There are only two places where NM highway 509 is near the Lee Ranch branch line. Just 30 seconds after I passed this spot headed south, I heard this train clear Ambrosia Lake on my scanner. I quickly stopped and turned around. By the time I got back to this spot and got the video camera setup, I could hear the train approaching. Thank you Lord, that was perfect timing. If I had been two minutes earlier and I would have been too far down the highway to get back to this spot and four minutes later I could have missed the train as it goes behind some hills and would have been out of sight.

Four miles further up the road I caught up with the train again and had time to set up for more video taping.

October 2006 Trip Index

Split main lines