Fruitland
ALBUQUERQUE N E W
M E X I C O
Morgan Lake
APS Four Corners Power Plant
N A V A J O N AT I O N
T E R R I T O R Y Shop
Illustration by Otto M. Vondrak. Not all roads shown. Not an offi cial map. ©2015 White River Productions
ISR 36
ISR 5086
road crosses over the railroad at the entrance to the plant. Permission may be obtained to access a little path that follows the tracks for about a quarter mile if there is a locomotive parked on the siding there. Be careful, though, because in order to get to the path, you must cross the haul road that is used by large mine trucks. The only other location where the
0 1 MILES 2 3
TABLE ROCK ROAD
public can gain access to the railroad is five miles south at Area III. This is Table Rock Road, the only public grade crossing on the line. One may park a car in the middle of the road here, since it sees virtually no traffic on this dirt path, and watch the trains. Do not attempt to park in the parking lot before the crossing, since this is private property and you will be asked to leave. Do not attempt to go further than the crossing; I made that mistake in trying to find another location, and being in a rented Toyota Corolla, I almost ended up in an arroyo! It should be mentioned again that
ISR 5082
Navajo Mine Loadout
Cebolla Post Office
the railroad is on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The nation is considered sovereign, and iyt has its own laws. The Navajo Reservation does have its
own police department, and like other places, does not like people trespassing on private land. Since the area also has a rich history of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Anasazi, the land is considered sacred, so please respect the Navajo laws and heritage. It should also be noted that bobcats and rattlesnakes have been known to inhabit the area, so extra caution must be taken. With a simple, straightforward operation, shooting the Navajo Mine Railroad is one trip a railfan must take. Sure, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge is only 60 miles away in Durango, and the BNSF Transcon with over 100 trains a day is only 90 miles away in Gallup, but why not skip those and go after a railroad that is rarely seen and seldom mentioned? You can also impress your friends with the Navajo word for “railroad,” konh-na-al-bansi-bi-thin.
Jim Tiroch, 31, lives in the St. Louis, Mo., area with his wife, Amy, and their dog, Jarvis. Besides being a railfan, His other hobbies include breeding aquarium fish, and he is an avid Cardinals baseball and St. Louis Blues hockey fan.
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ABOVE: One of the former NdeM E60s leads a train north back to the power plant at the only public grade crossing on the entire railroad, Table Rock Road. JAMES HICKEY PHOTO
TNMR
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