Tag Archives: New Mexico Rail Runner Express

Sepia Vibes in Santa Fe’s Railyard

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MPI MP36PH-3C 107 leaving Santa Fe Depot, August 3, 2018

Just south of the Santa Fe Depot in Santa Fe, NM is an area called the Railyard.  This area has been the terminal of a train line since the 1880s, and the Railyard area was in fact the rail yard serving the adjacent train depot.  As was the case in many places throughout the United States, after the construction of the Interstate Highway System, rail traffic diminished and eventually, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway discontinued service to one of its namesake destinations (though service was maintained via the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008, and then by the New Mexico Rail Runner Express).  The area became blighted due to the significant reduction in the railyard’s importance to the city.  Redevelopment plans were announced in 2002, when it was decided to make the 50 acre area an arts district owned by the City of Santa Fe that would retain the historical, industrial feel that the area had been associated with for so many years.  The area is now host to a Farmers Market, Hispanic cultural center, teen art center, restaurants, performance spaces, shops, art galleries, cinema, and residences.

Southbound New Mexico Rail Runner Express trains to Albuquerque pass through the Railyard immediately upon departure from the historic Santa Fe Depot.  When I was walking through this area in 2018 and saw the water tower adjacent to the tracks, I figured a photo of a train passing through this part of the development would be a stunning one.  Although I rarely do this, I applied a sepia tone to the photo for this post in order to give the photo a vibe that might be reminiscent of the area from a bygone era.

What do you think of the sepia tone photo?  You can compare it to the original version by clicking here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: October 2021

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MPI MP36PH-3C 102

Location: Santa Fe Depot, Santa Fe, NM
Operator of Vehicle: Herzog Transit Services (under contract to the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Rio Metro)
Date of Photo: August 3, 2018

Staying in New Mexico for the rail photo of the month, we head up to the state capitol of Santa Fe.  This is the terminal of the state’s lone commuter rail line, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, which connects Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  Service began in 2006 on a portion of the route from Albuquerque to Sandoval County, and reached Santa Fe in 2008.  The Santa Fe Depot serves as the northern terminal of the line.  The depot building was the namesake of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, founded in 1880, but was only connected to the mainline railway by a spur due to steep grades making it difficult to connect the mainline to Santa Fe itself.  The station was little used for many years, housing the offices of the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008.  This past July, it was announced that the depot building will be overhauled and restored in accordance with the historical preservation guidelines that the station falls under.

The area around the Santa Fe Depot, known as the Railyard, has been a focus of urban renewal since 2002.  A “Viewfinder” post about that development will be coming later this week.

For more photos of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, please click here.

Enough Teases, Here’s What’s New and Updated for the Start of 2021!

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Ventura County Railway No. 2
Anyone who knows where I’ve traveled or has visited the site with some frequency over the years may have noticed that the Bus Photo of the Month for January 2021 was from a city that had not been included on Oren’s Transit Page before, and that I’ve been highlighting a number of new website sections over the past few weeks. 

The biggest and most noteworthy additions are the brand new sections for Baltimore, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin.  As I noted in a recent post, there was a certain amount of irony to the fact I grew up 40 miles from Baltimore and am an avid Orioles fan, yet the city had not been featured on this site until recently.  Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin were destinations that I traveled to in late 2019 and early 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to make those trips when I did.  

I also took advantage of some time I had recently to move some photos that had been on the Uncaptioned Photos page for quite awhile and put them in more appropriate places on the website, most notably, the photos of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway now have their own page.  Perhaps you found the new material on your own, but if not, here is the full listing of where new photos were recently added to the site, with new sections highlighted in bold and italics.  

New Photos from the Land of Enchantment (& More)

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Albuquerque, NM
In August, I visited New Mexico for the first time (unless you count passing through on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief back in 2014).  Although I was only there for four full days, I did have some opportunities to photograph the transit available in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and in between.  Both cities have sizable bus networks, though the latter is larger than that of the former.  In addition, the Rail Runner Express operates commuter rail service between those same cities.  Unfortunately, for such a short stay and due to other logistical constraints, I didn’t actually ride any of these systems, though photographing them while trying to capture the local architectural styles in some of my photographs while doing so was fun!

This update also includes photos from around the DC area, including photos of MARC’s newest diesel locomotives, the DC Circulator’s new Proterra electric buses, and more!

Here is the complete list of pages with new photos in this update: