just like people who wont eat hamburgers because they were cows. what are cows going to do other than be eaten or stand there and make milk? build something? i dont like people overly concerned about wildlife. they liek to make human chains and get themselves killd.
I don’t see much of a significantly negative impact on the environment for this to be a concern. It is a lot better than an eight-lane highway.
The U.S economy requires the BNSF to increase capacity if they want to as it will mean better transportation services which will keep the countries going (Canada requires BNSF for CN/CP interchanges).
Somethings tells me that the goats would be just fine, after reading the link, I got the impression that the underlaying concern was that access to the canyon itself would be cut off, and that it would effectly all become BNSF right of way. That would mean no hikers, no anyone. Now whether they can effectively do this with a major highway nearby is another matter.
There’s several points in the summary on the “Save Abo Canyon” page that don’t make sense. Like BNSF instaling a fence to keep the sheep off of the track, but the railroad won’t maintain the fence nor allow others to maintain it. The fence will be on railroad property, so it would be maintained. Or, “BNSF should be required to limit this second track to it’s exsisting right of way.” Say what?!
I get the impression that the mountains in Abo Canyon are the only places where the Big Horn sheep reside, which can’t be true. There’s more than one mountain range for the sheep to reside. They’re resourseful animals that won’t hang out in low lying areas just because they get displaced from one area. Had Santa Fe double-tracked the canyon in say, the 1960’s would it have run into such opposition? Probably not.
I don’t like the idea of re-routing the river (more of a creek bed now), or changing the land in any way. But more trains mean less crap that has to travel by highway, and therefore less pollution and traffic congestion. But BNSF obviusly doesn’t care about historical value, and they proved it went out the window when they introduced the new logo.
Back in the early days of BNSF, remember when there were plans to have two color schemes? The Santa Fe warbonnet was one of them. That new BNSF logo looks like something you’d find being used by an NFL team.
An alternative is to add extra lanes to Interstate 40 and Interstate 10, And put more big rigs on American roads. The trucking industry reports they need 20,000 more drivers to fill openings this year alone.
How 'bout no, since that would take business away from railroads. I’m biased towards railroads and don’t like truckers, but I don’t want to start a flame war.
For those of you unfamiliar with the land of Abo Canyon, here are a couple shots I took during a recent trip. There are also some more pics over at http://www.railpictures.net/ , although I don’t have any there.
Here is another good shot, showing the very first bridge a train will cross when travelling Eastbound into the canyon, and this EB train also has one of BNSF’s new GEVOs (ES44DC) with the ugly new logo: http://archive.trainpix.com/BNSF/ACTION/7695XL.HTM .
ATSF had been looking at double tracking Abo since the early '80’s and it has been studied to death. Keeping trails & outside access away from the line is a prudent move. (if the people who shouldn’t be there at all would leave the fence alone, it would do just fine)
The sheep are almost never in the neighborhood and are few in number.
Never mind how the canyon got it’s name. (Southern Pacific mudchicken who died working there)
From the abocanyon website - are there any rational, non-emotional environmentalists with at least half a brain left? All they can do is spread inuendo and distort the facts?
It’s about time that BNSF got around to double tracking Abo Canyon.It has been a bottleneck for a long time,now.I hope they can fight off the environmentalists,and get about doing what a railroad does best.Moving merchandise across America in the most efficient manner[:)]!!!
Resident environmentalists should be more concerned about those 2400 nuclear weapons hibernating next to ABQ’s airport. Where was the protest when that desert bunker was carved in the desert ?
Oh, good. A place I can stick some of my vintage shots from 1986. This first one is at the west end of Abo at Sais Crusher
This next one is on the east end of the canyon near Scholles west switch.
Mousy, it looks like its still a great place! Thanks for your current photos, I certainly enjoyed them! Yeah, the railfan in me says no, but the reality of it says yes, its past due - the double tracking.
OK, if you’re opposed and want some credibility, I’d say it’s incumbent upon you to propose feasible and practical alternatives. One of the previous responders has suggested that the opportunity cost of not building the extra track is build more highways through the area to accommodate the greatly increased truck traffic and its concomitant pollution. One way or another that commerce is going to get through. Personally, I’d say the less worse is the extra rails.
Not having the second track would put a stranglehold on a transportation company vital to the growth of the US.
Hello Jim!
I simply cannot stress how much I love seeing all EMD consists. Especially in ATSF colors. Dig those shots! Looks like you also found that good spot at the bridge where Highway 60 crosses the tracks at Scholle. And yes, it is a great place to railfan, only I suffer from ‘Dash 9 boredom.’ [(-D] And from looking at that second pic, the only thing that has changed is the wooden ties are now concrete.
Also, I understand every reason why the railroad needs this double-track, but I’ve always enjoyed the meets and single-track, and I’m concerned for wildlife, but not in such a way as to try and stop the RR from expanding. In fact, I’m not super-concerned for wildlife. I’m sure if they were able to make it to today after the railroad laid there tracks there in 1908, then they’ll be able to manage with little loss of their precious habitat. There are plenty of cliffs and rocky slopes that the sheep can seek refuge on.
