| was oridganily going to go the nortern rout to ny but the ice storms have stoped me. i have 2 weeks to railfan and would like to stay withen about 700 miles of albuquerque. prefer bnsf to up but would like to fan both. need a area that has about 50 or more trains daily and were ican park and photo trains without fear of the law. would prefere in the south-west some place and would also like to see a bunch of cefx units. any one with good ideas were to go. |
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To keep away from the weather, you may need to look I40, Grand Juction and south. Maybe some of the more local railfans have some great spots out that way and can post them.
This essentially puts you anywhere between Barstow, CA and Newton, KS. Barstow has the main BNSF classification yard for trains entering/leaving CA. UP also goes through Barstow, leaving the BNSF line a few miles east of Barstow at Daggett. Train density is phenomenal and you can leave I-40 at Ludlow (about 50 miles east of Barstow) and follow old route 66 which pretty much parallels the RR. No problem with photography since you’re out in the middle of nowhere on public property. Seligman, AZ, is another place to catch action as are Flagstaff, Holbrook, Winslow, Gallup, etc.
You can also from Albuquerque south on I-25 to around Belen and head for US 60 to Clovis. UP goes over BNSF at Vaughn. You can take US 54 to Santa Rosa and get on I-40 east to Tucumcari. I-40 east of Santa Rosa parallels the UP line. You will see 2-3 trains at least between Santa Rosa and Tucumcari. Or, you can continue to Clovis to catch BNSF action.
Hope this helps.
Andre
| so what typ and how much action should i see at clovis or vaughn |
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Just drop down to Belden and follow the BNSF main east (US highway 60) to Texas, Oklahoma, & Kansas or west (Interstate 40 / US highway 66) to AZ & California.
You should pretty much see the same kind of action as you would see anywhere between Barstow and Chicago. Lots of trains around the clock.
Are you from Albuquerque? If you’re willing to go a little more than 700 miles, San Bernardino, CA is within a 750 mile radius and that would put you through Cajon Pass with lots of BNSF and UP action. Bakersfield, CA is about 800 miles from Albuquerque and that would put you through Tehachapi, again with lots of BNSF/UP action. There’s a Motel 6 in Mojave, CA right across the street from the mainline. You don’t need to chase. Let 'em come to you.
In Gallup, NM, both the Red Roof Inn and the Motel 6 are close to the tracks (get off I-40 at exit 16). You can get a good view of trains leaving and arriving Barstow at the back of the Motel 6 in Barstow.
Andre