| Navajo Mine Railroad - near Farmington, New Mexico |
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In the isolated northwest corner of New Mexico near Farmington,
the Navajo Mine Railroad was constructed in
1974 as a coal conveyor system between BHP Minerals' Navajo Mine and Arizona Public
Service's Four Corners Power Plant. Consisting of just 14 miles of track between the mine
and the power plant, the Navajo line has no outside rail connections, and is undoubtedly one
of the least-remarked -- although most intriguing -- rail operations of the southwestern
United States.
Please click one of the following pictures to see a larger image:
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Train service on the line consists of two mine shuttles operated by a single crew member.
The usual method of operation has the operator run an empty train from the plant to the
mine for loading. Upon arrival at the mine, the operator will board a loaded train, take it
to the plant for unloading, and then return to the mine; by the time he arrives back at the
mine with the empty, the first train will have been loaded and the process repeats itself.
All images on Wes Carr's Southwest Shorts © 2000, 2001 by Wes Carr. All rights reserved.
Trains consist of roughly 20 hoppers -- each bearing the name of a Navajo Indian chapter on
its side -- and 2 locomotives: an ex-Amtrak or ex-NJT E60 electric locomotive on the north
end of the train, and an Alco C425 diesel on the south end. Both the Alcos and the E60s
house remote-control equipment, allowing the train to be operated from either end. Not
normally operating under power, the Alcos serve as a backups in case the trains' E60s or their
electric power source fails, and also allow the railroad the
flexibility of multi-directional train moves without having to construct loop tracks
or conduct time-consuming run-around moves at either end of the line.
The trains reportedly operate around the clock, five to seven days a week --
although operations are subject to changes dictated by fluctuating energy demands.
The Four Corners Power Plant burns approximately 28,000 tons of coal daily, according to the plant's website at
http://fourcorners.pwenergy.com/plantinfo/default.asp .
I was fortunate enough to catch the Navajo railroad
in action the night of October 27, 2000 (a Friday night); I
arrived at the plant just as a train was pulling in. An E60 locomotive pulled the head end
of the train directly into the coal dumper -- a location inaccessible for photographs -- but
the Alco stopped right in front of me, allowing me to get a few shots from the plant entrance
road after hastily setting up
my tripod. If you go, take a reliable backroads atlas and know how to use it! I
made numerous time-consuming wrong turns as I attempted to locate a public road to the plant,
which is located high atop the bluffs above the San Juan River southwest of Farmington. Be
sure to allow yourself some extra time to find the place.
My trip to Farmington to seek out the Navajo line was inspired in part by William P. Diven's
article, "Lonely Railroads of the Four Corners" which appeared in the October 2000 issue of
Trains magazine and discussed the line in some detail. A second source of information
is the book New Mexico's Railroads - A Historical Survey by David F. Myrick, © 1990
- University of New Mexico Press. These two sources are the only references to the
Navajo Mine Railroad that I have ever seen in print.
Wes Carr claims no affiliation with the Navajo Mine Railroad, BHP Minerals, or the Four Corners
Power Plant.
