BNSF Railway ran a special passenger movement between Kansas City and Albuquerque, N.M., last week, via the Raton and Glorieta subdivisions, in anticipation of the return of a weekly freight movement over part of the line. Officially an engineering special, the movement saw CEO Katie Farmer and some of her staff were on board the July 14 westbound move from La Junta, Colo., to Lamy, N.M.; the train returned eastbound on July 15. New Elk Coal began operation metallurgical coal mine 24 miles west of Trinidad, Colo., in late June; according to its website, the coal will move by truck from the mine to a transload facility at Jansen, Colo., for 18 to 24 months until a rail spur can be built to the mine site. The coal is moving by rail to New Orleans for export on a route including the Raton subdivision between Trinidad and La Junta, where it joins the Boise City Subdivision to Amarillo, Texas. — with information from Chip Savoye
