It was great to see the changing scenery as the train left the
farming areas (soybeans and corn were everywhere) to the grazing lands occupied
by cattle. Finally, the desert landscape
was in view. This landscape reminded me
of those cowboy movies of yesteryear.
 |
| Corn and Soybeans (and the occasional wind turbine) were found in the Midwest. |
 |
| I just happened to get this shot of the Mississippi. It separates Illinois and Iowa. That's the bridge we crossed. |
 |
This train follows the Santa Fe Trail, so there were reminders along the way. We even stopped in Las Vegas, NM (not NV) before reaching Lamy (the stop for Santa Fe).
|
 |
| Much of the land had grazing cattle. It was interesting to see those near the train run in the opposite direction as the train went by. |
 |
| This was shot in New Mexico. |
 |
| The landscapes looked like those old western movie shots. Where's John Wayne? |
 |
| They had an unusually wet time this year, and it is much green with water standing in spots. |
 |
| I was on the east side of the train, and I missed the mountains. You can catch a glimpse of the white topped mountains in the background. I should be on the west side on the return trip. |
 |
| I cannot get enough of those rocks and cliffs. |
 |
| It's been much wetter for the folks in the southwest this year. |
 |
| Trees were found around where homes were built. Of course, this home is no more. |
 |
| The windmill seems to still be working, but the building has collapsed. |
 |
| I seemed to have taken lots of old and dilapidated farm buildings. |
 |
| Most herds run when the train was nearby. This cow just seemed curious. |
 |
| I'm surprised the photos came out pretty good. I took them from a fast moving train. |
 |
| The train moved slowly as we moved upward to over 7500 feet in elevation. |
 |
This was the rear of the SW Chief. You could see this portion of the train as we went around curves. The sleeping cars were at the back of the train.
|
 |
| Once in Missouri, the train moves roughly the same route as the original Santa Fe Trail. I don't believe we went through Oklahoma, but through Colorado. |
The train went through one tunnel called the
Raton Pass which is 7588 feet in elevation (highest point on the trail). It wasn't announced, and things just went black on the train (there are no lights inside a train tunnel)! According to Wikipedia, "The tunnel is entirely within New Mexico, with its northern portal only a few feet south of the Colorado border." I couldn't get a picture, but here's one compliments of Wikipedia.
 |
| I didn't take this photo, but it shows the Southwest Chief emerging from the tunnel heading toward Santa Fe, NM. The gradient in this area was pretty steep, and the train moved slowly. |
