A Sampler of Tour Subjects The pages that follow derive from a series of articles from Desert Division publications, prepared during the buildup to the 65th National Convention. They are presented here to provide a general idea of the wonderful array of learning and enjoying opportunities that will be formalized for convention attendees. As details may change, please understand that more specific and final descriptions as to timing and content of such tours and other events will be available in the National Headquarters News and on the official convention website tcaconvention.org. In the meantime, get the feel of what’s in the offing! (Details subject to change.) - 11 - PICTURES FROM THE VLA- - Very Large Array Hard to get an idea of the size, but the antenna in One of the two transporters that work on the double “The Barn” is over 100’ tall and 85’ wide tracked “railroad” Just outside the main entrance is a small observation The double tracked system is over 66 miles configured view point, what a view. as a “Y”. This sectioned is being re-ballast. Also as part of the tour is the Harvey House Museum A view of the westbound four mainline crew change and in Belen, New Mexico refueling stop just over the back fence from the Harvey House. BNSF currently occupies the old Belen station - 6 - - 2926’s RETURN TO STEAM By Jon Spargo, TCA 05-59326 - Chief Safety Officer, NMSL&RHS It is mid-day in Los Angeles in the late 1940s it was like is alive and well in Albuquerque, New as you approach Union Station to board one of the Mexico. After 9 years of service and over one million Santa Fe Railway’s crack passenger trains that will miles, 2926 was retired and the giant 4-8-4 northern take you to Chicago in 39 hours! Along the way you’ll was lovingly placed in a city park in Albuquerque be pampered by a staff of attendants like no other where she sat on display for 44 years! In the late ‘90s in American railroading. That includes being wined a group of steam enthusiasts, led by a former and dined by the legendary Fred Harvey’s food fireman who fired 2926 in his youth, began the service. arduous process of liberating 2926 from the city As you approach your gleaming stainless- park with an eye toward restoring her to operation. steel Pullman coach you notice a giant steam For the sum of $1 The New Mexico Steam locomotive attached to the front of your train with Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society the number 2926 emblazoned on the side of her (NMSL&RHS) purchased 2926 from the City of tender. Peacefully, little puffs of steam appear from Albuquerque in 1999, moved her from the park in the engine giving no clue as to the 5000 horsepower 2000 and moved her again in 2002 to the current about to be unleashed upon the rails beneath her. site where restoration work began. After a friendly wave to the engineer you board your 17 years later the restoration is complete coach just as the conductor shouts his final “all and excursions behind 2926 have begun. To date aboard!” His hand signal is acknowledged by two over 200,000 volunteer man hours and $2.7 million short blasts of 2926’s whistle. As you take your seat, dollars have brought this magnificent engine back to a gentle jostle tells you your journey is beginning. life again as a living, breathing, example of the Leaving Los Angeles, you are whisked heyday of travel by rail behind the epitome of steam eastward through the Los Angeles basin. After a power. 2926 is the largest steam passenger engine stop at San Bernardino, 2926’s next challenge is running in excursion service and is one of the few pulling your train up and over legendary Cajon Pass steam engines running regularly on main line rails. which she can accomplish all by herself without the As members of TCA you will have an use of a helper. After a brief stop in Barstow, your opportunity to get up close and personal with 2926 train heads east out across the Mojave Desert. The and rub elbows with the crew that has lovingly gentle rocking of your Pullman coach gives little restored her. Mark Wednesday, June 26, 2019 on indication of speed. When you consult the on-board your calendars. TCA members attending the 2019 speedometer in your coach you are amazed to see National Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico it pass 90 miles per hour! At 90, the massive 80-inch will be hosted for a special open house at the 2926 driving wheels of 2926 are turning over at better restoration site. If you’ve never rubbed elbows with than 6 times a second! A short time later you notice “big steam” this is your chance. Oh, don’t forget to the speed is steady at just over 100 mph! bring your cameras! If you’d like a sneak preview of While we might fondly remember or read what you will see, please visit www.2926.us. about the heyday of steam, a bold reminder of what New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society AT&SF 2926 Restoration Pictures Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Engine 2926 was one of 30 oil-burning Northern 4-8-4 P2900 Class steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and was placed in service on May 9, 1944. A photo from August’s 2018 pressure test, She was Boiler water being drained off after a successful fired up for the first time in 65 years pressure test 2926’s tender glistens like a newborn Yes, she is a real beauty. We have a special behind the scenes tour planned to visit her and the dedicated men Wiring being replaced and upgraded for the marker and women working on the restoration. Watch for the lights tour information coming out in January 2019. - 6 - 2019 Convention Tour –- Sandia Peak Tramway By Chris Allen HE95-40580 If you have ever visited Albuquerque, or even your electronic devices on in airplane mode. Well, imagine travelled through this beautiful city on I-40 you have seen looking down at an aircraft from your view on the deck. the picturesque Sandia Mountains on the eastern side of Although you are not really at “the” Sandia Peak, the city. There are two popular versions of how this you have an astounding 11,000 square mile view of the mountain range may have gotten their name. In Spanish, Rio Grande Valley and the Land of Enchantment from the sandia means watermelon, so perhaps the mountains Observation Deck. That’s an area larger than eight U.S. were called that by the early explorers because of the states, or Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut ranges reddish hues during the late afternoons and combined. sunsets. The more plausible answer appears to be when The tramway itself is quite an engineering marvel these same explorers encountered the pueblo of the and is the longest aerial tramway in the United States and native people in the area they referred to them as the the third longest in the world. At the time of our visit last Sandia’s because of the squash gourds they were growing year, the restaurant at the top was being remodeled. We in the fertile Rio Grande Valley closely resembled have two tours scheduled for the tramway, an evening watermelons. The name of the native people in the area tour which will include a flight to the top observation deck soon transferred over to the nearby mountains. However to view the sunset and then dinner at one of the they were given their name, they are one of the most restaurants or a day trip which would include the Nuclear colorful ranges in such a close proximity to any city TCA Science Museum and a lunch stop. has ever visited for a convention. The tramway, tramcars, and the top observation Albuquerque is over a mile high in elevation deck are fully ADA and wheelchair accessible. We made pretty much wherever you go in the city. At the base of the trip with Convention Chairs Scott and Elaine Eckstein the tramway you gain some additional elevation and are and had a spectacular time checking out the views, snow, at 6,559’ before you even begin your ascent. The view and slopes since it was still ski season and the deck is also from here is pretty spectacular already. There is a small the base for the wintertime Sandia Peak Ski Area. gift shop and Sandiago’s, a fine dining restaurant, known Although Laurel is afraid of heights, she braved the trip in for breathtaking sunset and nighttime views. the tramcar by staying in the center of the car for the The trip, or flight as it is called by the operators of journey and not really looking around until she got to the the tramway, takes about 15 minutes to get to the top top. Once there, we all were rewarded with a spectacular observation deck. It is located at an elevation of 10,378’. If view. In the summertime it is possible to see anything you fly into Albuquerque you might recall the pilot telling from mountain bikers to hang gliders enjoying the you that the aircraft has reached 10,000’ and you can turn elevation and view of a lifetime. - 6 - 2019 Convention Tour –- Santa Fe, New Mexico By Chris Allen HE95-40580 Santa Fe, New Mexico. The name, the city, the reported to be the oldest church structure in the United history, means so many different things to so many States.