May 19, 2023: Through the mountains of New Mexico

The Southwest Chief was still in Kansas when the sun rose on day 2 of our journey, but we entered Colorado soon after making our way to the dining car for a hearty breakfast of an omelet, croissant, sausage and fruit. 

Admittedly neither myself or my dad slept particularly well last night, as the engineer blew the horn frequently during the night, and the ride was rather bumpy on the Kansas stretch. I also noticed that we had a considerably lengthy stop in Kansas City, in which the BNSF private cars were removed from the train, as I later discovered. 

This morning was particularly grey and rainy in southeastern Colorado, as we made our way into the first stop of the day of Lamar. 

This portion of Colorado is mostly flat plains, with virtually no civilization in sight for miles. It is quite a contrast to the Rockies, which are in western Colorado and are perhaps the geographic feature most people associate with the state. 

Our next stop was the town of La Junta, which was another short smoke stop. By this time it had stopped raining but was quite chilly and breezy here. 

We left La Junta running about 45 minutes late. The train stopped in Trinidad, Colorado before making its way into New Mexico. At this point we began to climb in elevation as we made our way into the mountains. The scenery was finally becoming more interesting. 

At 11 a.m. MT we arrived in the town of Raton, which was our next scheduled stretch break. This was a very charming town with an art deco-style station and the word "RATON" fixed atop a mountain overlooking the town, much like LA's famous Hollywood sign.

I walked down the platform a bit to take in the fresh air and the beautiful view of this quaint, somewhat-touristy but also charming town. For the first time on this trip I truly felt like I was in another part of the country, now having left the midwestern plains behind. 

After about 10 minutes at Raton the engineer gave a couple short blasts of the horn, and it was time to get back on board. We continued to make our way through the mountains of New Mexico. Sometimes the landscape was more green and was full of lush vegetation, and at other times the landscape was more barren and rocky. 

The beautiful scenery continued as I enjoyed lunch in the dining car, which was a savory angus burger with chips. As the afternoon went on, we stopped in the small town of Lamy, and eventually reached Albuquerque at 4 p.m.  

Albuquerque is roughly an hour stop. Here they change crews and service the train as it readies for its final leg of the journey toward LA. When we arrived there were merchants gathered on the platform, ready to greet passengers as they made their way off the train. 

The weather here had changed from overcast to dry, sunny and warm by the time we reached Albuquerque. My dad and I walked around the station, which also is in a Spanish mission style like so many of the depots along this route. I took a peek inside the waiting area, which admittedly is small and underwhelming for a city this size. But the only two trains that stop here daily are the east and westbound Southwest Chief, so a bigger station isn't required. 

Albuquerque also is served by the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, a commuter train that has been running since 2006.

After leaving Albuquerque around 5 p.m. local time, the landscape began to shift from mountainous to desert. Sometimes canyons and various rock formations also accompanied the scenery. 

We had another gourmet dinner in the dining car this evening, which featured salmon in a white wine sauce with rice and vegetables. And of course, I indulged in the chocolate mousse cake again for dessert, which I took back to my room for consumption. I spent a bit of time in the sightseer lounge car this evening as well, taking in a bit of the dessert as we made our way out of New Mexico and into Arizona. 

Unfortunately our train was running about an hour late at this point, so we wouldn't see much of Arizona's painted desert. At least we got to see some of the state's landscape before it got dark. Our last stop of the evening was Winslow, Arizona before I went to bed. Tomorrow, we should be rolling through California when the sun rises, assuming the train doesn't lose additional time.