 Naperville, IL, Amtrak/Metra Station |
 We Southern
Californians were bundled for the Chicago Area weather.
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 Naperville is a good train watching station. |
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 Mendota, IL,
has a nice static display of rolling stock on the north side of the
tracks.
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 Fort Madison,
Iowa, reconstructed, and the Mississippi R. about 7 p.m.
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 The Catfish Bend Casino reminds one of earlier river traffic. |
 La Plata, about an hour later. |
 The Part-time
evening agent met the train at its 8:06 pm arrival.
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 It looked like they were having a slight sprinkle. After a series
of naps during the night on the roughest track between
LA and Chicago (in Kansas), we were in the high-desert in Colorado and
spotted some
historic structures (right).
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 Heading up Raton Pass, where the train passes through a tunnel which opens in New Mexico, you pass the Wootton Ranch. |
 Can you imagine
covered wagons and herds of cattle passing through this area 150 years
ago?
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 It's slow going
up the pass, through the many curves, so you often see the rest of the
train as well as the Wootton Ranch from 3 sides. Notice the "S"
curve to the left of the photo above.
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 Distant
mountain to the east still have a deep covering of snow in late April.
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 Wootton Ranch
and the original Santa Fe Trail and distant snow-capped mountains.
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 A "Y" in the
Santa Fe Trail, the right branch went over Raton Pass before the tunnel
was carved by the Santa Fe.
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 Dueling 'Raton
Tunnel' signs are in place at both the east and west portals. The
western sign (above) has a classic Santa Fe sign affixed.
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 Water-pumping
windmills in NM, with telegraph wires, cattle hay feeders and a brown
barn.
Raton, NM, stop (right) with classic storefronts near the station. |
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 Raton, NM,
Amtrak Station.
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 Coming down the
grade from the tunnel, it was announced that we had lost dynamic
braking and the odor we all smelled was each car's brakes...talk about
toxic. In fact, when passengers were boarding in Raton, we
noticed them looking under the diner and taking pictures. The
brakes were on fire!
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 Our car
attendant got the fire extinguisher out, prepared to douse the flames,
but the conductor said not to extinguish it!
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 The conductor
who decided not to extinguish the burning brakes is standing above,
gray hair, blue jacket.
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 Our SWChief at Raton, NM. |
 Downtown Raton from ground level. |
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 Looks like they had a hot time here in the past. |
 A home where the buffalo roam and the antelope play. |
 The "S" curve east of Lamy. |
 This home looks
like a desert lizard to me, especially before the flat roof in the
center was added.
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 Previous
conductors have said this bridge is from Civil War days.
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 Does this bridge look 150 years old to you? |
 "My adobe hacienda" except for the dishes on top. |
 A more typical
New Mexico homestead along I-25 south of Santa Fe.
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 A teepee with a 'path' rather than a 'bath.' |
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 Chuck wagons,
station wagons, stake beds, pickups, classic Chevys, not that's a
western back yard! This is why I call the railroad routes,
America's Back Yards, unlike the highways that see America's Front
yards.
 This neighbor
had a more interesting stable of horses: All Chevys:
pickups, panels and three '55 Chevys!
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 Shuttle to Santa Fe, NM |
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 Another couple of cars are on the west side of the station. |
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 Church west of Lamy. |
 Downtown Albuquerque for crew change, and 1-hr. stop. Route 66 looking west from the station. |
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 Old Route 66, looking east from the station. |
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 Albuquerque,
Home of the Rail Runner, with a downtown stop very close to the
Southwest Chief stopping point. One could detrain from the SWC
and take the Road Runner north to Santa Fe.
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 As they washed
the windows, our room was in the shade for the 1-hr. crew change, plus
1-hr. locomotive change to get one with dynamic brakes.
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 Red rocks south of Albuquerque in late afternoon. |
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