#AtchisonTopeka&SantaFe

[railwayhistorical]

Landmark

This is an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief splitting the signals at Levy, New Mexico. These semaphores have been coming down incrementally over the last couple of years which has caused the signals to be some of the most photographed railroad subjects in recent memory. This view, pointing my camera compass southward, provides a great view of Wagon Mound—an important landmark for those traveling the Santa Fe Trail prior to the coming of the railroad. One image by Richard Koenig; taken April 28th 2023.

[marmarinou]

Santa Fe back in the day... by santafetrainman

[railwayhistorical]

Tele-View

A westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief splits the semaphores and speeds down hill at the east end of Colmor, New Mexico. One image by Richard Koenig; taken April 29th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Semaphores’ Last Stand (3 of 3)

Finally, the last of three posts on the ancient semaphores of the Santa Fe. Once again we see an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief rolling between the distinctive signals, this time at the ghost town of Colmor, New Mexico. And once again I’ll cut and paste some history on the content here...

These three signals are some of the last semaphores (eleven, that I know of) still operating in the United States. They are on the original line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in northeast New Mexico.

The reason these ancient signals are still here is due to the Belen Cutoff of the early 19th century. It became the preferred route for nearly all of the traffic on the Santa Fe and successor BNSF. The only train operating on the line currently (beside work trains for maintenance) is this one (each way per day), and so the railroad has been slow to put money into replacements.

However—the semaphores have been coming down incrementally over the last couple of years. This has caused the signals to be some of the most photographed railroad subjects in recent memory (with UP 4014 being the most in my estimation).

This was my final train on this historic line this trip—I hope to make it back out before the signals are extinct entirely.

Five images by Richard Koenig: taken April 29th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Raton

This seems to be a thing out west—towns erected lighted signs over their burgs, perhaps for PR reasons. I made it up to the Trinidad sign a couple of years ago, and just did the same at Raton recently.

Of course, for those of us with an interest in railroads, the word “Raton” carries with it a rich history. I’ll quote myself in an article I wrote in the journal Railroad History, number 221...

Moving south from Trinidad, located in the relatively new state of Colorado, and roughly following the Mountain Route of the Santa Fe Trail, the railroad first crawled its way up and over Raton Pass in 1878, supplanting a wagon toll road carved out by Richens Lacey “‘Uncle Dick” Wootton. It then ran down the other side of the pass to Willow Springs, later called Raton, New Mexico.

The pass for this original route of the Santa Fe turned out to be a challenging one due to a steep grade and tight curvature. But it’s still in use—barely. See my other recent posts on the Santa Fe semaphores for more on this line.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken April 28th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Colmor Cutoff, Part Two

Following my previous post, here are some night shots of the remaining bridge abutments of an abandoned Santa Fe rail line near Mt. Dora, New Mexico. I got up prior to four AM as I knew first light would happen at five and sunrise at six. It was only a twenty minute drive from my hotel in Clayton.

Upon the first hint of light in the east, evidence of stars, and the galactic core of the Milky Way, began to fade. This is logical, of course, but in the heat of the moment, frantically trying different compositions and exposures, experimenting with light painting, I did not really notice. The final image here shows the sky with early twilight present and quickly brightening.

Go here for my previous post on the history of the line—and a link to a webpage that helped me understand it.

Four images by Richard Koenig; taken April 27th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Levy

Just one of my favorite spots on earth—Levy, New Mexico. One image by Richard Koenig; taken April 28th 2023.