I had my first opportunity to visit the 'Land of Enchantment'
in the summer of 2000. This was my 1st real trip where 66 was the goal,
not a sideline and I was blessed
with great weather the whole time. Since then, I have learned and seen so
much, I almost feel overwhelmed at times-sometimes almost becoming indecisive in my
wishes to visit all of the Mother Road's treasures with my extremely
limited time.
However, I've come to realize that I've developed a
special love for the American Southwest. It's here that the true
essence of the road really seems to reach out and capture my fancy.
Starting in Glenrio and trekking across New Mexico, I feel a particular
bond to those early ramblers of the roads, those travelers of yesteryear.
I don't get this same feeling in the more easterly states.
Perhaps it's the desert climate-more of the old road and ruins
seem to remain. Maybe it's the wonderful vistas which seem to stimulate the mind
in a slightly different bent than the norm. But regardless, it is so easy to imagine yourself in a different world out
here that even now, after visiting the state three whirlwind times, I can't wait to get
back. I'm hooked on New Mexico's old 66 as surely as a Largemouth
Bass on Huck Finn's barb!
Were all familiar with Route 66, right?
Well, when I first became interested in old 66, it never occurred to me that roadways, like people,
generally have a life-cycle: Birth, Adolescence, Maturity, and Old Age/Death.
What a goof! Only after doing research and starting to purchase books/old maps did
I become aware of previous alignments and opportunities missed on earlier
expeditions. Hence, I would like to enlighten you, the surfer, about
portions of the old road you may not be aware of if you're following a
'generic' travel guide or not wandering too far off the interstates.
'Leftovers' from the very first alignments through the state, I hope you enjoy these little snippets of our Mother Road's infancy...
It all began in Glenrio. Straddling the Texas/New
Mexico line, Glenrio was one of those gems spawned by the CRI&P like
most of the Texas Panhandle towns. Today, with the withdrawal of the
rail depot in 1955 and the bypassing of I-40, Glenrio is a virtual ghost
town. It wasn't always so. Glenrio was there for the Route
from the beginning, and some structures still exists that validate this
claim. Take for example this old abandoned station. Judging
from the architectural style, I'm guessing that this old fella has seen
plenty of tires with inner tubes roll on by. Some scenes from the "Grapes of Wrath"
were shot here. I wonder if this guy was in
the movie??
When those early rickety cars with tubes were rolling
by and heading out of town,
they didn't take that large sweeping curve angling 
up
towards I-40 west of town that we see today. No, they plunged on
ahead on the now gravel alignment that crossed this old wooden bridge and 
shot
straight west through the abandoned towns of Endee and Bard into San
Jon. Judging from the adobe blocks, this old farmstead near Bard may very well
have already been built when this roadbed was part of the original route (approx. 10 miles west of Glenrio).
A little further west of that classic eastern
New Mexico town of Tucumcari, I'd like to highlight a trio of almost
forgotten relics of the old road: Montoya, Newkirk and Cuervo.
Again, like so many
others, old railroad way stations or loading points, these communities
grew with the coming of the road and faded with its passing. Today,
all three are slowly but steadily returning to the elements (see pic of an
old farm house in Cuervo-north side of the road) and I would advise
travelers not to bypass these places on the interstate as they could
easily be razed tomorrow.
Originally known as the cattle town of
Roundtree (see pic of the old Roundtree stone store 
north
of the current road-that's Montoya Mesa in the background), Montoya doesn't see much traffic anymore, but it
wasn't always so. Richardson's store (circa 1925)
was there from the very
beginning and saw 
pah-lenty
of action during those 66 boom years. According to our friend Guy
Randall (great website Guy!) who had a
chance meeting with the current owner, the owner mentioned that it
sometimes took a half hour to cross the road in the WW2 days! Now it
may be a half hour between vehicle sightings. BTW, note the
old Sinclair Gasoline 'ghost sign' on the side of the building!
Just a piece down the road, Newkirk has a
string of abandoned buildings along the south side 
of
66 to sadly remind us of what once was. One of the more intriguing
buildings (see pic) apparently was very multifunctional-doubling as a
grocery, Post Office, 
auto
parts, probably a gas station at one point and even a campground!
This place, I'm sure, saw many an early traveler in its day! Similar
to Newkirk, Cuervo also has a string of buildings to wonder at. Some
are not identifiable, but the lettering on this building is still legible
and once proudly proclaimed "Cuervo, New Mexico Groceries".
Santa
Rosa. The 1st routing of our 66 actually came into the SE side of
town on what is now known as NM156.
Today, this route really gives one a feel for the early highway across NM.
Talk about the 'road less traveled'! Home of Club Cafe's fat man,
Santa Rosa still has quite a few vintage motels and diners from an earlier
era. For example, the Tower, the La Loma and the Sun & Sand are
still hanging in there and although the Club Cafe building is gone, the
awesome sign (see
pic) still beckons.
West out of Santa Rosa, the old road made a rather
circuitous journey around the state. Angling up towards Las Vegas,
the old road then headed west towards Santa Fe-the route now replaced 
by
I-25 and relegated to frontage roads and short cut-off segments. One
of these little segments takes us into the sleepy little town of Tecolate.
On the west end of 
'town',
be sure to note the old bridge pillars, now a canvas for many of the local
spray can 'artists'. The bridge in the background was built in the
40's and was not part of original 66. And here's another tip
for this area: Be careful to watch for children, pets, and even large,
car-damaging critters of the equestrian variety! Things move a
little more slowly up here...
Just a little bit further west, another worthy
stop is yet another sleepy little town: San Jose (calling San Jose a town
is being very generous). On the original routing of 66, remains of
the old 
roadbed
and culverts can be seen on the hillsides and fields if you follow the
north I-25 frontage road back east approx. one mile. You can see the
old roadbed 
curving
off to the south and cut-off by I-25. Heading into San Jose proper
(on the south side of I-25), this alignment would have curved back
westward and crossed this delightful 1921 wooden decked bridge! Back
then, I imagine that tourist/travelers occasionally stopped in San
Jose. Today, it doesn't look like anyone has stopped for some
time...
Not all of original 66
lies on the Santa Fe alignment or in the eastern part of the state.
There are plenty of opportunities to find some truly ancient 66 in the
west. From Prewitt on west to just east of Gallup, the original
alignment of 66 ran north of the railroad tracks and parallels the newer
66 most of us are familiar with. Look through the railroad right
of way where the old rail lines cross creeks/washes and you will often
spot the raised roadbed and even some old concrete bridge footings at many
places. A perfect example of this is this great old wooden-deck
bridge on the north side of
the train tracks near Prewitt. This bridge is just west of where
Woodview Drive turns under the interstate and as mentioned, this bridge is
easily visible through the opening caused by the large railroad
bridge. A closer examination showed that time is limited for this
old piece of work. I'm not a structural engineer, but a careful
analysis indicates that this bridge may not be safe to cross! 
Just down the road a stretch near the Iyanbito
turnoff back on our newer, more familiar 66, look to the north to catch a
glimpse of another early bridge-this one a little more permanent.
The golden rays of a setting sun backlit the
old structure perfectly for just a moment and I hope you enjoy the photo (author's
note-I had to digitally manipulate this photo to remove some offensive graffiti).
Just a note that on the east end of this bridge, there is a large tin can
dump where a little digging revealed a couple of great old oil cans that
still had unique, readable labels...I'm sure there might be more!
From Gallup on, the old road essentially IS
the newer 66 so fondly described in most maps and books on the
subject. I hope you've enjoyed these relics from the very infancy of
our Mother Road, and never stop striving to learn more about the history
and lore of some of your favorite places in New Mexico. I guarantee
that the more you learn, the more New Mexico will draw you back.
Until then, let's continue on into the fabulous Grand Canyon state: Arizona!
--OR--
choose your favorite 66 state to jump to!
