# Trip Report - ABQ to Santa Fe on the Bird



## abqdave (Aug 3, 2009)

The New Mexico Rail Runner extension to Santa Fe opened in December 2008 to enormous success. Since then more trips have been added on Saturday, more cars added to trains on popular runs, and starting in a few weeks Sunday service will start. In the last couple of months I have taken 3 trips…1 during the week and 2 on Saturdays.

My Monday trip started at the bus stop at the end of my street, as I wanted this to be an entirely carless trip. Taking the bus isn't usually thought of as scenic, but this bus stop is in a really beautiful setting. Looking straight across you get a great view of Open Space and the Cibola National Forest in the Sandia Mountains. Behind you, you look at downtown (1,500 feet down and about 15 miles to the west). Our New Flyer DE40LFR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abqride_729.jpg gets us downtown in 50 minutes.

The Saturday trips were to drive to the Uptown Transit Center and take the Red Line Rapid Ride to downtown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Ride. We could go from our bus stop, but the Red Line runs until 2:30am in the summer, in case we stay late in Santa Fe and take a later train back.

Downtown we arrive at the Alvarado Transit Center. It has a coffee shop in it, 3rd Alarm, that has good coffee and really good burritos (made by local institution Sadie's). We arrived about 20 minutes before the train so had just enough time to eat.

There is a good sized crowd waiting for the train all 3 times. The Monday train starts from downtown so getting a seat is not a problem. The Saturday train starts in Belen, so already has people on it…you have to hustle on to make sure you get a seat.

Rail runner uses MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPI_MP36PH-3C and Bombardier BiLevel coaches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_BiLevel_Coach and cab cars (the locomotives always face south, so the train is driven from the cab cars half the time). They are comfy enough for commutes, but I wouldn't want to take one on a long journey. The seats sit very upright, don't recline, and have only adequate leg room for 2 6-foot men to sit across from each other. They do not compare at all comfort-wise to the Amtrak Pacific Surfliners from LA-San Diego.

Once north of downtown, the train quickly picks up speed. This section of the city is industrial/warehouse. The ride is a little rough in a few places with a very small amount of bouncing and bobbing. The train has to sound its horn at most crossings, but since I last rode it quiet zones have been established in most of the metro area.

The next stop is Journal Center/Los Ranchos, which has almost as many passengers boarding as downtown ABQ does. Once past Los Ranchos, the city ends and the green of the Rio Grande valley takes over. It is a thin slice of agriculture from the river to just past the railroad tracks, where it turns to desert. There are trees, cattle, horses, and some farming. Then 2 quick stops in the small town of Bernalillo followed by the long stretch to Santa Fe.

There are 3 Indian pueblos along this stretch. The residents request you take no pictures as you go through their land. Of note are a few hornos (outdoor mud ovens) and some large spaces for ceremonial dances, usually next to a church.

About half-way to Santa Fe, the railroad branches off the former BNSF track to the Santa Fe extension. First, it goes through Waldo Canyon to climb the east side of La Bajada hill. This is a 3% grade, and the train slows from about 80mph to about 30mph. The first time I took it was the first day they were running it with 5 double-decker coaches, and the conductor said this was almost 10 mph slower than with 4 coaches. If they add any more coaches, they will have to have 2 locomotives push it.

Last section before Santa Fe is running down the I-25 median. This is fun, especially watching the faces of out-of-state drivers who don't expect to see a train pacing them. The speed limit here is 75 mph, so the train sometimes passes the traffic. I suspect the engineer tries to pass traffic for fun when he can (I would).

The train goes into Santa Fe on the newly rehabbed Santa Fe Southern Railroad track. It is not a fast section, as it has curves and goes through a few intersections, but you do get to enjoy seeing adobe architecture on the houses…most homes in Santa Fe look similar. Last stop is the Santa Fe depot, which has a fair amount of new businesses in it (transit oriented development). It is an easy 10-15 minute walk to the plaza from here, and there are shuttle buses if you don't feel like walking. Santa Fe is very compact, you can see a lot of it by foot, and it has lots of museums, shopping, historic buildings, and is generally just very beautiful.

It is a really nice trip, and only $6 round-trip on Saturday. A word of warning; the train is usually full, and especially on the 4:30 trip back, it is standing room only.

Please enjoy the photojournal. http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...926595624/show/


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## stntylr (Aug 4, 2009)

That's beautiful country out there. I would like to see the Rail Runner make the connection to El Paso. It could really be a regional commuter train.

The train itself is basically the same train as the DFW's Trinity Railway Express.


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## gswager (Aug 4, 2009)

I'm looking forward to ride RailRunner! I'm aiming for pre-AU Boston gathering ride. It would be nice for me to park at Lamy, ride Santa Fe Southern Railway to Santa Fe and then RailRunner to downtown ABQ to stay overnight before flying to Boston! At this moment, it'll be Amtrak from Lamy to ABQ to save the airport parking fee!


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## abqdave (Aug 4, 2009)

Sorry the flickr link is broken...here it is again http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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## DET63 (Aug 5, 2009)

stntylr said:


> That's beautiful country out there. I would like to see the Rail Runner make the connection to El Paso. It could really be a regional commuter train.The train itself is basically the same train as the DFW's Trinity Railway Express.


If such a train were established, would Texas have to partly fund it, or, given El Paso's comparatively remote location, would El Paso itself have put up some money to have it? Would New Mexico DOT (or whatever the agency's called) be able to fund the needed rail infrastructure improvements in New Mexico?

Given that the line would potentially serve UTEP, New Mexico State, and UNM, I think such a service could be sold pretty easily to college students, especially if there were a couple of trips made every day, including weekends.


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## stntylr (Aug 6, 2009)

DET63 said:


> stntylr said:
> 
> 
> > That's beautiful country out there. I would like to see the Rail Runner make the connection to El Paso. It could really be a regional commuter train.The train itself is basically the same train as the DFW's Trinity Railway Express.
> ...


It looks like the state of New Mexico would pay most of the cost. Only about 20 miles of the track would be in Texas so getting money for that part would be easy.

The line would run from El Paso to Las Cruces to Albuquerque then to Santa Fe. El Paso to Las Cruces is a busy corridor and a commuter train could do well. The problem is connecting it to the rest of the state. It would be over 2 hours to Alberquerque which would be a rough ride in those Bombadier Bi-Level coaches. At least they do have bathrooms but no snack bars.

Last May the state of New Mexico sent one of the Rail Runners to Las Cruces and El Paso to promote the new line.


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## MikefromCrete (Aug 6, 2009)

stntylr said:


> DET63 said:
> 
> 
> > stntylr said:
> ...


If Rail Runner is going to run trains from Santa Fe to El Paso, it seems they should invest in some coaches with better seats and some kind of food service. This is stretching the definition of commuter trains and getting into intercity travel.


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## Green Maned Lion (Aug 6, 2009)

NJT, LIRR, and MetroNorth all run trips that run longer than 2 hours. NJT and LIRR run three hour trips- to Montauk Point from NYP (actually, I think most or all of them actually originate at Jamaica) and Port Jervis, NY from Hoboken Terminal (the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western station, reachable from New York easily by both ferry and PATH rapid transit). With the exception of Long Island Rail Road's premier summer-only, all-reserved _Cannonball_ to the Hamptons, the NEC portion of a few trips to the various MetroNorth NEC branches (the ones that actually run that long), and NJ Transit's almost-so-different-it-doesn't-qualify _Atlantic City Express_, none of them offer food service.

In fact, the majority of Port Jervis trains seem to run with the few unrefurbished Comet IIs still running- the oldest and most run-down cars in the system, with rotten seats. They work.

Food service isn't really important- you can always bring your own food. It's nice, don't get me wrong. Maybe Rail Runner can grab the Horizons with their food service cars if Amtrak really does get rid of them. What is more important- much more important- is the seat comfort and sufficient capacity restrooms. And the Bombardier Bi-Levels can be easily outfitted with more comfortable seating.

That being said, the NJT Multilevels and LIRR bi-levels are comfortable enough to accommodate 3-hour trips. And SLE's Mafersa coaches are even more comfortable.


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## DET63 (Aug 13, 2009)

> NJT and LIRR run three hour trips- to Montauk Point from NYP (actually, I think most or all of them actually originate at Jamaica) and Port Jervis, NY from Hoboken Terminal (the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western station, reachable from New York easily by both ferry and PATH rapid transit).


Looks like, from what I can make of the LIRR timetable (not the most user-friendly, IMHO), even traveling from Jamaica to Montauk is nearly 3 hours. One forgets what a huge region the New York metro area is.


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