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Source: The Desert-Mountain Times The South Orient Rail Line, expected to reopen in early June, will run through Fort Stockton, Alpine and Presidio and connect rail systems in Texas and Mexico. The Desert-Mountain Times has a nice map with route marks on their website. Please click on the following link to see it.
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South Orient engines nos 109, 107 & 108 (in that order) came through Fort Stockton today (Monday, 21 June 2004) southbound, pulling about a dozen Santa Fe hoppers. The cargo was not visible, but they sounded heavy - probably ballast for repairs south of town.
The ballast and bed washed out in spots over a two mile stretch in late April; last weekend, that strip appeared to have been fully repaired. Texas Pacifico (the new operator for the line) reports that they also had significant damage due to the same storms to between Fort Stockton and San Angelo (to the north). The storm was one of the two worst flooding incidents in county history (in excess of the 100 year flood) and was the same storm responsible for the I-20 washout in far west Texas, and the flooding in Carlsbad, NM.
This traffic seems to indicate that repairs are on schedule for service to begin in late June.
Also of note - there is no plan to allow service with a destination of Fort Stockton on Interstate 10 - the first intersection with an interstate.
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