#ratonpass

[railwayhistorical]

Return to Raton

On my way to northeast part of New Mexico recently, I drove over the famous Raton Pass once again. As opposed to nearly four years ago, when it was pleasant, the snow fell this time.

This trip marks my first time out to the Southwest since prior to the pandemic—it was good to get out into the field once again. I will make a long series of posts here which contain a very rough cut of selects from the trip.

In the older photograph here, an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief is passing the St. Aloysius Church Remains. The train recently cleared Raton Pass and is now approaching Trinidad, Colorado.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken April 26th 2023 and May 14th 2019.

[railwayhistorical]

Upon Raton

This is an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief on the former Santa Fe. The train has just recently crested Raton Pass and has entered the state of Colorado. The mountain segment of the Santa Fe Trail (which dates to 1822) found this route well prior to the railroad coming though of course.

This particular spot, from which the photo was made, is right near Uncle Dick Wootton's ranch. He had carved out the wagon road and collected tolls prior to the coming of the railroad in 1878.

In the end it's easy to see why the ATSF built the Belen Cutoff—given the curvature seen here, along with a grade approaching 3.5 percent.

Image by Richard Koenig; taken June 27th 2018.

[railwayhistorical]

Abo Canyon Action

We see here an eastbound train climbing up through the canyon. The rail line, of course, is the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF, which opened in 1908. This newer, modern line, avoided the steep grades of Raton and Glorieta on the original main line built across northern New Mexico in the 1880s.

And there are two lines here: the train is climbing up on the original cutoff, while the second track (on the left side of the image) was carved out and opened in 2011. The canyon had been a major bottle neck prior to this.

Image by Richard Koenig; taken October 27th 2018.

[railwayhistorical]

Raton Pass

For qstation—who had a wonderful shot of this same location on a post recently. This cannot compare to a 2-10-2 steam engine helping three Alco PAs and fifteen car train over the pass, but it’s the best I could do here sixty-eight years later...

This is a westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief near the summit of Raton Pass. I believe these images were taken right at Uncle Dick Wootton’s Ranch—the man who owned the strategic piece of land when the ATSF first came through here in 1878; the railroad supplanted the wagon road that Uncle Dick had built.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken October 29th 2018.

[railwayhistorical]

St. Aloysius Church Remains

This is the final post of the same eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief that I’ve posted a few days in a row here. This location is upon Raton Pass just a few miles into the state of Colorado.

The train is seen rolling past the St. Aloysius Church Remains—I’ve added an image here to show the main building of the complex, high on the hillside.

Four images by Richard Koenig; taken May 14th 2019.

[railwayhistorical]

Raton Pass, Part One

Today begins a stretch of posts, seven in all, where I was able to photograph a single train, Amtrak’s westbound Southwest Chief, several times between Trinidad, Colorado, and Glorieta, New Mexico.

So, here in the morning, we see the train crawling its way up steep Raton Pass. The train is still in Colorado at this stage, near the St. Aloysius Church Remains.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken October 29th 2018.

[railwayhistorical]

Raton Pass, Part Two

Continuing a string of seven posts, here we see the westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief near the summit of Raton Pass.

I believe these images were taken right at Uncle Dick Wootoon’s Ranch—the man who owned the strategic piece of land when the ATSF first came through here in 1878; the railroad supplanted the wagon road that Uncle Dick had built.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken October 29th 2018.

[frostycownips]

raton pass, NM