Raton, NM (Amtrak's Southwest Chief)

Raton is the most northern stop in New Mexico, just south of the Colorado border, and the namesake pass where trains cross at 7,588 feet of elevation, the highest point on the Southwest Chief and historic Santa Fe railroad. It is notable for the thousands of Boy Scouts that get on and off each summer at the station as they head for the Philemon Scout Ranch. It is also the connecting point for Throughway Bus Service operated by Greyhound heading north up I-25 to Denver, Colorado. The station consists of a historic 1903 depot surrounded by dusty unpaved parking lots just off of South 1 Street (across from Cook Avenue).

The depot is in the Spanish Revival Style and made of stucco and brick. The building is painted a light cream color. The building houses minimal offices for BNSF along with a small Amtrak waiting room. This waiting room is small, painted white, and contains two rows of red and blue chairs, along with bathrooms. It is open and closed by a caretaker with Amtrak able to staf the station in summer to offer the Boy Scouts checked baggage service.

Trains stop along a dusty brick platform, a bit beyond the depot, where there are currently 5 tracks in the area although there were probably once more. This brick platform has a simple concrete edge and yellow painted line. Stools are used for the large step between the platform and the train. At the southern end of the platform is a small concrete 6 inch high platform that is maybe 10 feet long (for one door). It contains a modern brown wheelchair lift enclosure, two green lampposts, and a gradual ramp down to two newly paved ADA parking spaces in the middle of the dusty lots that surround the station. Some dust already covers a portion of the ADA ramp. The ADA improvements also added modern silver with blue text Raton, NM signs along the platform.
Photos 1-14 taken on 13 March, 2008 on a visit by car; 15-42: 21 September, 2015 and 43-54: 18 March, 2019 on quick Southwest Chief Smoke stops

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The station house at Raton, NM streetside with the distinctive roof and Passenger Rail Station sign.

A view of the simple waiting room with it's rows of chairs lining each wall.

Another view of the small waiting room.

A ridiculous paper sign listing the evacuation routes out of the waiting room at Raton, NM. There two doors, one trackside and one landside..

BNSF Locomotive #8816 stops in front of the station in Raton on a siding alongside the platform. There is a random luggage cart on the platform.

The other green locomotive on the siding at Raton, a Green BNSF locomotive #6379.

Looking up at the steeple shaped structure that is at an angle on top of the regular station house at Raton.

Another view of the station house at Raton trackside.

Another view of the platform and station building at Raton.

An Amtrak Raton Station sign at Raton.

A side view of the station building at Raton.

The two P42 Genesis locomotives of the Southwest chief make there way through Raton, NM.

The Superliners of the Southbound Southwest chief pass through Raton, NM just south of the station.

The three Superliner coaches of the southwest chief and the Sightseer lounge car go off into the distance in the town of Raton, NM.

Stepping off the eastbound Chief for a somke stop, the Greyhound Bus for Denver waits

The front of the Southwest Chief stopped, the deadheading Horizons coach, and two locomotives off in the distance

The Greyhound Bus to Denver, Colorado waits for its passengers off the Cheif at Raton, NM

A passenger gives his ticket to the driver of the Denver, CO Throughway Bus connection

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