Friday, as a way to help Monica with the move, my son, Will, and I visited the Las Cruses Railroad Museum. I has seen some encouraging information on the internet about the museum, but I still had my doubts in whether or not the trip would be a waste of time or not. I went mainly because they operate inside the historic Las Cruses 1910 Santa Fe Railroad Depot—which at the very least I could see the inside of one, and the depot sits next to live tracks—which was an added plus. In the end, I was pleased by the little museum that is there.
When we first walk into the museum, we were greeted by one of the staff that explained the different sections of the building and we talked about how the building changed through the years—she was excited about a recent discovery of the first blue prints of the building.
The first room after the ticket booth was the Women’s and Family waiting area. Out west, there wasn’t a large Black population—so segregation wasn’t by race as I have seen in some depots in the south, but by gender.
Around the back of the ticket booth was the office and the Men’s waiting area. There was also the newsstand in that room as well.
In the freight section of the building, now houses the model trains. Three different layouts were on display and functioning.
Outside the depot is a magnificent area for watching the active trains go by. Once a loading dock, now the area is safely roped off and covered for a comfortable day watching and waiting for the BNSF and local trains that pass through daily. The tracks are still used by BNSF as a switch, which is how we were able to see BNSF 1472 and 2844 linking into there cars.
The museum is well maintained and very close to the Main Street section of town. It would be a great addition to a visit to the Las Cruses Farmer’s and Craft Market when you are in Las Cruses.