Sublette is a railroad ghost town in northern

Rio Arriba County Rio Arriba County () is a List of counties in New Mexico, county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 40,363. Its county seat is Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, Tierra Amarilla. Its ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, United States, built as a section station in 1880. It is located north-east of Chama, just south of the

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

state line and at milepost 306.1 of the former

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

. When the Denver and Rio Grande abandoned its narrow gauge lines in the late 1960s, two parts of the system were preserved independently: the

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge Heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United Sta ...

from Antonito to Chama, including Sublette itself, and the

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango, C ...

. Sublette sits at an elevation of 9,281 feet in the southeastern

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

History

The

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fro ...

established Sublette in 1880 as a construction camp on its

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

San Juan Branch. Once the line was completed, the camp served as a section crew station town, a base for the crew that maintained the track for the railroad. Structures included a section house for the foreman and his family, two bunkhouses for the section crew, a

coal bunker A coal bin, coal store or coal bunker is a storage container for coal awaiting use or transportation. This can be either in domestic, commercial or industrial premises, or on a ship or locomotive tender, or at a coal mine or processing plant. ...

, a speeder shed and a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

. The D&RGW operated trains over the branch until 1967, then in 1970 the

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge Heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United Sta ...

took over the abandoned track between

Chama, New Mexico Chama is a village in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 917 at the 2020 census. The village is located in the Rocky Mountains about south of the Colorado-New Mexico border. Geography Chama is located on the Ri ...

, and

Antonito, Colorado Antonito (in Spanish Antoñito) is a statutory town located in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 647 at the 2020 United States census. History Antonito began life as a sheep herding camp known as San Antonio Ju ...

, to operate tourist trains in the summer months. The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec maintain the remaining structures in the interests of

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

. The water tower was dismantled in 1937 and replaced with an underground cistern; C&TSRR trains stop here to take water.

Nearby locations of interest

Osier, Colorado Osier is a ghost town in Conejos County, Colorado, U.S. Although the U.S. Geographic Names Information System classifies it as a populated place, it is really a ghost town, as no one lives there any longer. It is an old railroad settlement and t ...

* Toltec Gorge, New Mexico

References

*Pearce, T.M. (editor) with Cassidy, Ina Sizer and Pearce, Helen S. (1965) "Sublette (Rio Arriba)" New Mexico Place Names; A Geographical Dictionary University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 160

External links

Official Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Web Site
Geography of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Ghost towns in New Mexico History of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Populated places established in 1880 1880 establishments in New Mexico Territory Former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1880 {{NewMexico-geo-stub