Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 180 miles (290 km) northeast of Santa Fe. Ratón is Spanish for "mouse". The pass crosses the line of volcanic mesas that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the state line, and furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and the upper valley of the Canadian River, leading toward Santa Fe, to the south. The pass now carries Interstate 25 and railroad tracks. The pass is a historically significant landmark on the Santa Fe Trail, a major 19th-century settlement route between Kansas City, Missouri and Santa Fe. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for this association. ES44AC - BNSF: P42DC - Amtrak:
The modern era would be a poor choice for Raton Pass as BNSF no longer sends regular freight over the line, pre-1995 in the Santa Fe era would be better.
180 miles way too long. People really need to temper these suggestions with what DTG are likely to include as mileage in a TSW route - currently no more than about 60 miles or 100km.
You misread the proposal, but the OP didn't include the actual route length in the proposal, just the distance the route is away from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The route I would assume be the same as the TSC one, which is only 45 miles
Pre-1995 ATSF locos I would want: -B40-8W -C40-8/C40-8W/C41-8W -C44-9W -SD75M -SD45-2/SD45-2B -SD45U -SD40-2U -GP30U -GP35U -GP40X -U30C -C30-7
