On the 31st of October 2021, I got off this train to find someone had found in the BNSF General Orders that the famed pair of signals at MP 706 on the Raton Subdivision was to fall at 0800 the next day. I raced home and then raced northward after gathering my gear.
I snapped this image of what was supposed to be the last train to pass these sentinels, but according to the signal maintainers, the actual heads were late in arriving, so this didn't end up being the last train to pass these signals, but may have been the last photos of a train passing them.
By Wednesday, 2 November, there was no evidence that either semaphores, which had served the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe since the 1920's had even existed here. The signals, bases, even the base from the aborted replacement in the 1990's was removed. Only the bungalow mounted tri-light remains now. The 706 signals's cause of death? Signal 7061, the westbound signal suffered a breakdown that could not be repaired, and it was decided to replace the signal outright. For two weeks, trains passed here at restricted speed, the only favorable position the signals could display.
