railrunner

Just took the Rail Runner for the first time, Santa Fe to Albuquerque. Our new commuter train lives up to all I've heard so far, and improves on the accounts of overcrowding (but the first few weekends were free, so everybody tried it out then). Today I had a square of four seats to myself, on the upper level looking east. Not only is it a new road to travel (the track parallels I-25 probably less than half the time), but the higher vantage point gives an almost-bird's-eye view of the land. Not a hawk, maybe, but a low-flying bird that's not in too much of a hurry...
I forgot how claustrophobic public transport makes me, with its recirculated air and unopenable windows. But the blessed momentary state of Not-Driving, and relief from the expending of energies or resources, made it worth the confinement. And it was fun to remember what a wonderfully non-rational view the soul gets of the city, from a train. You miss completely all the nice presentable fronts that every house is required to offer. And you stick your nose into their cluttered, asymmetrical back yards, where the real lives are going on.

As we rounded La Bajada, 20 minutes into the trip, a voice on the intercom announced that for the next 25 minutes, we would be passing through Indian land, and to respect the privacy of Pueblo residents, photos were not permitted. Very cool. It was a surprise to realize, after 10 years in northern New Mexico, I still have never seen half of the 8 Northern Pueblos. Probably because I wanted to respect their privacy. Though I'd like to make it to more feast days, when visitors are welcome. Hope they're alright with the train passing through their centers...

We were delayed twice - once to let an Amtrak pass, once for something we couldn't see. But the train ran smooth, and stayed close to schedule. Total trip time, from my current home in lowermiddle Santa Fe to my former home at Winning Coffee in Abq: 2.5 hours. And a total cost of $1, for the bus from the station downtown. The train's free to Santa Fe residents until March. I've been wondering why Abq wasn't included in this break as well, until a witty former coworker here at Winnings just cleared it up for me: Santa Feans' incentive is the new Albuquerque Economic Stimulus Plan.