Railyard rising: Big changes for city after train's arrival

| The New Mexican

7/19/2008 - 7/20/08

Editors note: The New Mexican will be featuring a weekly update on the progress and activities leading up to the opening of the Railyard.

Did you know that El Museo Cultural sponsors and operates the Contemporary Hispanic Market, which takes place downtown on Lincoln Avenue next weekend, July 26 and 27? The market represents more than 140 Hispanic artists from throughout New Mexico. El Museo also sponsors a Winter Contemporary Hispanic Market at the El Museo building on the Railyard every Thanksgiving weekend.

Did you know that the first train pulled into Santa Fe on Feb. 9, 1880? The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. made its journey to Santa Fe on a spur line, built because mountain ranges prevented Santa Fe from being on the main line.

Did you know that, with the train's arrival, hotels and trading posts were developed throughout the West along the railway tracks, including in Santa Fe? The train brought visitors and new-comers to Santa Fe, but it also brought opportunity to long-time residents and offered a social center similar to the historic plaza.

Did you know that, by the 1940s, the Santa Fe Railyard was an active center for the locals in Santa Fe? Neighbors, still living next to the Railyard today, remember those afternoons picking wild lettuce and swimming along the acequia. The Railyard was the place where people came during the Depression to be given free meat from the warehouses; there was ice skating in the winter and it was the performance site for the circus.

Did you know that, decades later in 1985, Mayor Louis Montaño first announced a plan to develop the Santa Fe Railyard?

Did you know that El Museo Cultural has named its theater Third Rail Theater? The name commemorates the rail engine turntable that was unearthed when Community Bank was being constructed on Guadalupe Street. The turntable was used to rotate engines so the train could head out of town in a direction opposite its initial entry. Two of the three railroad lines coming into Santa Fe were standard-gauge tracks, but the Chili Line operated on narrow-gauge tracks. The third rail was added to the turntable to accommodate the narrow gauge. Hence, the name, Third Rail.

The Railyard community grand opening weekend is scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14.