Line from Ft Worth to Abaline - western rr??

[train person]

Hi all, I'm new but was curious how active the line from Fort Worth Texas to Abaline, Tx is.

How many trains per day, speed (noise reasons) etc.. What kind of trains (freight or passenger) and typical load, oil, grain, etc...

I found property but it backs up to train tacks. Although I grew up on trains, gf was a switch man and took me for rides on the engines in the train yard when I was a kid, (not sure I was allowed on them looking back LOL) I wanted to get educated on how active this particular line is.

I think it's owned by Western Railroad and goes from Fort Worth to Abaline Tx.

How can I find this information?

 

[Tower 55]

That is the Union Pacific Baird Sub (former Texas&Pacific). At Sweetwater, TX the line changes name and becomes the Union Pacific Toyah Sub. The line runs all the way out to Sierra Blanca, Texas where it meets the UP Sunset Route (former Southern Pacific) and goes to Commie, I mean California.

You'll see 50+ trains per day. Mostly UP, but there are two BNSF trackage rights trains a day. Intermodal (I and Z) are the most common, but there are mixed freights, and the Abilene Local that traverse the line. Occasionally there will be loaded and empty coal and grain trains, but nothing to set your watch to. No passenger trains except for the yearly UP employee appreciation train late in the year between Ft Worth and Iona.

Track speed is fairly high out there. I dont know what it is exactly, but 60MPH is fairly common. The westbound trains will be climbing the grade to West Texas and you'll hear the engines growl. Eastbound trains will be going down grade and their dynamic brakes will be whining. The line has Centralized Traffic Control, or CTC, so the signals (green, amber(yellow), lunar(white), and red) will tell the story.

If you can find one, drop the $30 on an SPV Texas. Its a worthy piece of kit. So is an Altamont time table and a Texas atlas.

The line runs all the way out to Sierra Blanca, Texas where it meets the UP Sunset Route (former Southern Pacific)

 

[garyemmons46]

T&P run 8 action at Baird, TX 05/22/1970

Departing CTC territory and racing west towards Abilene, this T&P aka MoPac engr is a half a second away from snagging a clearance and some flimsies as his train bursts into ABS/timetable trackage at dusk on a hot, West Texas evening

 

[train person]

So tell me how close is too close to the tracks if thinking about building a home. I like trains and have fond memories of them from childhood.

The land is pie shape 10 acres. House and barn would be in the small end part of the pie, away from the tracks. From there, the tracks are about 800 feet away. How much noise would there be? This would be for a horse farm so the horses would be closest the tracks. I build tall strong fences so I'm not concerned about them getting on the tracks. I think there's only one track in this area if that makes any difference or not I don't know.

Still tbd... But it's in a great location on a really nice road and there's huge homes built right next to the tracks 1/4 mile away. Thoughts??