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Raton Pass/ Southwest Chief Coalition | Chicago - Kansas City - Albuquerque - Los Angeles. Kansas rail travelers are blessed with access to scenic Raton Pass in Colorado and New Mexico. However; this might not be for long. Freight traffic, the life blood of any passenger rail route, has ended between La Junta, Colorado and Albuquerque, NM. Why? Consider History. Raton Pass rail alignment follows the Old Santa Fe trail. At the turn of the 19th Century, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) bypassed Raton Pass with a new freight route through Amarillo, Texas. Most passenger trains continued to operate over Raton Pass until 1971, when Amtrak took over Santa Fe passenger operations. Only the Super Chief (predecessor of today's Southwest Chief) after May 1st. Following the Santa Fe - Burlington Northern merger in 1995, Raton Pass was scrutinized as a redundant route. The BNSF Railway has increased its work to double track its Chicago - Los Angeles freight mainline through Amarillo, Texas. Losing any segment of passenger quality rail in this nation would be a tragedy. The cities of Hutchinson, Dodge City, Garden City in Kansas, Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad in Colorado and Raton, Las Vegas, and Lamy in New Mexico would be without passenger rail service. Small town economic fortunes depend upon transportation. For this reason, the North Flyer Organization supports continued operation over Raton Pass through its efforts to develop a Raton Pass/ Southwest Chief Coalition of Communities. contact Evan Stair at sfrr@aol.com Copyright 2011, NorthFlyer.org |
