Did you know Bernalillo was the original choice of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad to be its division point? The area’s major land-owner asked for an exorbitant price per acre, sending the ATSF to Albuquerque, which meant countless jobs and other economic opportunity.
Railroads were important in developing tourism in New Mexico, with beautiful advertisements offering the accommodations of Fred Harvey's Houses and the grandeur of the scenery accessible via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (which, curiously enough, did not directly service Santa Fe, only coming as close as Lamy.) These advertisements had a profound influence on popular perceptions of the American West, worldwide.
The location of the AT&SF main yards in Albuquerque was a major reason for the city's growth -- at one point between a third and a half of Albuquerque's working men were employed with the Yards. (A growth that might have been Bernalillo's, originally slated as the site but passed up after a disagreement about the availability of land there.) The railway also made it easy for thousands of tuberculosis patients to travel to New Mexico in search of a more salutary climate, another reason for a surge in Albuquerque's population and growth across the state as some of the "lungers" became residents. ... See MoreSee Less
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Amtrak's 49th Anniversary - A Message from President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Flynn ... See MoreSee Less
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