Train Day in Santa Fe

 

Santa Fe Skies RV Park, where we’re staying, is located only about a half mile from the Rail Runner commuter train that runs between  Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We rode the Rail Runner into Santa Fe, about a fifteen minute trip. It takes about an hour between ABQ and Santa Fe. It appears to be fairly new. The roadbed is very smooth with  welded rail and the equipment, made by Bombardier in Canada, has three levels and is very comfortable. The train appears to servegovernment workers commuting between the capitol in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and was the idea of Governor Bill Richardson. The schedule accommodates commuters between the two cities, but the run times are not frequent enough during the day to be convenient to tourists visiting Santa Fe.

From the depot in Santa Fe we got the Santa Fe Southern tourist train for a one hour trip south to an overlook of an ancestral Pueblo area that may be developed into a national monument. The train runs on the old Santa Fe spur connecting Lamy, NM, with Santa Fe. The Santa  Fe main line was at Lamy, and Amtrak currently runs through there. We left Santa Fe in a down pouring thunder storm. We rode in 1920’s era heavy-weight cars with windows that open. There was also an open flat car, but we could only use it for a short time due to rain.  On the return trip, the train went backwards, so the brakeman in the caboose looked ahead and blew the whistle for crossings and was the “eyes” of the train.