| Southern Transcon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Owner | BNSF Railway |
| Locale | Southwestern and Midwestern United States |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Type | Inter-city rail Freight rail |
| Operator(s) | BNSF Railway Amtrak |
| History | |
| Completed | 1908 |
| Built by | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Southern Transcon is a main line of the BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen Cutoff in New Mexico (going through eastern New Mexico, northwestern Texas, briefly part of western Oklahoma and to Kansas) and bypassed the steep grades of Raton Pass (which passes through northeastern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado), it now serves as a mostly double-tracked intermodal corridor.
The Transcon is one of the most heavily trafficked rail corridors in the western United States: as of 2006[update], an average of almost 90 trains daily (over 100 trains on peak days) passed over the section between Belen and Clovis, New Mexico, with each train typically 6,000 to 8,000 feet (1,800 to 2,400 m) long.[1]
- ^ Frailey, Fred W. (April 2007). "Birthplace of the Transcon". Trains.