View allAll Photos Tagged Gallup
2023 Vacation, 27 July, Arizona to Gallup and Albuquerque, NM
We awoke on the SW Chief in eastern Arizona, having already made the Winslow stop. I shot some video and photos out the window, including video of us crossing from Arizona to New Mexico according to signs on adjacent I-40 the old US Route 66.
I got out briefly at Gallup, New Mexico for fresh air, but it was a short stop. In 1983, I'd boarded the westbound Chief (or SW Limited) in Gallup to return home after a week or so of train watchiing and sightseeing with friends in the Rocky Mountain region.
In 2017, Anne and I rode the Chief to Albuquerque in route to Santa Fe, where we had an enjoyable vacation. I knew that the Chief had a long servicing stop in Albuquerque, so I had plenty of time to walk forward and discover that Pepsi Can heritage P42 #160 was our second unit. I also shot a Railrunner train awaiting its departure time for Santa Fe.
The Chief had 2 P42s, baggage, 3 coaches, lounge, diner and 2 sleepers. In pre-Covid times, a transition sleeper would have been between the baggage car and coaches, but these days, the lounge and diner crew just has space in one of the sleepers. The coaches had a fair number of Scouts going to Philmont Scout Ranch, near Raton, and that might be the reason for 3 coaches on our train. I got the impression that the Chief normally has 2 coaches and 2 sleepers, a far cry from Santa Fe's summer separate Super-El Caps.
Amtrak, and before Amtrak, Santa Fe, used to wash windows at Albuquerque, but I see that is a service that has been lost with post Covid cutbacks. I cleaned windows on our lower level sleeper room at various stops.