RailPictures.Net Photo: Untitled Lifting Locomotive at 50 miles West of Socorro, New Mexico by Eric Williams

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» Untitled (more..)
» Lifting Locomotive (more..)

» Very Large Array
» 50 miles West of Socorro, New Mexico, USA (more..)
» November 22, 2010

Locomotive No./Train ID

Photographer

» Unknown
» Unknown

» Eric Williams (more..)
» Contact Photographer · Photographer Profile

Remarks & Notes

In a remote part of the New Mexico desert is a double track railroad that radiates in three directions to no-where. This railroad carries the dishes of the Very Large Array radio telescope network into the various configurations needed to probe deep space. The dishes are moved by a lifting locomotive that has four trucks in a side-by-side arrangement and transports the dishes to the various pre-set footings along the 13 mile mainline. There are 9 of the 80” diameter dishes per line and they move in and out much like a lens. When in the close configuration, they act in unison like a wide-angle lens, when in the furthest spread configuration, like a telephoto lens. As well as another lifting locomotive, the line also has a track-mobile and several hoppers to spread ballast along with a ballast tamper.

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