WEBISODE | Locomotion: How Does The Rail Runner Run? | KNME

http://www.knme.org - The only commuter train in New Mexico is expanding its line to Santa Fe. The Rail Runner already provides service from Los Lunas, just south of Albuquerque, to Bernalillo, just north of the Duke City. The new line is expected to ease traffic congestion along I-25 and connect two of the largest cities in the state.

I was interested in the physics involved in moving a train. I learned the Rail Runner runs on biodiesel fuel, purchased from Colorado. Once it gets moving, the 150-ton engine can't move along a grade greater than 3 percent. This means it can't go up or down more than three feet in elevation for every 100 feet of track it travels. So, laying track between Albuquerque and Santa Fe -- an elevation change of more than 2,500 feet over about 100 miles of track -- is a feat of civil engineering.

The Mid-Region Council of Governments, the folks in charge of building and running the Rail Runner, expect the extension to be complete by December 2008.

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