Andrew Roth Wrote:
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> Hi Earl,
> The tracks at the end of the Farmington line must
> have been PACKED FULL of cars being unloaded
> during the peak times!! Switching loads and
> empties must have been a challenge for the crews!
> Andy
Farmington was a switching disaster. In early 1952, no new tracks had been built yet. The mainline had to be used as a team track to unload cars. Crews would take every bit of 16 hours to make a turn to Farmington and back.
The new trackage came later in '52, I think. This was after El Paso Natural Gas went the ICC and forced the Grande to do something about increasing capacity on the NG. That is when a couple of engines got sent south and unused high side gondolas came down to be made into pipe gons and idlers.