Collectors Corner! Ed Sandoval's Newsletter (Taos, NM)

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Collectors Corner!

Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter

102-B Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571

www.edsandovalgallery.com

edsandovalart@gmail.com

(575) 770-6360

Choo Choo Choo! - The Chili Line

It’s interesting…I was born and lived my whole life in New Mexico except for a brief stint in Los Angeles after graduating high school ( read here ) and a few years in Salt Lake City. Lately, everywhere I go in NM, I’m reminded of history, family and stories.

A few weeks ago on a road trip to Pagosa Springs, we stopped for lunch at the Chili Line Depot in Tres Piedras. As I ate delicious green chile enchiladas, I flipped to the back of their menu to read about the history of the Chili Line. The words brought colorful images to my mind, the years seemed to disappear, and I started thinking about dad, Herminio Sandoval.

First, let me tell you about the Chili Line. Built by horses and mules in the 1880’s, it was envisioned to be the first north-south railway line in the country, connecting Denver and Mexico. That never happened, but they did manage to connect Antonito, CO, to Santa Fe, NM (125.6 miles). Also fascinating is that it was built as the first three-foot narrow gauge railroad in the country. The tracks ran along the beautiful, winding Rio Grande, and to this day you can see straight inclines carved into the canyon walls where the line ran. In Tres Piedras and Taos Junction (about 19 miles south of Tres Piedres), all that remains of the Chili Line are the two old, wooden water towers that were used when the train was still in operation (1880’s to 1941).

The Chili Line was officially known as the Santa Fe Branch ( Source )

Why was it nicknamed the Chili Line? I’ve heard three stories: 1) in honor of the chile ristras hanging on adobe buildings in the countryside and villages through which the train passed, 2) due to the lunch stop, where so many people ordered chile that the conductors would yell “Chile stop!”, and 3) because the train carried NM chile peppers from the farms to the markets (as well as freight, water, mail and passengers). For all three stories, they really should have spelled it “Chile” instead of “Chili” but who am I to quibble? Ha ha.

Photograph: George Law. Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (“Chili Line”) Bridge near Jacona between Otowi and Santa Fe, 1924-1926. Courtesy: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives. ( Source )

I loved this passage from the menu: “The train crew seemed to enjoy helping residents along the way. The engineers would blow the steam whistle and ladies would bring out their wash tubs and get hot water for laundry. The brakeman gathered newspapers in Alamosa and threw them to women and kids, since most did not have money to buy them and never traveled more than a few miles from home in their lifetimes. Each morning, the engineer would pick up a bone at the butcher shop in Alamosa, to reward a particularly loyal newspaper delivery dog (“Minnie”) at the Taos Junction stop.”

Herminio (Middle) at the Silver/Gold Mines

Work Barracks in Telluride (circa 1927)

In my mind’s eye, I can see all that happening so clearly, which brings me to dad. In the 1920’s, my dad (Herminio) worked in the silver and gold mines in Telluride. He rode the Chili Line to Antonito, where he was picked up on a bus or other type of transport and taken the rest of the way to Telluride. Travel was difficult back then, so he would stay and work for months before returning home for a brief visit with his family. Then he would go away again – up north on the Chili Line for another few months of work. This was before I was born, but mom told me that she went with him on occasion so they could be together. I think they were newly married, so that would have been important....

After lunch, I stopped to look at the old water tower in Tres Piedras and was again taken back in time. When the line stopped running in 1941, the track was removed and most of the engines and iron rails were scrapped and melted for the war effort. Except for a couple of water towers, nothing really remains. But the thought of that steam engine trudging through the canyons and up, up, up over the mountains is sooooo strong….. Who doesn’t delight in old trains? I was so inspired that I decided right then and there to paint our beloved Chili Line (24 x 30).

A Taos Visitor from the South Pole

Taos gets visitors from all over the world, but I can't recall EVER meeting someone from the South Pole! When Clinton started chatting with me in the parking lot, I was fascinated. He promised to send me some pictures, which he did, and I was absolutely mesmerized. I asked him to write a blurb, so we could all gain some insight into what it's like living and working in this otherworldly, frozen landscape at the bottom of the world.

“Man Is Insignificant” – Glaciers near One of the Science Camps at the Lower Region near the Trans Antarctic Mountains.

Clinton's Story: How does a person who was born in Quanah, Texas get to the South Pole and then make a new friend in Taos, New Mexico? Well, in 2006 I retired after 28 years as an Air Traffic Controller. Good Air Traffic Controllers are "A" type people who love high stress, fast thinking, and small margins for errors. However, after lots of years in that environment, retirement just doesn't quite fit. I have to have something new to see or do every day or I get extremely bored. So, I travel as much as I can, and I talk to everyone about who they are and what they are doing.

The actual GPS marker for the South Pole – A mile-high mountain with a mile of ice on top of it, so it actually moves a little each year and they remark it. There is also a contest to design the brass marker in the picture.

Luckily, there are lots of Private Contract Air Traffic Control jobs out there. Antarctica, Iraq, Afghanistan, Singapore, etc... I applied for the Austral Summer Air Traffic Control job at McMurdo Station Antarctica in 2010 and was selected. The Austral summer is from September thru March, and it's 24 hours of daylight the entire time. At the end of the season, they mentioned to me that if I came back one more season (2011-2012) that I would be able to travel to the American South Pole Station.

I was blessed to go there on January 13th, 2012, on the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the Pole. It was the literally the trip of a lifetime.

I get asked a lot of questions about my experience, and I usually explain Antarctica with this: "On the Seventh day when God decided to rest, this is where he went." It is pure, serene, and oh so quiet. I pray that man leaves it that way.

One more little note about Antarctica is that, like the Sahara, it is a true desert. Almost no rainfall and no humidity. It is the coldest, driest, windiest place on the planet.

Wait, I forgot to mention Ed Sandoval. I was wandering through Taos, and there he was drinking some mystery drink and painting a masterpiece in the blazing hot sun. A man after my own heart, so we talked for a bit, my wife took a picture of us and I made a new friend. I suggest everyone search every day for a new friend or something new to learn or see, it is who we are. By the way it easy to make Ed your friend – just say hi. - Clinton Kidwell

This is Ed - Thank you Clinton for sharing your story and these incredible photos!