Chili Line
| Chili Line | |
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Chili Line train in Española, New Mexico circa 1920
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| Overview | |
| Status | Closed |
| Termini |
Antonito, Colorado Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1880s |
| Closed | 1941 |
| Operator(s) | Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 125.6 mi (202.13 km) |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
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The Chili Line, officially known as the Santa Fe Branch, was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW). It ran 125.6 miles (202.1 km) from Antonito, Colorado, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. The Denver and Rio Grande Railway (D&RG) began construction of the line in 1880 and completed the line from Antonito to Española, New Mexico, but could not build any further because of an agreement with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (AT&SF). The Texas, Santa Fe and Northern Railroad was incorporated to complete the line, and the line between Española and Santa Fe opened in 1886 and was transferred to the Denver and Rio Grande shortly thereafter. The D&RGW closed the Chili Line in 1941 because of competition from road transportation, and the line was abandoned shortly thereafter.
The Chili Line was officially known as the Santa Fe Branch. Its nickname has been attributed to its freight, which prominently featured New Mexico chile peppers, and to the gastronomy of its patrons. Although, note the difference in spelling between "Chili", the line's nickname, and "Chile", the pepper. Perhaps the correct spelling should be "Chile Line".
The original ambitious plans of Denver and Rio Grande Railway founder William J. Palmer projected a 2,400-mile (3,900 km) north-south narrow gauge route from Denver to Mexico City following the course of the Rio Grande for much of the distance. As early as 1878 it was reasoned that such a route would not be possible, but Palmer did receive a concession in September 1880 from the Mexican government to build a different north-south line, the National Railroad of Mexico. Initially planning to access the Territory of New Mexico via Raton Pass, a route that the AT&SF had already begun grading for the construction of its own east-west transcontinental route, the D&RG had to look for alternative routes to the south as its conflict with the ATSF festered. The conflict eventually resulted in the D&RG shifting its attention to lucrative mining opportunities to the west. Palmer's "dream of a road to Mexico City finally went glimmering" but the line along the Rio Grande became the exotic southern extent of the D&RGW's famous network in the Rocky Mountains. Prior to the conflict, the D&RG had built tracks over La Veta Pass to Alamosa in the San Luis Valley. By 1880 narrow gauge tracks were in place as far south as Antonito and the construction of a line towards Albuquerque was underway.
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Wikipedia