When tickets went on sale for Bart Jennings' rare mileage trips in west Texas, I immediately bought tickets for all of them and Randy Jackson and I agreed to drive from Albuquerque and I reserved a room in Lubbock for the three nights needed there. I then purchased tickets on Southwest Airlines o fly to Albuquerque.
Flying to Albuquerque 11/19/2010I was up at 5:30 AM and following breakfast and my morning chores, my mother drove me to John Wayne Airport where I breezed through security. I then accessed the Internet and paid my speeding ticket from my Bloomfield, Iowa incident last week on the way to the QJ Chinese Rocket to Council Bluffs trip before boarding Southwest Flight 1601 to Las Vegas which was quick. Yes, there are slot machines at Las Vegas International Airport. I then boarded Southwest Flight 254, which took me just over an hour to reach Albuquerque.
I followed Randy's excellent directions then ran into his wife Marie, who pointed me to Randy waiting in the car. We left by driving south to Belen on Interstate 25 then east to join up with US Highway 60, which we would also take east. We drove through Abo Canyon and stopped at the highway bridge at the east end and had a red-over-green signal so we waited for the train.
The views looking both ways off the bridge. Just before the train came, another one of our rare mileage passengers arrived and we heard the eastbound train on its approach.
BNSF 6605 East passing our photo location. We returned to the car and drove east to our next stop.
The Santa Fe station in Mountainair, New Mexico built in 1908. We continued our eastward journey.
We found another westbound BNSF train east of Mountainair.
BNSF 5194 was the lead unit.
The Willard Curve just west of Willard, New Mexico.
US 60 allowed for excellent passing shots of BNSF 6605, with which we played cat and mouse for many miles.
BNSF 5367 West just a few miles west of Vaughn.
This is where the Union Pacific goes under the BNSF just west of Vaughn.
The Santa Fe station in Vaughn, built in 1908.
We just missed this BNSF stack train as it passed the station. From here we drove east to Clovis, where we met Dave and Kathie Smetko at Sandra's Home Cookin' where we had a slow dinner. After that we stopped to refuel in Muleshoe and drove to the Super 8 Motel into Lubbock for the next two nights. I accessed the Internet and bought my first Train Festival 2011 ticket to Iowa City, after which I called it a night.
11/20/2010
I arose at 5:30 AM, had breakfast and worked on the story before meeting Randy and Marie, and we drove over to the boarding site at the Lubbock Water Park. I checked in with Sarah Jennings then went to get pictures of our train.
Our train waiting for our passengers to board.
West Texas & Lubbock GP38 3635, ex. Helm Leasing 3635, exx. Norfolk Southern 2932, exxx. Conrail 7884, nee Penn Central 7884 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971.
San Luis and Rio Grande full dome 509, ex. Mount Hood "Cascade View", exx. San Luis and Rio Grande 1052, exxx. Westours "Chena" 800122, exxxx. New York, Susquehanna and Western, exxxxx. Don Gage 1981, exxxxxx. Autotrain 521, nee Santa Fe 509 built by Budd Company in 1954.
San Luis and Rio Grande bi-level coaches 3009A and 3009B, nee Long Island Railroad 3009 and 3010 built by Tokyu Car in 1990.
San Luis and Rio Grande full dome 512 "Alpine View", ex. Saratoga and North Creek "Alpine View", exx. Alaska Rail Tours 2004, exxx. Westours "Tanana" 800125, exxxx. New York, Susequehanna and Western 1981, exxxxx. Autotrain nightclub 541, nee Santa Fe 512 built by Budd Company in 1954.
Independent Locomotive Service GP35 1386, ex. Wisconsin Central 2061, exx. Wisconsin Central 4013, exxx. Missouri Pacific 2065, nee Texas and Pacific 607 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964.
One more view of our train before I boarded full dome 509.
West Texas & Lubbock Railway HistoryThe Crosbyton-Southplains Railroad Company was chartered on April 6, 1910 and then built 38 miles of track from Lubbock to Crosbyton. In 1915 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company acquired the railroad and renamed it the South Plains and Santa Fe Railway Company on August 17, 1916. The South Plains and Santa Fe was then leased to the Panhandle and Santa Fe on July 1, 1917 and operated by the latter company until they merged in 1948. Just a year after the lease, on July 1, 1918, the South Plains and Santa Fe completed a 64 mile line from Lubbock to Seagraves.
The Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway Company was one of the two major operating subsidiaries of the AT&SF Railway in Texas. It owned or leased virtually all Santa Fe properties west of Sweetwater with lines covering the Panhandle and South Plains regions as well as a line across the Trans-Pecos to Presidio.
By the 1920's, railroad operated in all directions out of Lubbock except directly west. In an attempt to prevent another carrier from entering the area from that direction, the South Plains and Santa Fe Railway built westward from Doud, completing a 65 mile extension through Whiteface to Bledsoe, Texas in 1925.
The SPSF and PSF were eventually merged in into the AT&SF. The Santa Fe sold the two lines on April 2, 1990 {minus the Bledsoe to Whiteface trackage abandoned in 1948} to the Seagraves, Whiteface and Lubbock Railroad. The SW&L was purchased by shortline holding company RailAmerica on November 1, 1995. RailAmerica soon renamed the railroad the West Texas & Lubbock Railroad. On May 25, 2002, the railroad was again sold, this time to the Permian Basin Railways.
Today's West Texas & Lubbock RailwayThe West Texas & Lubbock Railway operates 107 miles of railroad on two lines extending from Lubbock, TX to Seagraves and Whiteface. The railroad serves the agricultural area west and southwest of Lubbock and the oil fields of west Texas. The primary commodities hauled are fertilizer, construction aggregates, grain, cotton, chemicals, peanuts, plastic and ethanol. In 2007 the WT&L bought the BNSF line between Plainview and Dimmet, which the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad subsidiary Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway had completed in 1928.
The Permian Basin Railway is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holding. PBR was formed in May, 2002 to purchase the Texas-New Mexico Railroad and the West Texas & Lubbock Railway {WTLC}, collectively the Permian Basin Railways. Subsequent railroad acquisitions by IPH have been under the umbrella of PBR. In addition to the TNMR and WTLC, PBR owns the Arizona Eastern Railway {AZER} and the San Luis & Rio Grande {SLRG} acquired in December 2005. Additional acquisitions have included the Chicago Terminal Railroad {opened in 2006} and the Mount Hood Railroad {acquired in 2007}.
Our TripAfter all the passengers boarded, we departed Lubbock Water Park and headed out to the Broadview Subdivision to start our day. This is the new line built as part of the Texas Department of Transportation highway project in Lubbock County.
We left the Lubbock Water Park and headed north, rounding the curve into Doud Yard.
Doud Yard with the Doud sign.
Cotton fields as we headed to the BNSF property line.
Cotton fields and oil wells.
We ran to the BNSF property line.
Everyone detrained for a static photo session.
The static photo at the BNSF property line.
Our group.
One more view of our train as we returned to board.
The BNSF property line.
The Permian Basin Railroad symbol as I reboarded.
We returned to the wye with the line to Levelland, where we would detrain for a photo runby.
Bart Jennings.
We detrained for the first photo runby at Reese Wye.
The train preparing for the reverse move.
The reverse move.
Photo runby one.
The reverse move before we reboarded.
Our train took the northwest leg of the wye and we proceeded towards Levelland.
A unique green area in West Texas around this home.
Where the paved road turns to dirt.
Reese Air Force Base to our north.
