I suspect Carbon Junction was a bit of pain for the crews, since the track held only 27 cars and both mainline switches faced west. If the Farmington setout exceeded 27 cars (which I think it commonly did) the crews had the choice of setting out 27 cars and hauling the balance to Durango (and back), or shoving the excess cars down the branch blocking the junction crossover and creating some additional switching for the Farmington turn. Similarly large blocks for eastbound cars from Farmington had to split, or left blocking the crossover. I would guess that normally the excess cars would be hauled into Durango, but I think during the height of the gas boom Durango may have run out of track space. Eastbound trains picking up cars at Carbon had to shove the cut onto the mainline since there was no east facing switch.
JBWX
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2017 11:44AM by John West.