{"id":2663,"date":"2013-06-01T11:34:38","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T15:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=2663"},"modified":"2013-06-01T11:45:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T15:45:07","slug":"amtraks-southwest-chief-east-of-las-vegas-new-mexico-september-1998","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/amtraks-southwest-chief-east-of-las-vegas-new-mexico-september-1998\/","title":{"rendered":"Amtrak\u2019s Southwest Chief east of Las Vegas, New Mexico, September 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"

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General Electric Genesis Diesels and Style T Semaphores.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Railways can offer tremendous technological contrasts. Among my photographic themes is juxtaposition of the oldest technology along side the most modern. When I made this image, there was roughly 60 years between development of the signals and the locomotives.<\/p>\n

\"Amtrak<\/a>
Exposed with a Nikon F3T and Nikkor f2.8 24mm lens on Fujichrome<\/a> slide film. I didn\u2019t record my exposure, but the image was made at dusk, and I probably had the camera set to about 1\/2 second at f2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I made this image during an exploration with Mel Patrick of the former Santa Fe mainline across northern New Mexico<\/a> and eastern Colorado. At that time BNSF still maintained many of the old Union Switch & Signal<\/a> Style T-2\u2019s dating from the steam-era.<\/p>\n

The Union Switch & Signal Style T-2 was featured in my book Railroad Signaling<\/a>\u00a0published by Voyageur Press<\/a>.\u00a0Here\u2019s an except from my text: \u201cUS&S\u2019s T-2 is a three-position upper quadrant type with a top of mast mechanism. Typical semaphore height measured 22 feet 6 inches from the ground to mechanism.”<\/p>\n

Traffic on this line was relatively light, with only Amtrak\u2019s Southwest Chief<\/a><\/em> and a couple of BNSF freights daily. Then, as today, most of BNSF trans-con freight was routed via the Belen Cutoff<\/a> (through Abo Canyon) to the south.<\/p>\n

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