The La Junta Subdivision is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line owned, maintained and operated by the BNSF Railway. The line stretches for across the south-central and southwestern parts of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

and the southeastern part of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. The line branches off from the Emporia Subdivision at

Ellinor, Kansas Ellinor is a ghost town in Chase County, Kansas Chase County (county code CS) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,572. Its county seat and most populous city is Cottonwood Fa ...

, and runs through Newton, Hutchinson,

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

and Garden City, all within the state of

. The line connects with Boise City Subdivision at Las Animas Junction in Las Animas, Colorado, which connects it further to La Junta, Colorado. The line is mostly single track, with short segments of double track at Newton and

. The line is dispatched from the BNSF control center located in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

. The methods of control are

Centralized traffic control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...

between Ellinor and CP 2206, and

Track warrant control A track warrant is a set of instructions issued to a train crew authorizing specific train movements. The system is widely used in North America. The warrant is issued by the train dispatcher and delivered to the train crew via radio. The train cr ...

and automated block signal between CP 2206 and Las Animas Junction. The

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagsta ...

'' passenger train uses the La Junta Subdivision on daily basis. About 6 to 7 trains pass in the western region of the La Junta Subdivision, mainly agricultural and mixed freight. Most traffic is routed over the Boise Subdivision. Other traffic in the eastern half of the line is mostly intermodal and busier traffic. Occasionally other trains are rerouted on the line as well.

Connections to other railroads

The La Junta Subdivision connects with

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

at Peabody, Newton and at Hutchinson, all three in

. There are connections with

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in the Midwestern United States. It is primarily located in Kansas and extends into Colorado, but despite its name, not into Oklahoma. Overview The KO is a subsidiary of Watco, ...

at Newton and Hutchinson, as well as a discontinued connection at Kinsley, all three in

. The line also connects with Garden City Western Railway in Garden City, Kansas. The

uses the La Junta Subdivision under

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

agreement between Ellinor and Control-Point (CP) 2206.

Sources

{{reflist BNSF Railway lines Rail infrastructure in Colorado Rail infrastructure in Kansas