Just when it looked like the Santa Fe Southern Railroad could safely stay on as sole occupant of the historic ATSF Railyard building, the city is chasing them out.

City council-backed Mayor David Coss will turn the century-old landmark into a municipal visitors center, complete with greeters and area tourist displays, claiming passengers arriving on platform co-user Rail Runner Express commuter trains are “confused” by SFS’s presence.

Recently to stay put, SFS, 18-year occupant of the depot, now part of the new Railyard retail/commercial complex but without a long-term lease, finally negotiated with RY management, which itself leases its land from the city.

But Railyard denied the request, clearing the way for the hasty municipal takeover set for May.

The development’s grand opening in September 2008 promised busy retail outlets among its collection of art galleries, restaurants, farmers market, a teen center.

But, too many storefronts remain empty, a cinema stalled over finances, overall business lukewarm.

Coss, offering SFS a portion of the cottage-sized depot to continue operations, was rebuffed by tourist/freight hauler’s manager Carol Raymond, fearing the end of traditional service on the 18-mile former ATSF, 1880s-era branch if adequate replacement offices are not found.

For now, Raymond plans to run her railroad from SFS’s rebuilt 1920s Jersey Central commuter coaches, parked on two spurs opposite the depot.

To add to troubles, both of her seasoned EMD road switchers currently need heavy mechanical work to resume pulling excursions, wedding charter trains to and from Lamy Junction.

Help may come from an Australian safety appliance firm, now SFS principal stockholder, who plan to do testing along the line.

As part of the now-Railyard area’s conflicted history...for years, SFS has uneasily co-existed with busy cross-lot Tomasita’s Restaurant, which won an angry parking lawsuit banning rail riders’ use, forcing their vehicles onto nearby metered streets or to a distant underground garage.

The expansion-minded restaurant/bar owner has well-known ties to Coss, would like to someday convert the depot into an expanded lounge.

Tomasita’s historic core building was once Denver and Rio Grande Railroad’s narrow gauge terminal for Santa Fe, until 1942’s end of service on the famous Chili Line extending from a D&RG connection in Antonito Colorado.

The City Different was also once served by the New Mexico Central’s standard gauge track from a southern junction with the now-BNSF Transcon east of Mountainair, NM.

At the beginning of April, I had a meeting in Seattle, Washington. As the cost of Amtrak was less than flying and I had the time, I took Amtrak from Lamy, New Mexico, to Seattle and back. I had already reserved a sleeper on #14 the Starlight from Los Angles to Seattle before leaving.

On April 2nd, I boarded #3 on the westbound Southwest Chief in Lamy in coach a few minutes late. I tried to see if I could upgrade to a sleeper berth but the crew told me that I had to do that in Albuquerque. When we got into Albuquerque, I checked with the station agent and he told me to wait until the train was moving and check with the new crew. After leaving Albuquerque, I asked the conductor, and was told that we’d be filling the sleepers in Gallup and Flagstaff. Having dinner in the diner showed me that the food was getting tastier. I had the chicken and, as usual, it was good. One person at my table had the flatiron steak. In the past, it was a thin piece of meat but now it’s a nice thick piece of meat.

We stopped in Gallup while I was having dinner. The Gallup police were there to meet the train. Apparently, a coach passenger was found in the sleepers and was removed. Back in the coach, I tried to get some sleep, but two women behind me decided that they needed to talk until after 2 a.m. The woman sitting next to me went to the lounge car to sleep. I woke up the next morning, and found that we’d lost an hour getting into Needles, California. Amtrak has major padding between Fullerton and Los Angles Station. Despite being an hour late, we arrived on time and I got breakfast at the station.

The Starlight has a parlor car in addition to the lounge car and it’s only for those who are in the sleepers. While it is supposed to have wireless available, we were told that only one of the four parlor cars actually worked. There is a different menu for the parlor car and they do a wine and cheese tasting both days to Seattle. On the first day, it’s California wines and on the second, it’s Oregon and Washington wines.

While heading north through Vandenberg AFB, the conductor was sitting in the parlor car having his lunch. We were talking with him about different railroad items, when the engineer called on the radio. Now Amtrak engines 13 and 161 were on the head end. The engineer told the conductor that the fuse had blown for the radiator fan motor on engine 13 and that they felt that they could make it. The conductor started to make calls, when the call came in that engine 13 had shut down and we were running on 161 alone. We made it into San Luis Obispo and met the southbound #11. In SLO, we waited for Union Pacific to get an engineer to pilot the two UP engines in SLO to help #14 up the grade north of SLO. We were two hours late getting out of SLO. Heading north up the grade, I saw 2 bicyclists riding beside the track. There turned out to be three mountain bikers and it appeared that they regularly ride beside the tracks. At the top of the grade, the UP engines cut off and we headed north.

No worries! Steam Locomotive 93 is not being converted to electricity. If you read the article in last month’s April 1st edition of the Colorado Time-Table, it was announced that we were going to convert locomotive 93 to electricity to save money.

It was the fortuitous combination of events that created the article. First is that it was April Fool’s Day. Secondly, the Time-Table has a sense of humor. And, finally, is yours truly, Nevada Northern Railway “Executive Prankster”, who spent too much time watching “Mission Impossible” growing up. The combination of these events led to the article and, I hope, some chuckles.

While the article was fun to write, it actually underscores the challenges being faced by the Museum. In March, I was in Death Valley. I enjoyed the trip immensely until I stopped at the Furnace Creek Chevron Station. The fuel prices were astonishing! Regular - $5.23; Plus - $5.34; Supreme - $5.45 and Diesel No 2 a heart stopping $5.49 and this was no April Fool’s joke!

It was those gas prices that planted the seed for the “April Fools” Locomotive 93 conversion article. There, on vacation, I started thinking how will this impact the Museum? Short version: not good. When fuel went over $4.00 a gallon in 2008, we saw a drop in our ridership. After six years of ridership increases, our ridership dropped 27%. Since that time, we have been rebuilding - increasing every year, but we’re still not quite to where we were in 2007.  Now this, fuel prices climbing again.

The Museum is a non-profit corporation. When people hear the term “non-profit”, they think, ‘Oh, they don’t need to make a profit.’ Well, yes we do. Non-profit really means that we’re non-taxable. We face all of the financial challenges that confront a for-profit corporation.

Albuquerque's long-neglected ATSF steam-era repair shops will get another chance at rebirth, this time by a California developer, eventually becoming a multi-use property full of greenways, shops, entertainment, a marketplace, and housing.

Samitaur Constructs was recently named to transform the huge mill-sized buildings, transfer table and other structures used to completely rebuild giant steam locomotives on the 27-acre site, bought by the city for $8.7 million in 2007, located in the rebuilding Barelas neighborhood where shop workers once lived, south of downtown.

The firm, a rescuer of “blighted urban areas” for 35 years, describes itself as “urbanist” rather than developer, wants to hire locally, increase area prosperity, create job training, push preservation, wants Barelas-area input, and has built Conjunctive Points, an industrial project in home-state's Culver City.

Samitaur must also build low-cost housing on the shops site, per Albuquerque's four-year-old purchase agreement. Previous developers from Ohio and Dallas have come and gone, making no improvements. City partner/union conglomerate Build New Mexico sees the ten-year shops transformation as providing needed jobs for hundreds of local workers.

The Albuquerque shops, built in the early 20th century, were ATSF’s biggest of four (also at Kansas City, Cleburne, Tex., and San Bernardino, Calif.), and were  for years the Duke City’s main employer. They eventually became Santa Fe’s maintenance-of-way and track vehicle repair facility after big steam was replaced by diesel power in the ‘50s, and finally closed in the ‘70s.

Past concerns have spotlighted possible “brown field” soils contamination lurking below the complex. Its distinctive booming steam whistle, for years announcing noon, the start and end of each day's repair shifts, was heard throughout central Albuquerque.