by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
New Mexico has so much history to explore. Thank God for the Rail Runner.
A $3 all-day pass takes you to Belen, Los Lunas and Bernalillo. You can check out all the towns in one day, too.
And maybe you heard these places are lacking in fun. But these backwater towns represent a part of America that is diminishing with homogenization. They retain a personality and atmospheric quality that only the togetherness of a small town can manifest.
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It's a reason to stop by.
The Bernalillo stop
The main road, Camino del Pueblo, is a short walk down a wood-lined path from the train stop.
A man outside a barbershop suggested the Range Cafe, down the main road, as the best place to get coffee.
The cafe is gigantic, with a bar, multiple rooms and lots of art.
The walls have tile lizards, and the chairs are made out of thick tree branches.
Alumnus Thomas Brown, who works at the cafe bar, moved to Bernalillo for the quietness.
"Families have lived here for generations," he said. "People who come here see the main road, but they don't really see the back roads. It seems like it's growing. They want to put medians with trees down main street. That'll slow things down a lot."
He said locals spend lots of time at Silva's Saloon, next door to the Range Cafe, which has been used in the background of many Western films. It was used as a scene setting in the films "Mannix" and "Animal Behavior."
It was also voted one of the best bars in the U.S. by Esquire Magazine.
Silva's Saloon opened the day after Prohibition ended in 1933.
"It's been in the family ever since," said Denise Silva, granddaughter of Felix Silva, who started the business.
The bar is full of old photographs and memorabilia.
Customers donated 80 percent of the bar's memorabilia, which includes workers' hats, a manual typewriter, saddles, photos and farming tools.
"It's so weird how people will look at the place and say, 'I have something. I have an old camera, an old whatever,'" she said. "And the old hats that are hanging from the rafters are actually hats that are here in memoriam for the owners, and they used to be the old timers, grandpa's customers. Their grandkids will come in here and recognize the hats."
On the way back to the train, directly across from the stop, is a dilapidated building made of wood, adobe and stones.
It looks like the setting for a fantastical film, and it's an ideal locale for photo shoots or wallowing in whatever mood you're in.
The Belen stop
The Rail Runner's tracks end in Belen.
The Rail Cafe sits next to the stop. You can order hotdogs and hamburgers right off the grill.
There's inside and outside seating. A defunct train track leads up to the cafe's wall.
The historic Harvey House, now a museum, stands across the street, although the path to get there is winding: walk on the overpass, cross the road, find the fence opening.
The Harvey House was started by Fred Harvey, who had to travel in the course of his work, after he found the food at train stops inedible, tour guide Rita Veix said.
He set up a chain of Harvey Houses, some of them restaurants and others hotels with restaurants, down the Santa Fe Railroad. They were built 75 to 100 miles apart, because that's how far a steam engine could go before it had to stop and refill with water.
Belen's Harvey House opened in 1910 and operated until 1939.
"They did reopen it during World War II to feed the troop trains," Veix said. "After World War II, the railroad used it as a reading room. For many of the workers, they used it at the end of their shift to socialize, read, play chess with other workers, and many of them slept upstairs where the Harvey girls used to sleep."
The Harvey girls were hired from the Midwest to work as waitresses at the houses.
"They were paid initially $17.50 a month, which back then was quite a big deal," she said. "They could keep their tips, plus the room and board were free. During the Depression, a lot of the waitresses supported their families back home. They sent their wages back there. Many of the men were out of work. They were out of jobs. Their daughters supported their families."
She said employees have reported hearing or seeing a ghost, though she hasn't experienced it herself.
Through the side door of the Harvey House are older men building vast detailed railroad models. They're happy to allow visitors in for a look.
"We get away from our wives for awhile," Jim Mustakas said. "We come here and play. This is the big kids' playground. We're a bunch of railroad freaks, and we like to build, as best we can, how the
railroad was."
The first model, about 50 square feet, took 30 people to build since 1995. They get their supplies at a model train store in Albuquerque.
"This is kind of a freelance type of a deal," Mustakas said. "It doesn't really represent too much of a certain place. We tried to build it to look like Belen, but it's difficult to do that. Really difficult."
In the adjacent room is a slightly smaller model of a generic old-time East Coast railroad town. There's a funeral scene with hearses, while the Southwest railroad model features a wedding.
The Los Lunas stop
Nothing immediately catches the eye at the Los Lunas stop, because it's at a busy intersection.
"Why would they set this up right at an intersection?" said Jordan Crown, a Los Lunas resident. "It congests traffic. Los Lunas has way too much traffic for its road system to begin with."
Crown said Teofilo's Restaurant was one of the best places to eat Mexican food.
"I recommend it," Crown said. "They're so good that they have a restaurant in Chicago called Zia's. It's a really popular spot. And across the street from Teofilo's, there's the Luna Mansion."
Both places are down the road from the train stop.
The Luna-Otero Mansion, now a restaurant and bar, is a historic marker said to be haunted.
"As soon as you go inside and go upstairs, they have a rocking chair in the corner," local resident Sabine Otero said. "And supposedly, the ghost comes and sits in the chair and it rocks."
The building is made of adobe but styled like southern colonial homes with pillars and tall, high windows.
Penny Griego, the restaurant's owner, said she has never experienced paranormal activity in the mansion.
She said a company called Ghostbusters used to bring tourists into the restaurant and promise them they'd look for ghosts through the walls by sensing heat.
"But the walls are adobe," Griego said. "Of course there will be heat in the walls."
She said they promote history, not ghost stories. And the Luna-Otero Mansion is chock full of history.
Teddy Otero, who lived in the mansion, was baptized by President Theodore Roosevelt. Solomon Luna also lived in the mansion, where he met with President William Howard Taft to go over the constitution for New Mexico.
Solomon's brother, Tranquilino Luna, was a congressman in Washington, D.C. His son, Maximiliano Luna, was a state representative in 1899 in Santa Fe, and he was also captain of the Rough Riders, riding alongside Theodore Roosevelt.
"So, all the Lunas in the mansion were of some historical importance," Griego said. "We have a round table, which is the Otero table, that they dined on. We also have their rocking chair."
The mansion also displays one of the first mappings of New Mexico when it was first broken into counties, a gift from President Taft. There are 12 in existence.
The Luna-Otero Mansion exists because of the railroad.
In 1880, the Santa Fe Railroad wanted to set tracks across the Luna property. The Luna-Otero family agreed to the tracks under the condition that the railroad build them a home to their specifications. It was a win-win deal.
Whether you're into photographing small-town ruins, hanging out with railroad boys or chugging a brewski in the saloon, the Rail Runner stops are the places to go.
