Albuquerque to Lamy

Albuquerque passenger station is at MP 902.4. The depot on the west side of the station, on 1st Street SW, is a replacement for the former ATSF depot that burned in the 1990s, including Amtrak, a Greyhound bus station and a local bus terminal in this area. The Alvarado Hotel (a Harvey House) was once located here, also. There were on-line fuel pads north and south of the passenger platforms as recently as November, 1998, but these have been removed by April, 2006. The north end of the station passes above Central Avenue, E., on a concrete bridge, with signals at "MP 902.4", also known as "Restricted Limits, Albuquerque".

From Albuquerque, where the speed limit is 79 mph for passenger and 70 mph for freights, and the line is Double Track (DT) with Track Warrant Control (TWC) and Automatic Block Signals (ABS), the line runs first north-northeast, parallel to the Rio Grande, passing a parking garage at the Albuquerque Convention Center, on the west side, "Marquette", a grade crossing at Lomas Boulevard, a spur on the east side, a crossover and signals, a spur on the east side, a crossover the other way, a grade crossing (Mountain Road), spurs on both east and west sides, extra track to the west, another crossover, a spur to the west, two spurs to the east, another spur curving away to the west, MP 901, a grade crossing (Indian School Road), the I-40 concrete bridges immediately north of the grade crossing, a spur to the west, Intermediate Signals, two extra tracks, a spur to oil tanks to the east, spurs to cements plants east and west, a crossover and signals, a spur to the east into a cement plant, a spur to the west, a grade crossing with a divided highway (Menual Boulevard), a spur to a cement plant on the east side,  a grade crossing (Candelaria Road), spurs to the east, a grade crossing over a wide street (Griegos Road), an industrial spur off to the west, a grade crossing over a divided highway (Montaņo Avenue), and Hahn (MP 898.8), where the speed limit is 60 mph,  and the line becomes single track, CTC.

There is a spur to the west, a grade crossing (Osuna Road), an Intermediate Signal (MP 898.1), a grade crossing over a divided highway (Los Ranchos Road), a spur to the west trailing in, the other Intermediate Signal, a spur to the west, a grade crossing (Ranchitos Road), a spur to the east, a grade crossing (El Pueblo Road), the Los Ranchos/Journal Center RailRunner station, a road bridge overhead (Paseo del Norte), a spur to the east, a grade crossing (Ortega Road), signals, two grade crossings (Alameda Boulevard, Alameda Road), a bridge over a stream, a grade crossing (Myers Road), a road bridge overhead (Roy Avenue), Intermediate Signals, a road alongside to the west, extra track at Sandoval, signals at the "west" end of a west side siding (semaphores, in 2006; most if not all have been replaced by 2009), a grade crossing (Sandia Road) in the Sandia Indian Reservation, a spur on the east side, a grade crossing at Sandia Lane, a spur on the west side, a spur on the west side, signals at the "east" end of the siding (searchlights, in 2006), a public service spur off to the west as the line rises onto an embankment, a road bridge overhead, Intermediate Signals (semaphores, in 2006) at Alameda (MP 894.7), where 79-70 has resumed as the line descends again, Intermediate Signals at MP 894.1, a bridge over a "river", a road bridge overhead, Intermediate Signals at MP 892.1/2, a grade crossing (Bernalillo Avenue, MP 888.30), Intermediate Signals (semaphores, in 2006, color lights in 2008) at MP 888.1, a detector at MP 887.9 where there is a road alongside to the west (Camino del Pueblo), Intermediate Signals at MP 887.1a grade crossing (Crucero Street), extra tracks on both sides (the one to the east being the Brenalillo siding?), separated Intermediate Signals (semaphores, in 2006, color lights in 2008) at Bernalillo (MP 886.0), the Downtown Bernalillo Railrunner station with platform and umbrella shed on the west side, with a north-facing spur on the east side opposite it, and  the Sandoval County/US 550 RailRunner station, with similar facilities, on the west side just south of a road bridge overhead (Route 44), where the Albuquerque urban area ends and a line to San Ysidro and beyond once headed northwest. CP Ruiz is at the north end of a CTC-controlled segment of double track/siding in the Bernalillo area.

The line now angles northeast, past a spur on the east side, a dirt road grade crossing, separated Intermediate Signals (MP 881, semaphores in 2006) surrounding a dirt road grade crossing with a road alongside to the west, a dirt road grade crossing, a bridge over a road, a dirt road grade crossing, separated Intermediate Signals (semaphores, in 2006) surrounding a bridge over a wash at Algodones, searchlight signals (in 2006) at the west end of the 6,380 ft. siding on the west side at Nueve (MP 876.6), a dirt road grade crossing, searchlights (in 2006) at the east end, the San Felipe Indian Reservation (a village dating from ca. 1400), a grade crossing, a bridge over a wash, separated searchlight (in 2006) Intermediate Signals at Wallace, a grade crossing, Hagan Junction, where a line to Hagan once headed southeast, a grade crossing, and a detector at MP 874.5, a bridge over a wash, searchlight (in 2006) Intermediate Signals, a bridge over drainage, MP 872, a dirt road grade crossing (with a wig-wag, in 1997), a separated Intermediate Signal (searchlight, in 1997), a bridge over a wash, the other Intermediate Signal (MP 870, searchlight, in 1997), a bridge over a wash, and a bridge over a gulley.

The line passes a new siding under construction on the west side at MP 865.5, in 11/08, separated Intermediate Signals (searchlights, in 1997) at Domingo (MP 865.3), a RailRunner station on the west side at Santo Domingo (where there is now a west-side siding), the Santo Domingo Pueblo (1598), turns east, away from the Rio Grande, and passes a bridge over an irrigation canal, a road bridge overhead, a bridge over a gulley, extra track on the north side, a grade crossing, and a water tank at  Rosario, where the Rosario Industrial Spur once headed south-southeast, a bridge over water, Intermediate Signals (MP 863, searchlights in 2006), MP 862, a bridge over a dirt road, twin concrete bridges carrying I-25 overhead, MP 861, a relocated stretch of line with alternating embankments and rock cuttings (the original line turns away east), a bridge over a road, a dirt road grade crossing, cuttings on the curves, Intermediate Signals (searchlights, in 2006) at MP 859.2, and the junction at CP Madrid (MP 858.5), where the RailRunner line to Santa Fe (now the main line) departs to the north, and CTC ends in favor of Track Warrant Control, Automatic Block Signals on the Lamy line

There are  two dirt road grade crossings, and  the line turns east southeast, passing searchlight (in 1997) signals at the west end of the 4,750 ft. separated siding on the south side of the line at Waldo (MP 854.6), where a branch to Madrid once headed south and the siding takes up the route of the original line, and searchlight (in 1997) signals at the east end, where the line relocation comes to an end with extra track on the south side at the east end.

There is a cliff on the north side of the line, a bridge over drainage, the first of the separated Intermediate Signals (searchlights, in 1997) at Los Cerrillos (MP 852.2), a grade crossing, a road bridge overhead, the other Intermediate Signal, the first of the separated Intermediate Signals (searchlights, in 1997) at Galisteo (MP 848.7), a bridge over a stream, the other Intermediate Signal (MP 847.2), a bridge over a road, and Ortiz. The line turns northeast past separated Intermediate Signals (semaphores, in 2006) at Kennedy (MP 844..2 and MP 843.8), where the erstwhile New Mexico Central (later ATSF) line from Willard, on the Belen-Clovis line, once trailed in from the south and departed to the north to head for Santa Fe, two bridges over streams on a 1.4% grade, a detector at MP 843.4, triple-light Intermediate Signals at Spiess, a bridge over a dry stream, a grade crossing, semaphore (in 2006) Intermediate Signals, separate (searchlight, in 2006) Intermediate Signals, a road bridge overhead, and the searchlight signals (in 2006) at the west end (MP 836.25) of the 7,500 ft. siding on the southeast side at Lamy (MP 835.2), where the branch to Santa Fe itself cuts off to the northwest at a wye with an interchange track, and the station is on the northwest side of the line, with yard tracks beyond the siding across from it. (The branch is now run by a shortline called the Santa Fe Southern.) There was once a Harvey House at Lamy called 'El Ortiz', northeast of the depot.