At West Clovis (MP 0.0), west end of the Clovis Yard on the south side of the main line, the Carlsbad line heads away south from a wye on the south side, single track, Track Warrant Control, with maximum overall speed 49 mph (because there are no signals), but local speed restriction 10 mph at the junction, increasing to full line speed as it heads south, past Cameo (MP 7.5), a turn to the southwest, where the original routing direct from Texico trails in (with no remaining track) on the east side, a detector at MP 15.2, Portales (MP 17.6), where there is a 20 mph local speed restriction, Verba (MP 20.9), where full line speed prevails, the 5,765 ft. siding at Delphos (MP 29.8), and the 5,809 ft. siding at Kermit (MP 37.2).
The environment along this line differs little from that along the main line until the transition between the farming country near Clovis and the high plains similar to those of the Belen-Clovis line, as the line continues southwest, past Elida (MP 42.2), the 5,747 ft. siding at Tornero (MP 47.6), a detector at MP 49.8, a spur at MP 52.4, Kenna (MP 52.5), the 10,246 ft. siding at Boaz (MP 65.5), Elkins, the 5,740 ft. siding at Campbell (MP 82.2), where the line turns curvily west-southwest, a detector at MP 83.0, Acme (MP 90.0), where there is a local speed restriction to 30 mph as the line turns north-northwest, west, and then south-southwest in a short span, the 5,635 ft. siding at Helena (MP 94.9), and the 5,764 ft. siding at Poe (MP 103.0), as far as Roswell (MP 107.8).
The line turns south-southeast, past South Spring (MP 112.6), and a spur southwest at the Roswell Industrial Air Center (MP 113.0), as it enters the transition between the high plains of the Belen-Clovis line and the desert of West Texas, a detector at MP 114.9, a spur at Pecos Valley Feed Company (MP 117.1), the 5,658 ft. siding at Chisum (MP 118.8), Dexter (MP 124.2), and Greenfield (MP 126.6), and turns just west of due south past Hagerman (MP 130.5), site of the Hagerman Auxiliary Track, Lake Arthur, a detector at MP 138.2, a spur at Agricultural Products Company (MP 142.4), and the 10,223 ft. siding at Espuela (MP 143.8), and turns south, past Artesia (MP 149.9), the 5,788 ft. siding at Atoka (MP 155.1), Dayton (MP 157.7), a detector at MP 159.0, and the 7,300 ft. siding at Lakewood (MP 165.2).
The line then turns curvily southeast, bridging over the Pecos River, past a detector at MP 176.7 and Avalon (MP 177.5), and south again, past the Carlsbad Industrial Spur (MP 181.3) to the small yard at Carlsbad (MP 183.0), almost to the Texas state line, where the local speed restriction is 20 mph and the Loving Industrial Spur continues south and then southeast. The countryside this far south more strongly resembles the desert of West Texas (just a few miles beyond the caverns) than it does the high plains of the Belen-Clovis line, further north.