El Paso and Northeastern Railway
Encyclopedia
The El Paso and Northeastern Railway (EP&NE) was a short line railroad that was built around the beginning of the twentieth century to help connect the industrial and commercial center at El Paso, Texas
, with physical resources and the United States
' national transportation hub in Chicago
. Founded by Charles Eddy, the EP&NE was the primary railroad in a system organized under the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company (NMRy&CCo), a holding company which owned several other railroads and also owned mining and industrial properties served by the lines.
The EP&NE first connected El Paso with Alamogordo, New Mexico
, in 1897, further extensions allowed for tourist excursions to the Sacramento Mountains and some timber
extraction. A link with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
(CRI&P) allowed for the introduction of the Golden State Limited in 1902. When a line connecting to lucrative coalfields was secured, the holding company
and its system were folded into the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
, an affiliate of the predecessor of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The lines of the NMRy&CCo were responsible for the founding of several settlements in the Territory of New Mexico (later New Mexico
).
at White Oaks, New Mexico
in 1879, at which point railroads began to gain interest in the Tularosa Basin
and Sacramento Mountains
. The coal
deposits in the area were also enticing as they were perceived to be a good source of fuel for the city of El Paso 160 mi (257.5 km) to the south. An interested railroad promoter, Morris Locke, noted that the forests of the Sacramento Mountains would be a good source of timber
. Over the next fifteen years several railroads were projected to link the two settlements but only limited construction had been pursued by the time Charles Eddy developed an interest in linking El Paso with the CRI&P. Eddy kept his interests somewhat quiet and El Pasoans hopefully speculated that the CRI&P might build its own line to El Paso.
that projected never built lines through the Maxwell Land Grant
to Taos, New Mexico
and further west. Meanwhile, some of the partially prepared right-of-way in El Paso was incorporated three years later into the promising Kansas City, El Paso and Mexico Railroad (KCEP&M, led by Morris Locke) which built 10 miles of track and graded a further 21 before its debt caught up to it. Construction began in September 1888 with loans from local entrepreneurs and some word of financial commitment from interests in the American Northeast. Just a few days after the first excursion train
s operated on the new line, lawsuits were filed in court seeking restitution for the Texas and Pacific Railway
, the unpaid shipper of the KCEP&M's construction materials. Although the founders continued to solicit funding, in 1892 the Texas and Pacific purchased the stalled KCEP&M. The new owners did not resume construction.
Eddy had been in contact with the leadership of the CRI&P but had been unsuccessful in his pitch to connect their railroad to El Paso. Eddy had gained an interest in the prospective region after working on engineering projects in southeastern New Mexico. In the Spring of 1897 he led potential investors from Pennsylvania
on a camping trip in the Tularosa Basin. Eddy received financial backing from these men but he did immediately not make any major announcements, file for incorporation
in the territory or apply for the El Paso–White Oaks railway franchise. In May 1897 on the other side of the country in New Jersey
the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company was incorporated, it would become the holding company for Eddy and his group's vertically integrated
interests. When another group of men sought the necessary franchise from the El Paso city council, Eddy intervened and won the franchise because of the rival group's inability to pay a performance bond
. A few days later (on October 22, 1897) the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad was incorporated in both New Mexico and Texas. By November 1897 the railroad's first line's route had been determined and orders for supplies were being placed.
Using part of the KCEP&M's grade, which Eddy had purchased in full, the EP&NE completed an 85 miles (136.8 km) line north to a ranch owned by Eddy, where a town was being platted in anticipation of the railroad. The town was named Alamogordo after a location Eddy was familiar with in the Pecos River Valley
. It would become the main New Mexican town on the EP&NE in only a matter of a few years. Alamogordo remained the operational base of the EP&NE system for much of its history.
and a switchback
with ruling grades of 6.4 %. From the outside world it provided improved connections to rich timber country, and later the resort
at Cloudcroft
—in addition to small communities like La Luz
and Russia. The logs harvested in the mountains provided the Alamogordo Lumber Company (owned by the NMRy&CCo) with many of the raw materials necessary to make the ties, poles and structures for the EP&NE's northward expansion.
While work to the east was also under way the EP&NE under its own name was extended further north to Carrizozo
, near White Oaks. In 1899 the EP&NE opened a 21 mi (33.8 km) extension from Carrizozo to Capitan
in 1899. With an operational railroad in place extending north-by-northeast from El Paso, Eddy was able to better gain the attentions of the CRI&P leadership. It was agreed in December 1900 that Eddy's railroad was to meet the CRI&P in Santa Rosa, New Mexico
. The El Paso and Rock Island Railway (EP&RI) was incorporated in 1900 by Eddy to build the remaining 128 mi (206 km) between Santa Rosa and Carrizozo. A tightly-controlled multinational workforce was brought in to expedite construction of the line. This effort was completed on February 1, 1902 when the EP&RI met the CRI&P, operating under the name Chicago, Rock Island and El Paso Railway while in New Rexico. It marked the opening of a new transcontinental route that gave the CRI&P "the shortest line from Chicago
and Kansas City to El Paso and Mexico
, and by way of the Southern Pacific to Los Angeles."
The coal deposits near White Oaks proved to be a disappointment. Eddy was still determined to link his railroad system to a mineral rich area so he hedged, on the advice of his trusted attorney William Ashton Hawkins, that the outcome of litigation about the ownership of part of the Maxwell Land Grant
in northeastern New Mexico would favor the current tenant, an elderly rancher named John Dawson, and Hawkins secured the eventual purchase of a parcel of the contested land grant
from him. The approximately 20000 acre (80.9 km²; 31.3 sq mi) parcel was rich in bituminous coal
, and Eddy co-founded the Dawson Fuel Company in 1901 to buy and mine the parcel. Work on the Dawson Railway began at a crossing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
(AT&SF) at French (near present-day Springer
). A second construction gang worked north from Tucumcari
. The first section of the Dawson Railway opened in November 1902 and linked the interchange with the AT&SF's transcontinental line to the coal mines, sawmill
s and coke ovens being built near the future townsite of Dawson, New Mexico
. Construction of the southern section of the Dawson Railway, from a bridge over the AT&SF line to a junction at Six Shooter Siding (later Tucumcari, located 60 mi (96.6 km) east-by-northeast of Santa Rosa) with the CRI&P was held up due to litigation with the owners of the Pablo Montoya Grant over the proposed right-of-way. The outcome of those proceedings allowed for the completion of the originally projected 132 miles (212.4 km) Dawson Railway in 1903.
, a representative and co-owner of the growing Phelps Dodge
mining corporation who was also the owner of the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
(EP&SW), entered negotiations with Eddy over the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the holding company
for Eddy's rail and coal properties in the territory and Texas. Eddy was able to convince Phelps Dodge that Dawson coal was better for coking
than the coal Phelps Dodge was interested in extracting from northwestern New Mexico so on July 1, 1905 Eddy's properties were transferred to Phelps Dodge, the rail line from El Paso to Dawson becoming the Eastern Division of the EP&SW. The A&SM continued to operate for some time as a subsidiary of the EP&SW.
(elevation 8650 ft (2,636.5 m)) were a favorite retreat for El Pasoans around the turn of the century. Since the line's opening, Summer excursion trains were operated into the Sacramento Mountains
east of Alamogordo via the A&SM from El Paso, and under new ownership as late as 1930. The EP&SW continued to encourage tourism
on the A&SM line describing Cloudcroft as the "Roof Garden of the Sky" or "Nature's Roof Garden" and building its own hotel, the Lodge. The A&SM itself became a tourist attraction. The same features that gave the line into the Sacramento Mountains its scenic virtue and tourist draw also made it expensive to build, operate and maintain; by necessity and design hauling timber was the primary activity on the line.
The Alamogordo Lumber Company was NMRy&CCo's logging enterprise and owned the logging railways, short spurs and branches, that first harvested the territory's trust land
in the Sacramento Mountains. The logging lines were temporary constructions, sometimes little more than tracks laid in the dirt, and initially relied on animal labor
. The A&SM carried the lumber company's logs to its sawmill in Alamogordo for processing. While the best consumers for the mill's output were the NMRy&CCo's interests, lumber was also shipped out on the EP&NE destined for other markets, especially the mining districts at Bisbee
and Morenci, Arizona
. Over the course of one month in 1901 the A&SM handled 850 log cars. Traffic on the A&SM line was not restricted to passengers and logs, a wide variety of other cargo was hauled including express
, goods, machinery, produce, and livestock. Two daily roundtrips, one a mixed train
, were common, though this frequency could increase more than twofold on Summer weekends.
The railroad founders were also eager to found a major town that would persist after the railroad was completed; they formed the Alamogordo Improvement Company to develop the area, making Alamogordo an early example of a planned community
. The Alamogordo Improvement Company owned all the land, platted the streets, built the first houses and commercial buildings, donated land for a college, and placed a restrictive covenant on each deed prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, or sale of intoxicating liquor. Through Eddy's Dawson Fuel Company, the NMRy&CCo helped spur the early development of Dawson
, which is now deserted, in the form of one-hundred dwellings for its workers, in addition to industrial facilities.
The premier long distance train service on the joint EP&NE system was the Winter only Golden State Limited. Year round passenger service was provided by the westbound Chicago and Mexico Express and the eastbound Chicago Express. All of these Chicago–Los Angeles trains used the EP&NE system as an intermediate link between the CRI&P at Santa Rosa and the Southern Pacific Railroad
in El Paso. Following the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the EP&SW obtained a lease of the Santa Rosa–Tucumcari section of the El Paso–Chicago route (called the 'Golden State Route') to avoid unsatisfactory interline service with the Rock Island system on the Eastern Division between Dawson and El Paso. Another operational hurdle of the original EP&NE was also solved after the sale; Hawkins was able to secure legal rights to cleaner water from the mountains. Previously the system had relied on alkali
and gypsum
rich well water that damaged the steam engines' boiler
s and necessitated frequent repairs.
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, with physical resources and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' national transportation hub in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Founded by Charles Eddy, the EP&NE was the primary railroad in a system organized under the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company (NMRy&CCo), a holding company which owned several other railroads and also owned mining and industrial properties served by the lines.
The EP&NE first connected El Paso with Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
, in 1897, further extensions allowed for tourist excursions to the Sacramento Mountains and some timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
extraction. A link with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
(CRI&P) allowed for the introduction of the Golden State Limited in 1902. When a line connecting to lucrative coalfields was secured, the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
and its system were folded into the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad was a short-line American railway company which operated in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with line extensions across the international border into Mexico. The railroad was known as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad from 1888 to 1902.-Founding:James...
, an affiliate of the predecessor of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The lines of the NMRy&CCo were responsible for the founding of several settlements in the Territory of New Mexico (later New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
).
History
The railroad's beginnings lie in the discovery of goldGold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
at White Oaks, New Mexico
White Oaks, New Mexico
White Oaks is a ghost town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the outskirts of the Lincoln National Forest, it became a boomtown in 1879 following the discovery of gold and coal in the nearby Jicarilla Mountains.-History:...
in 1879, at which point railroads began to gain interest in the Tularosa Basin
Tularosa Basin
The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States.-Geography:...
and Sacramento Mountains
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County...
. The coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposits in the area were also enticing as they were perceived to be a good source of fuel for the city of El Paso 160 mi (257.5 km) to the south. An interested railroad promoter, Morris Locke, noted that the forests of the Sacramento Mountains would be a good source of timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
. Over the next fifteen years several railroads were projected to link the two settlements but only limited construction had been pursued by the time Charles Eddy developed an interest in linking El Paso with the CRI&P. Eddy kept his interests somewhat quiet and El Pasoans hopefully speculated that the CRI&P might build its own line to El Paso.
El Paso–Alamogordo
The first serious attempt to build a railroad north from El Paso and into the Tularosa Basin came in 1885 when the El Paso, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and Telegraph Company prepared a 5 miles (8 km) long roadbed. In 1888 CRI&P engineers began an eastward survey from Liberal, KansasLiberal, Kansas
Liberal is the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,525.- History :S.S. Rogers built the first house in what would become Liberal in 1872. Rogers became famous in the region for giving water to weary travelers...
that projected never built lines through the Maxwell Land Grant
Maxwell Land Grant
The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This land grant was one of the largest contiguous private landholdings in the history of the United States...
to Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
and further west. Meanwhile, some of the partially prepared right-of-way in El Paso was incorporated three years later into the promising Kansas City, El Paso and Mexico Railroad (KCEP&M, led by Morris Locke) which built 10 miles of track and graded a further 21 before its debt caught up to it. Construction began in September 1888 with loans from local entrepreneurs and some word of financial commitment from interests in the American Northeast. Just a few days after the first excursion train
Excursion train
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose.Examples of excursion trains:* A train to a major sporting event* A train run for railfans or tourism...
s operated on the new line, lawsuits were filed in court seeking restitution for the Texas and Pacific Railway
Texas and Pacific Railway
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
, the unpaid shipper of the KCEP&M's construction materials. Although the founders continued to solicit funding, in 1892 the Texas and Pacific purchased the stalled KCEP&M. The new owners did not resume construction.
Eddy had been in contact with the leadership of the CRI&P but had been unsuccessful in his pitch to connect their railroad to El Paso. Eddy had gained an interest in the prospective region after working on engineering projects in southeastern New Mexico. In the Spring of 1897 he led potential investors from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
on a camping trip in the Tularosa Basin. Eddy received financial backing from these men but he did immediately not make any major announcements, file for incorporation
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
in the territory or apply for the El Paso–White Oaks railway franchise. In May 1897 on the other side of the country in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company was incorporated, it would become the holding company for Eddy and his group's vertically integrated
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
interests. When another group of men sought the necessary franchise from the El Paso city council, Eddy intervened and won the franchise because of the rival group's inability to pay a performance bond
Performance bond
A performance bond is a surety bond issued by an insurance company or a bank to guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor.A job requiring a payment & performance bond will usually require a bid bond, to bid the job...
. A few days later (on October 22, 1897) the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad was incorporated in both New Mexico and Texas. By November 1897 the railroad's first line's route had been determined and orders for supplies were being placed.
Using part of the KCEP&M's grade, which Eddy had purchased in full, the EP&NE completed an 85 miles (136.8 km) line north to a ranch owned by Eddy, where a town was being platted in anticipation of the railroad. The town was named Alamogordo after a location Eddy was familiar with in the Pecos River Valley
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
. It would become the main New Mexican town on the EP&NE in only a matter of a few years. Alamogordo remained the operational base of the EP&NE system for much of its history.
Expansion and affiliated lines
Not long after connecting Alamogordo to El Paso, Eddy, his chief engineer Horace Sumner and their crews set about building the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway (A&SM). Described as an "engineering marvel", 28 mi (45.1 km) were completed by 1898. By 1903 the line climbed 4747 feet (1,446.9 m) over 32 mi (51.5 km) crossing several large trestlesTrestles
Trestles is a collection of surfing spots at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County, California. Trestles consists of, from north to south, Upper Trestles , Lower Trestles , and Middle Trestles . North of Upper Trestles is the surf spot called Cottons...
and a switchback
Zig Zag (railway)
A railway zig zag, also called a switchback, is a way of climbing hills in difficult country with a minimal need for tunnels and heavy earthworks. For a short distance , the direction of travel is reversed, before the original direction is resumed.A location on railways constructed e.g...
with ruling grades of 6.4 %. From the outside world it provided improved connections to rich timber country, and later the resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
at Cloudcroft
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Cloudcroft is a village in Otero County, New Mexico and is within the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 749 at the 2000 census. Despite being located in an otherwise arid region, its extremely high elevation allows for a relatively mild summer that makes it a popular tourist attraction...
—in addition to small communities like La Luz
La Luz, New Mexico
La Luz is a census-designated place in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,615 at the 2000 census. It is located immediately north of Alamogordo and lies in the eastern edge of the Tularosa Basin and on the western flank of the Sacramento Mountains. Until 1848, La Luz...
and Russia. The logs harvested in the mountains provided the Alamogordo Lumber Company (owned by the NMRy&CCo) with many of the raw materials necessary to make the ties, poles and structures for the EP&NE's northward expansion.
While work to the east was also under way the EP&NE under its own name was extended further north to Carrizozo
Carrizozo, New Mexico
Carrizozo is a town in and the county seat of Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,036 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carrizozo is located at ....
, near White Oaks. In 1899 the EP&NE opened a 21 mi (33.8 km) extension from Carrizozo to Capitan
Capitan, New Mexico
Capitan is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located north of the Lincoln National Forest between the Capitan and Sacramento Mountains at an elevation of 6,530 feet . The population was 1,443 at the 2000 census...
in 1899. With an operational railroad in place extending north-by-northeast from El Paso, Eddy was able to better gain the attentions of the CRI&P leadership. It was agreed in December 1900 that Eddy's railroad was to meet the CRI&P in Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,744 at the 2000 census. It lies between Albuquerque and Tucumcari, situated on the Pecos River at the intersection of Interstate 40, U.S. Route 54, and U.S. Route 84...
. The El Paso and Rock Island Railway (EP&RI) was incorporated in 1900 by Eddy to build the remaining 128 mi (206 km) between Santa Rosa and Carrizozo. A tightly-controlled multinational workforce was brought in to expedite construction of the line. This effort was completed on February 1, 1902 when the EP&RI met the CRI&P, operating under the name Chicago, Rock Island and El Paso Railway while in New Rexico. It marked the opening of a new transcontinental route that gave the CRI&P "the shortest line from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Kansas City to El Paso and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and by way of the Southern Pacific to Los Angeles."
The coal deposits near White Oaks proved to be a disappointment. Eddy was still determined to link his railroad system to a mineral rich area so he hedged, on the advice of his trusted attorney William Ashton Hawkins, that the outcome of litigation about the ownership of part of the Maxwell Land Grant
Maxwell Land Grant
The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This land grant was one of the largest contiguous private landholdings in the history of the United States...
in northeastern New Mexico would favor the current tenant, an elderly rancher named John Dawson, and Hawkins secured the eventual purchase of a parcel of the contested land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
from him. The approximately 20000 acre (80.9 km²; 31.3 sq mi) parcel was rich in bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
, and Eddy co-founded the Dawson Fuel Company in 1901 to buy and mine the parcel. Work on the Dawson Railway began at a crossing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
(AT&SF) at French (near present-day Springer
Springer, New Mexico
Springer is a town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,285 at the 2000 census. It was the Colfax County county seat from 1882—1897. Springer was part of the Lucien B. Maxwell land grant. It is near the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail...
). A second construction gang worked north from Tucumcari
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Tucumcari is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,989 at the 2000 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was founded.-History:...
. The first section of the Dawson Railway opened in November 1902 and linked the interchange with the AT&SF's transcontinental line to the coal mines, sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s and coke ovens being built near the future townsite of Dawson, New Mexico
Dawson, New Mexico
Dawson is a ghost town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States and was the site of two separate coal mining disasters in 1913 and 1923. Dawson is located about 17 miles northeast of Cimarron, New Mexico. Dawson was a coal mining company town founded in 1901 when rancher John Barkley Dawson...
. Construction of the southern section of the Dawson Railway, from a bridge over the AT&SF line to a junction at Six Shooter Siding (later Tucumcari, located 60 mi (96.6 km) east-by-northeast of Santa Rosa) with the CRI&P was held up due to litigation with the owners of the Pablo Montoya Grant over the proposed right-of-way. The outcome of those proceedings allowed for the completion of the originally projected 132 miles (212.4 km) Dawson Railway in 1903.
Sale to the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad and Phelps Dodge
James DouglasJames Douglas (businessman)
James S. Douglas was a Canadian mining engineer and businessman who introduced a number of metallurgical innovations in copper mining....
, a representative and co-owner of the growing Phelps Dodge
Phelps Dodge
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps and William Earle Dodge, Sr.. On March 19, 2007, it was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan and now operates under the name Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.-History:...
mining corporation who was also the owner of the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad was a short-line American railway company which operated in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with line extensions across the international border into Mexico. The railroad was known as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad from 1888 to 1902.-Founding:James...
(EP&SW), entered negotiations with Eddy over the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for Eddy's rail and coal properties in the territory and Texas. Eddy was able to convince Phelps Dodge that Dawson coal was better for coking
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
than the coal Phelps Dodge was interested in extracting from northwestern New Mexico so on July 1, 1905 Eddy's properties were transferred to Phelps Dodge, the rail line from El Paso to Dawson becoming the Eastern Division of the EP&SW. The A&SM continued to operate for some time as a subsidiary of the EP&SW.
Infrastructure, operations and services
Trips to the cool mountain resort of CloudcroftCloudcroft, New Mexico
Cloudcroft is a village in Otero County, New Mexico and is within the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 749 at the 2000 census. Despite being located in an otherwise arid region, its extremely high elevation allows for a relatively mild summer that makes it a popular tourist attraction...
(elevation 8650 ft (2,636.5 m)) were a favorite retreat for El Pasoans around the turn of the century. Since the line's opening, Summer excursion trains were operated into the Sacramento Mountains
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County...
east of Alamogordo via the A&SM from El Paso, and under new ownership as late as 1930. The EP&SW continued to encourage tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
on the A&SM line describing Cloudcroft as the "Roof Garden of the Sky" or "Nature's Roof Garden" and building its own hotel, the Lodge. The A&SM itself became a tourist attraction. The same features that gave the line into the Sacramento Mountains its scenic virtue and tourist draw also made it expensive to build, operate and maintain; by necessity and design hauling timber was the primary activity on the line.
The Alamogordo Lumber Company was NMRy&CCo's logging enterprise and owned the logging railways, short spurs and branches, that first harvested the territory's trust land
Land trust
There are two distinct definitions of a land trust:* a private, nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements; or* an agreement...
in the Sacramento Mountains. The logging lines were temporary constructions, sometimes little more than tracks laid in the dirt, and initially relied on animal labor
Working animal
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. They may be close members of the family, such as guide or service dogs, or they may be animals trained strictly to perform a job, such as logging elephants. They may also be used for milk, a...
. The A&SM carried the lumber company's logs to its sawmill in Alamogordo for processing. While the best consumers for the mill's output were the NMRy&CCo's interests, lumber was also shipped out on the EP&NE destined for other markets, especially the mining districts at Bisbee
Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
and Morenci, Arizona
Morenci, Arizona
Morenci is a census-designated place in Greenlee County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,879 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. Over the course of one month in 1901 the A&SM handled 850 log cars. Traffic on the A&SM line was not restricted to passengers and logs, a wide variety of other cargo was hauled including express
Express mail
In most postal systems express mail refers to an accelerated delivery service for which the customer pays a surcharge and receives faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic mail and is governed by a country's own postal administration...
, goods, machinery, produce, and livestock. Two daily roundtrips, one a mixed train
Mixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...
, were common, though this frequency could increase more than twofold on Summer weekends.
The railroad founders were also eager to found a major town that would persist after the railroad was completed; they formed the Alamogordo Improvement Company to develop the area, making Alamogordo an early example of a planned community
Planned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
. The Alamogordo Improvement Company owned all the land, platted the streets, built the first houses and commercial buildings, donated land for a college, and placed a restrictive covenant on each deed prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, or sale of intoxicating liquor. Through Eddy's Dawson Fuel Company, the NMRy&CCo helped spur the early development of Dawson
Dawson, New Mexico
Dawson is a ghost town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States and was the site of two separate coal mining disasters in 1913 and 1923. Dawson is located about 17 miles northeast of Cimarron, New Mexico. Dawson was a coal mining company town founded in 1901 when rancher John Barkley Dawson...
, which is now deserted, in the form of one-hundred dwellings for its workers, in addition to industrial facilities.
The premier long distance train service on the joint EP&NE system was the Winter only Golden State Limited. Year round passenger service was provided by the westbound Chicago and Mexico Express and the eastbound Chicago Express. All of these Chicago–Los Angeles trains used the EP&NE system as an intermediate link between the CRI&P at Santa Rosa and the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
in El Paso. Following the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the EP&SW obtained a lease of the Santa Rosa–Tucumcari section of the El Paso–Chicago route (called the 'Golden State Route') to avoid unsatisfactory interline service with the Rock Island system on the Eastern Division between Dawson and El Paso. Another operational hurdle of the original EP&NE was also solved after the sale; Hawkins was able to secure legal rights to cleaner water from the mountains. Previously the system had relied on alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
and gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
rich well water that damaged the steam engines' boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s and necessitated frequent repairs.
Further reading
- Cloud-Climbing Railroad: Highest Point on the Southern Pacific - Dorothy Jensen Neal, El Paso: Texas Western Press (1998)
- Captive Mountain Waters; a Story of Pipelines and People - Dorothy Jensen Neal, El Paso: Texas Western Press (1961)