Train 981 passes the station at Mountainair, NM on July 27, 1988. The engineer is throttling back engines 5995, 8051, 5967, and 8044 after cresting the top of the hill. Speed will quickly climb to 70mph. Mountainair is the top of the long 1.25% grade out of Belen. A half mile east of the station, the highway swings around a long abandoned wye track that was used to turn the helper engines.

Clovis to Needles