New Mexico Mystery Railroad Info

[Peter KS]

Recently I was travelling on a flight out of Albuquerque, New Mexico when I spotted an oval of railway track unexpectedly plonked down in the desert. It looked very like a simple layout of Hornby model railway track with some short sidings.

Later I searched for it on Google maps satellite images and found it. You can find it yourself. It is located about 8 miles due west of Double Eagle Airport which is west of Albuquerque.

I decided to do a 'Constance Babington Smith' (look her up on Google!) and enlarged the image as much as I could to see if I work out what was going on there. Is that a steam loco in the station? Is it a film set?

Who would build an oval of track in the desert? There does seem to a line heading off the south to join the BNSF main line. May be it is a military railway like Longmoor? For training they need an oval so you don't have to keep running around at terminii.

Searching the internet, I find nothing on maps of the New Mexico rail system (operating, disused and dismantled).

Any ideas ?

 

[Royston Vasey]

Certainly looks like a film set, you can see there are also old-time coaches, a Western-style "main street" mock up and loads of vehicles, trucks, cherry pickers etc. I'm flying into ABQ on Saturday so I'll have a look out for it!

 

[generalvegitable]

it does look very much like a film set. it can't be a tourist attraction because it doesn't have the obvious features of one, I doubt that its a test track of some description. so its most likely a film set.

(link to google maps: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Albuquerque&ll=35.140055,-106.930339&spn=0.010686,0.01929&hnear=Albuquerque,+Bernalillo,+New+Mexico,+United+States&gl=uk&t=h&z=16

 

[swj99]

Is it for the Johnny Depp film of the Lone Ranger ?

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/local/central/skyranger-flies-over-possible-film-set

RIO PUERCO, N.M. (KRQE) - Filming will soon start on the Lone Ranger movie..........................Carpenters and other technicians are rapidly creating a detailed and authentic-looking town from the old west.

 

[Schnellzug]

it's probably some secret military training area. There's a lot of them round that way.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

it's probably some secret military training area. There's a lot of them round that way.

Not any more it isn't!

 

[deltic1989]

it's probably some secret military training area. There's a lot of them round that way.

Not any more it isn't!

This springs to mind .

Back OT I have to agree that it look like a film set. There are a lot of big rigs hanging around and on the southern edge there appears to be a flat waggon with a camera rig on it. Also there are a fair few large looking motor homes around.

Or it could be where the American Strategic Steam Reserve is hidden.

 

[jamesontheroad]

It's a film set. If you look towards the north of the cluster of buildings, you'll see some camera trucks with crane mounted camera jigs (and some cranes, which have a similar footprint). There are also a lot of back lot trailers too, presumably where actors and crew hang out.

The only film I can think of that might have used it is True Grit. There were a couple of sequences with characters boarding / disembarking a train at a small station with a wooden platform like the one at the bottom of the "town."

 

[ntg]

If you look to the south there is actually some filming taking place on the dislocated section of track! Lots of people standing around there.

 

[185]

Definately recent. Been built within the last two years, according to different satellite images of the exact same coordinates.

 

[WestRiding]

http://www.kasa.com/dpps/news/krqe_news/region_1/skyranger-flies-over-possible-film-set_4060886