Santa Fe's Belen Cut-off: The Eastern Railway Company of New Mexico

The importance of railroads cannot be overemphasized, as few inventions in the history of mankind have had as great an impact on the world.This is not your typical railroad history; there is little information on railroad executives, costs, statistics or other things often included. This account is based on the men and women who actually did the day-to-day railroading - the train and engine crews, the mechanical forces, the water service men, the telegraphers and dispatchers, the clerks and depot staff. It is about the trackmen who fought heat and blizzards to keep the trains operating, and the thousands of others who came before me. It is about the homesteaders, the small towns that sprang up and eventually died off, and the importance of the Cut-off in the development of eastern New Mexico. It is written from the view of a railroader more than the railfan, though I hope the latter will gain something from reading the book. Read more