DSC_0361-Belen-yard
Santa Fe to Williams, 12 November 2017
We had a great time in Santa Fe, but I had to get back to work, so on Sunday, 12 November, it was time to start our trip home.
We were stopping off at the Grand Canyon on the way back. I had visited the Grand Canyon in 1982 and 1983, so it had been a while for me, and Anne had never been there.
On 12 November, we took Railrunner back Albuquerque and then Amtrak's Southwest Chief to Williams Jct., Arizona, the station nearest the Grand Canyon. ATSF used to serve Williams on its main line, but a line relocation around 1960 reduced grades and curves and moved the main line a little ways north of Williams. ATSF still had a line through Williams as their line to Phoenix continued to use the old main line to Ash Fork, the former junction with the Phoenix line. Williams was the junction of ATSF's Grand Canyon branch.
Our trip started on the 1020 am departure from Santa Fe, train 703, led by MP36 106. The trip to Albuquerque took an hour and a half, which would have left us with over 4 hours in Albuquerque until the Chief was due. We were planning to have lunch, but then what?
I half jokingly suggested to Anne that we ride the train all the way to the end of the line at Belen and then return. That would take another 1.5 hours and still leave us plenty of time to get lunch before the Chief was due. She had settled into her seat on Railrunner and decided that if she had to kill some time, riding the train was as good of a way to do it as sitting at the combined Greyhound and Amtrak station in Albuquerque. The extra charge to go all the way to the end of the line and back was $1 each, so it did not break the bank.
We got to see the country that we passed through in the dark on our way to Albuquerque. Beautiful, if desolate north of Albuquerque, greener south of there as the train follows the Rio Grande to Belen. We saw some bison at one point.
At Belen, a cut of BNSF units was crossing over on the main line next to the the Railrunner station as our train waited 15 minutes to return north.
Back in Albuquerque, we stashed our bags and went back to the same New York style pizza place where we ate a few days earlier. Good pizza and good beer.
An Amtrak P42 and Horizon coach were parked at the station. Not sure why they were there.
The Chief arrived early, shortly after we'd moved out to the platform to wait for it. We climbed on after a big crowd got off. It seemed to me that about half of the coach passengers get off in Albuquerque and a new batch gets on. The train only had 2 coaches and they were full. Amtrak could probably run another coach on this train in the off season ad still fill it.
The dining car dinner did not disappoint, even if we had to take a relatively early seating as that was what was left when we boarded. We were not yet famished, having eaten a fair bit of pizza for lunch.
The sunset was gorgeous, then the night was dark. We were on time into Williams Jct., where a van operated by the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was waiting to pick us up.
DSC_0361-Belen-yard
Santa Fe to Williams, 12 November 2017
We had a great time in Santa Fe, but I had to get back to work, so on Sunday, 12 November, it was time to start our trip home.
We were stopping off at the Grand Canyon on the way back. I had visited the Grand Canyon in 1982 and 1983, so it had been a while for me, and Anne had never been there.
On 12 November, we took Railrunner back Albuquerque and then Amtrak's Southwest Chief to Williams Jct., Arizona, the station nearest the Grand Canyon. ATSF used to serve Williams on its main line, but a line relocation around 1960 reduced grades and curves and moved the main line a little ways north of Williams. ATSF still had a line through Williams as their line to Phoenix continued to use the old main line to Ash Fork, the former junction with the Phoenix line. Williams was the junction of ATSF's Grand Canyon branch.
Our trip started on the 1020 am departure from Santa Fe, train 703, led by MP36 106. The trip to Albuquerque took an hour and a half, which would have left us with over 4 hours in Albuquerque until the Chief was due. We were planning to have lunch, but then what?
I half jokingly suggested to Anne that we ride the train all the way to the end of the line at Belen and then return. That would take another 1.5 hours and still leave us plenty of time to get lunch before the Chief was due. She had settled into her seat on Railrunner and decided that if she had to kill some time, riding the train was as good of a way to do it as sitting at the combined Greyhound and Amtrak station in Albuquerque. The extra charge to go all the way to the end of the line and back was $1 each, so it did not break the bank.
We got to see the country that we passed through in the dark on our way to Albuquerque. Beautiful, if desolate north of Albuquerque, greener south of there as the train follows the Rio Grande to Belen. We saw some bison at one point.
At Belen, a cut of BNSF units was crossing over on the main line next to the the Railrunner station as our train waited 15 minutes to return north.
Back in Albuquerque, we stashed our bags and went back to the same New York style pizza place where we ate a few days earlier. Good pizza and good beer.
An Amtrak P42 and Horizon coach were parked at the station. Not sure why they were there.
The Chief arrived early, shortly after we'd moved out to the platform to wait for it. We climbed on after a big crowd got off. It seemed to me that about half of the coach passengers get off in Albuquerque and a new batch gets on. The train only had 2 coaches and they were full. Amtrak could probably run another coach on this train in the off season ad still fill it.
The dining car dinner did not disappoint, even if we had to take a relatively early seating as that was what was left when we boarded. We were not yet famished, having eaten a fair bit of pizza for lunch.
The sunset was gorgeous, then the night was dark. We were on time into Williams Jct., where a van operated by the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was waiting to pick us up.