BNSF Abo Canyon, New Mexico, double tracking completed

At first sight it may look unremarkable, but these photos shows the completed double track through the hitherto single track bottleneck of BNSF's trackage through Abo Canyon in New Mexico. An extensive effort went into the construction of a five-mile (8 km) stretch of a second main track through Abo Canyon, New Mexico. The  project cost $85 million and took more than two years to construct. The completion of a second main removed a major bottleneck on BNSF’s busy Southern Transcon, resulting in faster and safer movement of rail traffic while also preserving the natural beauty and wildlife of the canyon.


Before the project, around 80 trains traveled through Abo Canyon every day. Now BNSF expects the canyon to accommodate around 130 trains per day. This picture taken in June 2009 illustrates the bottleneck that has now been removed. On the left, an eastbound train is stopped at the end of double track at East Sais, waiting its turn while on the right, a westbound trains exits the five miles of single track through the canyon.  (BNSF photos)