From the wye junction on the north side of the Sunset Route at Tower 47 West (MP 968.8), where the tower still stands on the south side of the line, the former El Paso & Northeastern, later SP, line to Tucumcari and the former Rock Island, now "Cotton Rock" route to Kansas City, splits off to the north (with the two parallel tracks on the north side trailing into it), heading north-northeast, single track, CTC, with speed limit 20 mph at the junction, past Tower 47 East (MP 968.4), where the speed limit is 10 mph and the east leg of the wye curls in on the east side on a tight curve, and turns northeast, and then just east of due north, past the 8,726 ft. siding at Planeport (MP 964.0 - MP 962.2), where the speed limit is 40 mph, additional track at Fort Bliss (MP 963.5), within the siding, where there is a wye on the east side with spurs into Fort Bliss, and a spur from Biggs Army Air Force Base trails in on the east side at the north ("east") end of the siding.
The line now heads north-northeast, past a detector at MP 960.3, where the speed limit has risen to the line's maximum of 70 mph, Tobin (MP 959.8), Bunsen (MP 953.6), the Texas-New Mexico State Line, just south of the 9,000 ft. siding at Newman (MP 950.3 - MP 948.4), Hueco, a detector at MP 944.2, Alvarado, a detector at MP 938.9, the 9,000 ft. siding at Desert (MP 935.2 - MP 933.4), Elwood, and a detector at MP 924.8, turns northeast past the 9,100 ft. siding at Orogrande (MP 921.8 - MP 919.9), where a spur to Jarilla once headed west-northwest, and then turns just east of due north, past Turquoise, jogs north-northeast past Paxton and a detector at MP 910.5, and then heads just east of due north past Escondida, the 9,000 ft. siding at Dunes (MP 901.4 - MP 899.5), a detector at MP 898.3, Valmont, Dog Canon, and the 9,100 ft. siding at Omlee (MP 888.3 - MP 886.5).
A spur from Holloman AFB trails in from the west, just north of the detector at MP 885.5 and south of Alamogordo (MP 882.5), where the Alamogordo & Sacramento Mountain Railway once split off on the east side, and the line turns north-northwest, past Kearney and a detector at MP 871.9 to Tularosa (MP 870.4), where it turns just west of due north, past the 9,075 ft. siding at Otero (MP 866.0 - MP 864.1), Temporal (MP 863.4), Salinas, a detector at MP 858.8, and the 9,000 ft. siding at Three Rivers (MP 854.3 - MP 852.4), edging just east of due north past North and the 9,911 ft. siding at Oscuro (MP 840.8 - MP 838.9), turning northeast past a detector at MP 837.5, further northeast past Polly (MP 833.2), jogging north-northeast and then northeast again to the 9,800 ft. siding on the south (east) side of the line and the 10,400 ft. siding on the north (west) side of the line at Carrizozo (MP 827.9 - MP 825.8), where a branch to Capitan once headed east-southeast.
The line turns north-northeast, past a detector at MP 820.4 and Robsart (MP 819.1), north past the 9,000 ft. siding at Coyote (MP 815.3 - MP 813.4), curvily northeast past a detector at MP 808.4, where the speed limit falls to 60 mph, Largo, the 9,000 ft. siding at Ancho (MP 804.1, where the speed limit is 50 mph, to MP 802.3, where it is 40 mph), and Lune, just west of due north past the 10,400 ft. siding at Tecolote (MP 793.2, where the speed limit is 40 mph, to MP 791.0, where it is 60 mph), east-northeast and then north past a detector at MP 789.3, where the speed limit has risen to 70 mph, just east of due north past the 9,000 ft. siding at Gallinas (MP 784.3 - MP 782.4), turning sharply southeast and then sharply back to the north past Corona (MP 775.9), where the speed limit is 40 mph, north-northeast past a detector at MP 773.8, where the speed limit is 60 mph and the 9,732 ft. siding at Efaw (MP 772.3 - MP 770.4), where the speed limit has risen to 70 mph, north again, and then between north-northeast and northeast past Torrance, where the erstwhile New Mexico Central line from Santa Fe once trailed in from the west.
There is a detector at MP 762.4, the 9,000 ft. siding at Duran (MP 755.3 - MP 753.5), a detector at MP 751.2, where the speed limit is 40 mph, a turn east, north, east, and then northeast to the bridge carrying the BNSF Clovis sub. overhead, as the line turns east, and the connector on the south side to the BNSF Clovis sub. at West Vaughn (MP 741.2), south end of the 9,081 ft. siding to Vaughn (MP 739.6), at both of which the speed limit is 70 mph, and the 9,268 ft. siding from the latter to TC 737 (MP 737.4), where the speed limit is 40 mph, turning north-northeast, east, and then just east of due north, past a detector at MP 735.6 to Leoncito (MP 732.0), where the line turns northeast and the speed limit has risen to 70 mph again, past a jog to the east-northeast and then back to the northeast again, the 9,000 ft. siding at Pastura (MP 720.2 - MP 718.3), and a detector at MP 716.6.
After a curvy stretch, the line turns east at Arabella, then north, north-northwest, just north of due east through the 8,976 ft. siding at Davis (MP 704.0, where the speed limit is 40 mph, to MP 702.1, where it rises to 60 mph), east-southeast, northeast past a detector at MP 698.6, east-northeast past Santa Rosa (MP 697.2), just south of due east and then east-northeast again past a detector at MP 689.3 and the 9,200 ft. siding at Los Tanos (MP 688.8 - MP 686.9), east-southeast and then east-northeast again past Cuervo and the 9,000 ft. siding at Arvid (MP 680.0 - MP 678.1), east-southeast at a detector at MP 676.3, just north of due east past Newkirk (MP 670.2), just south of due east, east-northeast, east at the 9,000 ft. siding at Simmons (MP 665.8 - MP 664.0), where the speed limit has risen to 70 mph, just north of due east past Montoya (MP 659.1) and a detector at MP 659.0, east past the 9,866 ft. siding at Palomas (MP 651.9 - MP 650.1), southeast, east, northeast past Hengis, east at a detector at MP 643.2, where the speed limit has fallen to 60 mph, and east-northeast to the 8,200 ft. south siding (MP 639.8 - MP 638.1) and then 6,800 ft. north siding (MP 638.1 - MP 636.7) at Tucumcari, once the changeover in operations between the Southern Pacific (to the south and west) and the Rock Island (to the north and east) before the latter's 1980 dissolution, where an erstwhile SP (Dawson Railway) line to French and Dawson once headed away north-northeast.