Rail Runner free weekends--like packed sardines!

[janx]

I had family in town, and I thought we'd take a ride from ABQ to Santa Fe. Forget it. What a mess! There was some young father just behind us--he and his wife had some rather obnoxious children--who said, as everyone tried to stuff themselves onto the train: "I'm not getting on there! It's butts to nuts!" :rofl:

On a happier note, I'll be taking the Rail Runner to work next semester--at least to Belen, where I can catch a van from there to Socorro. I hope and wish the Rail Runner makes it all the way to Socorro. A lot of us have been making that awful commute for far too long.

:hi:

Have you taken the Rail Runner yet?

[abq e streeter]

1. No but waiting for the novelty (and resultant crowding) to wear off

then can't wait to take it from Albq to Santa Fe.

[janx]

4. I'm waiting for the crowding to wear off too. n/t

[SheilaT]

2. I haven't tried it yet -- I'm in Santa Fe

myself, but I'm not at all surprised that it's packed.

When I first moved here back in July, I'd occasionally overhear conversations where people were saying it was a bad idea and wouldn't be used much. I knew they were wrong, and that it would be wildly popular.

The reason I knew was that in the fall of 1968 when I first moved to the Washington DC area, they'd just begun tearing up downtown DC to build the Metro there. People complained bitterly, saying it was a waste of money and would never be used. Well, all these years later the Metro is packed, millions use it practically daily, and there's (to my eyes on a trip there several years ago) less bus and car traffic in the heart of DC during rush hour than there was forty years ago.

Plus, of course, the many who live in ABQ and work in Santa Fe, plus a few who make the opposite commute. What's probably most needed at this point is a good interface between the Rail Runner and the busses in both cities, but it looks like that's being put together.

[janx]

3. From the Rail Runner site, it looks as if the coordination has

at least begun. The site lists bus routes in ABQ to the station, and I seem to remember that there are similar bus routes starting in Santa Fe.

This is great. As you point out, there are people who live in ABQ and work in Santa Fe, and vice verse. And think of the people who live in Santa Fe who need to get the the airport and of the tourists who come to New Mexico and go immediately to Santa Fe.

Also, I'm by no means the only faculty member who lives in ABQ and teaches in Socorro. Most of the faculty who teach there do not reside in Socorro. So I hope the Rail Runner makes it at least that far south. Tech is 75 miles away, but it's a great place. I love teaching there and can't wait to take the Rail Runner to Belen and then catch a van to the campus in Socorro.

[SheilaT]

5. What do you teach?

My oldest son almost went there.

[janx]

6. College English and occasionally creative writing.

I love it!

[SheilaT]

7. Lucky you!

Having a job you love is practically the best of all possible worlds.

[janx]

14. YES. Thanks.

:hi:

[janx]

15. Delete: posted in the wrong place

[NM Independent]

11. No Kidding?

Is Glenda Stewart-Langley still in your department?

She was one of my first and best teachers in college. That was back around 96-98.

She turned me into a liberal years before I knew it myself, and she did it with one statement. "A mind is like a parachute. If it isn't open, then you're screwed." I talked to a gay person for the first time that day.

Great lady :)

[janx]

13. She is indeed!

We are colleagues and pals! :hi: Our job isn't to turn anyone in any political direction but to open the way for critical thought so that students can make their own decisions regarding just about anything. It's rewarding to teach there. Faculty generally design their own courses based around given parameters, and the Humanities Department is small, so we're constantly in touch.

Spring semester starts Tuesday! :party:

[janx]

10. I agree about the buses. I'm going to be boarding the

RR #505 at 6:47 a.m., and I don't want to have to pay $8 to park in downtown ABQ!

[comanchero]

8. Not yet.

But I plan on it. After the free stuff is over. It will settle down a bit by then. Just got back from ABQ this last Monday and did not see it on the tracks.

[janx]

9. Back from ABQ?

Where are you?

[comanchero]

12. Railrunner

In Raton, so I will ride it for pleasure. But think that the Railrunner is a good idea.

[janx]

16. UPDATE:

My son is spending his last days in NM before returning to AK for the spring semester at Fairbanks, and we took the Rail Runner yesterday to Santa Fe. GREAT TRIP! We had a short lunch and then visited a couple of museums free of charge! If you take the Rail Runner to Santa Fe before the middle of March, you can present your tickets (buy them online and print them ahead of time) and see the museums...free! We saw the very old San Miguel Church (I'm not sure if this one applied but it was only $1 per person), and then we went to the New Mexico Museum and the Art Museum (both on or near the plaza) free! We also took a free shuttle to the plaza from the station, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. We didn't really need to do so, but we tried it, and it's good for people who might have difficulty getting around.


The ride from ABQ to Santa Fe was marvelous, particularly when the train got to the rough and open country north of Bernalillo. I had often wondered, during road trips north, why I couldn't see the Rail Runner or Rail Runner tracks until I got close to Santa Fe. The reason is that the train wanders around along both new and existing tracks east of the freeway and also well below the freeway until it surfaces in the median 15 (?) miles or so south of the City Different. We were cruising through canyons, both natural and constructed, for a good number of miles, and then after a short tunnel, we came up in the median of I-25! So then we were cruising at a good clip, passing some cars and trucks, but lagging behind some others. We could see the drivers looking at us. I asked my son if he thought the drivers were speeding up as they looked at us, and all he could say was, "They're jealous!"

:rofl:

As if you aren't bored enough, I'll post an update after my first experience taking the Rail Runner to Belen and catching a van from there to Socorro on Tuesday. I'm assuming there's a Rail Runner bridge over the Rio Grande...we'll see.