Raton Pass

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Raton Pass
Compass direction north south
Pass height 2350  m
State Colorado New Mexico
Valley locations Trinidad Raton
expansion Pass road, railway line
map
Raton Pass (USA)
Raton Pass
Coordinates 36 ° 59 '30 "  N , 104 ° 28' 45"  W Coordinates: 36 ° 59 '30 "  N , 104 ° 28' 45"  W.

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The Raton Pass (2,350 m above sea ​​level ) is a transition in north-south direction between the US states of Colorado and New Mexico through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains . Interstate Highway 25 runs over it from Denver , Colorado to Santa Fe , New Mexico and on to Albuquerque . Since December 19, 1960, the pass has been designated a National Historic Landmark . In October 1966, the site was included in the National Register of Historic Places .

In the 19th century, a route of the Santa Fe Trail , the first trade route between the United States and the then still Mexican Southwest, ran over the pass. In the course of the advancing settlement of the west, it became part of the most important connection on the eastern edge of the Rockies. In 1878 the pass was the site of an economic war between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) and the smaller Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW) over the right to use the crossing. When ATSF hired a gang of gunslingers and at the same time DRGW ran out of money, ATSF prevailed.

Because the gradients at Raton Pass were particularly high with up to 3.3%, the company extended the route network of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, which was purchased in 1883 , from Amarillo , Texas to the ATSF main line in the Rio Grande valley and bypassed it the Raton Pass for trains from the east. In 1930, ATSF acquired particularly powerful Texas- type locomotives for the north-south connection over the pass .

Web links

Commons : Raton Pass  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Colorado. National Park Service , accessed July 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Raton Pass in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed July 31, 2017.