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92-553: The Belen Hotel , at 200 Becker Ave. in Belen, New Mexico , United States, was built in 1907. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is a two-story red brick flat-roofed L-shaped building with a chamfered corner. The hotel primarily served Santa Fe Railroad personnel. It was built for Mrs. Bertha Rutz, a German immigrant, who ran the hotel and its cafe until her death in 1953. Since 1996 it has been

184-427: A 5"–high extended font, and centered on the nose was the "Santa Fe" box logo (initially consisting of a blue cross, circle, and square painted on a solid bronze sheet, but subsequently changed to baked steel sheets painted bronze with the blue identifying elements applied on top). Three thin, pale yellow stripes (known as Cat Whiskers ) extended from the nose logo around the cab sides. In January, 1951, Santa Fe revised

276-485: A fishing derby that takes place at the acequia , or irrigation canal, that runs through the park. Other parks include El Corazon de Belen Garden Park, Jose Gallegos Park, Rosedale Park, Ross Park, and Welcome Park. The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a weekly news publication covering all of Valencia County. KBNM-LP is a radio station in Belen, playing oldies and other music throughout Valencia County. Hub City News

368-530: A group of colonists led by Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar, who had received permission to settle the tract of land known as the Belén Grant. The early settlers in the Belén grant included several genízaro families. The genízaros, Native Americans with origins as slaves and servants of colonists, were important in the frontier defense of New Mexico. For the genízaros, relocation to Belén and other frontier settlements

460-521: A half-interest to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The TP&W cut straight east across Illinois from near Fort Madison, Iowa (Lomax, IL), to a connection with the PRR at Effner, Indiana (Illinois–Indiana border), forming a bypass around Chicago for traffic moving between the two lines. The TP&W route did not mesh with the traffic patterns Conrail developed after 1976, so AT&SF bought back

552-656: A handful of which have either been restored to operating condition or are pending future restoration. Some of the more notable locomotives include: Santa Fe maintained and operated a fleet of three passenger ferry boats (the San Pablo , the San Pedro , and the Ocean Wave ) that connected Richmond, California , with San Francisco by water. The ships traveled the eight miles between the San Francisco Ferry Terminal and

644-532: A line through it in 1907. The city is geographically near the center of New Mexico, and is a significant transportation hub that includes access to rails, Interstate Highway 25 , and air at Valencia County's only public airport. Belén is at the southern end of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area . The city is located 35 miles south of Albuquerque. Belén was founded in 1740 as Nuestra Señora de Belén (Our Lady of Bethlehem) by

736-531: A merger between the parent companies of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific (SP) railroads in 1984. The red, yellow, and black paint scheme with large yellow block letters on the sides and ends of the units of the proposed Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad (SPSF) has come to be somewhat derisively known among railfans as the Kodachrome livery, due to the similarity in colors to the boxes containing slide film sold by

828-471: A new unified paint scheme. While Southern Pacific (railroad) was sold off to Rio Grande Industries , all of the SP's real estate holdings were consolidated into a new company, Catellus Development Corporation , making it California's largest private landowner, of which Santa Fe remained the owner. In the early 1980s, gold was discovered on several properties west of Battle Mountain, Nevada along I-80, on ground owned by

920-404: A nose emblem consisting of an elongated yellow "Circle and Cross" emblem with integral "tabs" on the nose and the sides, outlined and accented with black pinstripes, with variances according to the locomotive model. "SANTA FE" was displayed on the horizontal limb of the cross in black, Art Deco -style lettering. This emblem has come to be known as the " cigar band " due to its uncanny resemblance to

1012-416: A pair of blunt-nosed units ( EMC 1800 hp B-B ) designated as Nos. 1 and 1A. The upper portion of the sides and ends of the units were painted gold, while the lower section was a dark olive green color; an olive stripe also ran along the sides and widened as it crossed the front of the locomotive. Riveted to the sides of the units were metal plaques bearing a large "Indian Head" logo , which owed its origin to

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1104-471: A place to dine, so in 1910 the railroad built a Harvey House restaurant adjacent to the railroad tracks. It was the 86th restaurant in the chain operated by Fred Harvey. It contained a large lunchroom, a more formal dining room, a newsstand, kitchen facilities, a bakery, and sleeping rooms upstairs for the Harvey Girls who served the meals. That Harvey House is extant today. It houses memorabilia pertaining to

1196-461: A short time, Pacific types 1369 and 1376 were semi-streamlined for " Valley Flyer " service, with a unique paint scheme in colors similar to those used on the new passenger diesels. Unique was the two-tone light blue over royal blue scheme of streamlined Hudson type 3460 . Santa Fe's first set of diesel-electric passenger locomotives was placed in service on the Super Chief in 1936, and consisted of

1288-479: A variation of the "Warbonnet" scheme in which the black and yellow separating stripes disappeared. The "Santa Fe" name was emblazoned on the sides in large black letters, using the same stencils used on freight engines; these were soon repainted in red. In 1989, Santa Fe resurrected this version of the "Warbonnet" scheme and applied it to two SDFP45 units, #5992 and #5998. The units were re-designated as #101 and #102 and reentered service on July   4, 1989, as part of

1380-487: Is an event that has been around for more than 230 years. The fiestas, or parties, draw thousands of people from across the state and country to Belen for religious observance, and to celebrate with a carnival. The fiestas is held around the time Valencia County's green chile is ready for harvest, making its way as garnishing the "Fiesta Burger." Follow the Star is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and pays homage to

1472-669: Is an online news source covering all of Valencia County. Its primary focus is Belen and Belen-related stories. The vast majority of Belen is within the Belen Consolidated Schools district, which includes two high schools: Belén High School and Infinity High School, one middle school and seven elementary schools. Belen Consolidated Schools also has an alternative high school and a family school for home schooled students. Small portions of Belen are in Los Lunas Public Schools . Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church runs

1564-553: Is considered the world's largest matanza, a Spanish-style barbecue that can trace its origin back to the conquistadors . This New Mexico matanza tradition, hosted by the Hispano Chamber of Valencia County, involves slaughtering and cooking 45 pigs, then serving the free food, such as chicharrones , to more than 10,000 patrons. All of the proceeds are given as scholarships to local college students. The Our Lady of Belen Fiestas, held annually in Belen during one weekend in mid-August,

1656-783: Is home to a number of annual cultural events, including the St. Patrick's Day Balloon Rallye on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, the All-American Fourth of July around July 4, Rio Abajo Days on the last Saturday in September, and the Miracle on Main Street Festival and Electric Light Parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Hispano Matanza, held annually in Belen on the last Saturday in January,

1748-505: Is located along Becker and Dalies avenues, stretching from the BNSF rail yard to Main Street. Downtown Belen features structures dating back to the early 20th century when the railroad came to town. The Belen Hotel and Central Hotel, both located on Becker Avenue, are two-story structures built to accommodate railroaders and other rail guests in the early 1900s. Both were constructed of bricks made from

1840-446: Is reminiscent of a Native American ceremonial head-dress . The scheme consisted of a red "bonnet" that wrapped around the front of the unit and was bordered by a yellow stripe and black pinstripe. The extent of the bonnet varied according to the locomotive model and was largely determined by the shape and length of the car body. The remainder of the unit was either painted silver or was composed of stainless-steel panels. All units wore

1932-596: Is situated on the same block as three other historic buildings. As of the 2000 United States Census , there were 6,901 people, 2,596 households, and 1,778 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,463.1 inhabitants per square mile (564.9/km ). There were 2,952 housing units at an average density of 625.9 per square mile (241.7/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 67.50% White, 1.07% African American, 1.65% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 25.39% from other races, and 4.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 68.61% of

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2024-492: The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). Some of the challenges resulting from the joining of the two companies included the establishment of a common dispatching system, the unionization of AT&SF's non-union dispatchers, and incorporating AT&SF's train identification codes throughout. The two lines maintained separate operations until December   31, 1996, when it officially became BNSF. AT&SF

2116-718: The Chicagoan and Kansas Cityan trains (both names referred to the same service, but the Chicagoan was the eastbound version, while the Kansas Cityan was the westbound version), and the Eastern Express and West Texas Express . All AT&SF trains that terminated in Chicago did so at Dearborn Station . Trains terminating in Los Angeles arrived at AT&SF's La Grande Station until May 1939, when Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal

2208-528: The EMD GP60M and General Electric B40-8W which made the Santa Fe the only US Class I railroad to operate new 4-axle (B-B) freight locomotives equipped with the North American Safety Cab intended for high-speed intermodal service. Several experimental and commemorative paint schemes emerged during the Santa Fe's diesel era. One combination was developed and partially implemented in anticipation of

2300-556: The Eastman Kodak Company under the same name. Santa Fe units repainted in this scheme were labeled "SF", Southern Pacific units "SP", and some (presumably new) units wore the letters "SPSF". After the ICC's denial of the merger, railfans joked that SPSF really stood for "Shouldn't Paint So Fast." While most of the Santa Fe's steam locomotives were retired and sold for scrap, over fifty were saved and donated to various parks and museums,

2392-518: The Royal Gorge Railroad War . Federal intervention prompted an out-of-court settlement on February 2, 1880, in the form of the so-called "Treaty of Boston", wherein the D&;RG was allowed to complete its line and lease it for use by the Santa Fe. Building across Kansas and eastern Colorado was simple, with few natural obstacles, but the railroad found it almost economically impossible because of

2484-701: The Santa Fe or AT&SF , was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport ; at various times, it operated an airline, the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway, and the Santa Fe Railroad tugboats . Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to

2576-778: The Super Chief / El Capitan , the Texas Chief and the San Diegan (though Amtrak reduced the San Diegan from three daily round trips to two). Discontinued were the San Francisco Chief , the ex- Grand Canyon , the Tulsan , and a Denver–La Junta local. ATSF had been more than willing to retain the San Diegan and its famed Chiefs. However, any railroad that opted out of Amtrak would have been required to operate all of its passenger routes until at least 1976. The prospect of having to keep operating its less-successful routes, especially

2668-669: The 13 planes that qualified, seven were lost in crashes, killing ten. Only two planes made it safely to Hawaii. Goebel landed first in Hawaii after a nonstop 26 hours, 17 minutes, and 33 seconds, receiving the top prize of $ 25,000. The world's first atomic bomb , in unassembled pieces, traveled through Belén in July 1945 en route to the Trinity site at what is now White Sands Missile Range . The bomb's Belén route used old Highway 85, now Highway 314, also known as Main Street. Located in downtown Belén in 1945

2760-559: The 1860s. The original shops were relocated in 1878 to the south side of Seward Avenue and expanded in 1902 to double the repair capacity. The shops at Albuquerque , New Mexico, were built in 1880 and materially expanded in 1925. Another shop site was established at San Bernardino , California, in 1886. To maintain rolling stock in the state of Texas, a fourth major shop facility was built in Cleburne, Texas , in 1899. Physical confrontations led to two years of armed conflict that became known as

2852-453: The 1926 Chief " drumhead " logo. " Super Chief " was emblazoned on a plaque located on the front. The rooftop was light slate gray, rimmed by a red pinstripe. This unique combination of colors was called the Golden Olive paint scheme. Before entering service, Sterling McDonald 's General Motors Styling Department augmented the look with the addition of red and blue striping along both

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2944-508: The 2-10-2, Santa Fe rostered virtually every type of steam locomotive imaginable, including 4-4-2 Atlantics , 2-6-0 Moguls, 2-8-0 Consolidations , 2-8-2 Mikados , 2-10-0 Decapods , 2-6-2 Prairies , 4-8-4 Heavy-Mountains , 4-6-4 Heavy-Pacifics , 4-6-2 Pacifics , 4-8-2 Mountains , 2-8-4 Berkshires , and 2-10-4 Texas . The railroad also operated a fleet of heavy articulated Mallet locomotives , including 1158 class 2-6-6-2s , 2-8-8-0s , 2-10-10-2s , 2-8-8-2s , and

3036-523: The BNSF era, the company adopted a new paint scheme often known among railfans as the "Freightbonnet" or "Yellowbonnet", which placed more yellow on the locomotives (reminiscent of the company's retired Warbonnet scheme); the goal again was to ensure higher visibility at grade crossings. The truck assemblies, previously colored black, now received silver paint. In 1965, the road took delivery of ten GE U28CG dual-service road switcher locomotives equally suited to passenger or fast freight service. These wore

3128-646: The Christian heritage of Belen (Spanish for Bethlehem), held each December. The journey begins at Second St. and Becker Ave. in Belen's historic downtown and proceeds to Sixth St. and Becker Ave., culminating in the lighting of the Star of Bethlehem on Belen's water tower. Along the path the Christmas story is told with live characters and music by sponsoring churches. Belen has the only Harvey House Museum in New Mexico. The Santa Fe railroad arrived in Belen in 1880, when Belen

3220-662: The DL109/110 locomotive set, and ATSF 1A after it was rebuilt and repainted. The sides of the units typically bore the words "SANTA FE" in black, 5"– or 9"–high extra extended Railroad Roman letters, as well as the "Indian Head" logo, with a few notable exceptions. Railway identity on diesel locomotives in passenger service: Source: Pelouze, Richard W. (1997). Trademarks of the Santa Fe Railway. The Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society, Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colorado, pp. 47–50. In later years, Santa Fe adapted

3312-742: The Harvey House and the Santa Fe Railway, as well as exhibits on early local businesses and residents in Belen. The Belen Harvey House is the official railroad museum of the State of New Mexico and is a branch of the Belen Public Library. Belen has nine parks and is home to the Valencia County Fairgrounds. The Valencia County Fairgrounds is situated along the I-25 Bypass on the north side of Belen. The fairgrounds include two rodeo areas and

3404-581: The Pacific Ocean. The AT&SF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer 's " On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe ", written for the film The Harvey Girls (1946). The railroad officially ceased independent operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway . The railroad

3496-686: The Santa Fe Railroad (formerly SP). The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation (a name correlation of Santa Fe and Southern Pacific) was to develop the properties. They were sold to Newmont during 1997 in preparation for the merger with Burlington Northern ). Sometime later, Catellus would purchase the Union Pacific Railroad 's interest in the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT). On September   22, 1995, AT&SF merged with Burlington Northern Railroad to form

3588-421: The Santa Fe as well–virtually every small town main street and a number of city streets had their crossings protected by these unique wigwags. Virtually all the wigwags were replaced with modern signals by the turn of the 21st century. The railroad was also known for its tall "T-2 style" upper quadrant semaphores which provided traffic control on its lines. Again, the vast majority of these had been replaced by

3680-562: The Santa Fe was an early user of wigwag signals from the Magnetic Signal Company, beginning in the 1920s. They had several distinct styles that were not commonly seen elsewhere. Model 10's, which had the wigwag motor and banner coming from halfway up the mast with the crossbucks on top, were almost unique to the Santa Fe–the Southern Pacific had a few as well. Upper quadrant Magnetic Flagmen were used extensively on

3772-625: The Sheriff's Posse, a restaurant and a dance hall. Every August, the fairgrounds host the Valencia County Fair, coupled with the fair parade down Main Street. Eagle Park is located near I-25 and Belen High School. It is Belen's multipurpose park, including several soccer fields, baseball fields, tennis courts, and an outdoor basketball court. Eagle Park also has a community center with a weight room, indoor basketball court and several meeting rooms. Historic Anna Becker Park, located in downtown Belen

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3864-652: The Southern Pacific Transportation Company were placed under the control of a holding company, the Santa Fe–Southern Pacific Corporation . The merger was subsequently denied by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on the basis that it would create too many duplicate routes. The companies were so confident the merger would be approved that they began repainting locomotives and non-revenue rolling stock in

3956-519: The United States. Facilities at Belén included a large roundhouse and a classification yard , also serving branches southward to El Paso and northward through Albuquerque to Colorado . Today, Belén remains a major refueling station for the BNSF Railway , where an average of 110 trains travel through Belén per day on the Southern Transcon . Belén was incorporated as a municipality in 1918. It

4048-403: The average family size was 3.14. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.8% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males. The median income for a household in the city

4140-490: The beginning of the 21st century, with fewer than 10 still remaining in use in New Mexico as of 2023. The Santa Fe operated a large and varied fleet of steam locomotives . In 1899, the company owned 1,036 locomotives. Among them was the 2-10-2 "Santa Fe", originally built for the railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1903. The railroad would ultimately end up with the largest fleet of them, at over 300. Aside from

4232-483: The circle and cross emblem was applied to the tenders of a few passenger locomotives, but these were all later painted over. After World War II, "Santa Fe" appeared on tender sides of mainline road locomotives in white, above the unit number. Locomotives were delivered from Baldwin with white paint on the wheel rims, but the road did not repaint these "whitewalls" after shopping the locomotives. After World War   II, side rods and valve gear were painted chrome yellow. For

4324-476: The city, the railroad chose to bypass Santa Fe, due to the engineering challenges of the mountainous terrain. Eventually a branch line from Lamy, New Mexico , brought the Santa Fe railroad the 20 miles to its namesake city. The system was eventually expanded with branch lines into California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Illinois. By 1887 the mainline had been completed from Chicago to Los Angeles, making it one of

4416-576: The construction of a rail line to El Paso . In 1884, the United States General Land Office , through the authority of President Ulysses S. Grant , established the Town of Belén. By the turn of the century, local merchant John Becker had designed a commercial and residential plan for the town. Becker's plan laid out Belén on a grid, extending from a commercial center with two grand avenues — Becker Avenue and Dalies Avenue. Originally, all of

4508-712: The country’s most important railroads and one of the few that directly connected the Midwest with the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean under one corporation. The principal lines consisted of Chicago to Kansas City to La Junta, Colorado, to Los Angeles; Emporia, Kansas, to Oklahoma City to Fort Worth to Houston; Emporia, Kansas, to Dalies, New Mexico; Barstow to Richmond, California; Temple to Farwell, Texas; Denver to La Junta, Colorado; Albuquerque, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas; Dallas to Presidio, Texas; and Kansas City to Tulsa. The primary back shops at Topeka , Kansas, were first established in

4600-609: The county seat and remains the county seat to this day. In the late winter of 1862, Belén, an ally of the Union, become entangled in the Civil War when the town briefly fell under Confederate control after 400 Confederate soldiers marched into Belén. By summer, however, the Confederate army had withdrawn from New Mexico. In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway reached Belén during

4692-510: The crushed adobe was used to pave New Town's main avenue, Becker Avenue. The residents of Valencia County spent nearly 30 years from 1846 to 1875 disputing where the county seat should be located. Valencia , north of Belén, was the county seat in 1846, followed by Peralta in 1847. Valencia reclaimed the county seat in 1849, only to lose it to Tomé in 1852. Belén captured the county seat from Tomé 20 years later but lost it to Tomé two short years later in 1874. Finally, in 1875, Los Lunas claimed

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4784-577: The ends and cab sides to increase the visibility at grade crossings (typically referred to as the Zebra Stripe scheme). "A.T.& S.F." was now placed along the sides of the unit just above the accent stripe, with the blue and white "Santa Fe" box logo below. Due to the lack of abundant water sources in the American desert, the Santa Fe Railway was among the first railroads to receive large numbers of streamlined diesel locomotives for use in freight service, in

4876-469: The film The Harvey Girls , a story about the waitresses of the Fred Harvey Company 's restaurants. It was sung in the film by Judy Garland and recorded by many other singers, including Bing Crosby . In the 1970s, the railroad used Crosby's version in a commercial. AT&SF ceased operating passenger trains on May   1, 1971, when it conveyed its remaining trains to Amtrak . These included

4968-500: The form of the EMD FT . For the first group of FTs, delivered between December 1940 and March 1943 (#100–#119), the railroad selected a color scheme consisting of dark blue accented by a pale yellow stripe up the nose, and pale yellow highlights around the cab and along the mesh and framing of openings in the sides of the engine compartment; a thin red stripe separated the blue areas from the yellow. The words SANTA FE were applied in yellow in

5060-569: The former Belén brickyard. Today, the Belen Hotel has been converted into a private residence and private art gallery , while the Central Hotel has been renovated to include a private residence upstairs with a wine-tasting room, and an event space and ballroom downstairs. Old City Hall, also located on Becker Avenue, is a 1938 Works Progress Administration project, which housed the former Belén City Hall and fire department. The two-story building

5152-489: The home of artist Judy Chicago and her husband Donald Woodman , who spent three years converting it into a home. This article about a property in New Mexico on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Belen, New Mexico Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem . It gained the nickname "Hub City" after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway completed

5244-415: The image of a passenger carrier. Diesels used as switchers between 1935 and 1960 were painted black, with just a thin white or silver horizontal accent stripe (the sills were painted similarly). The letters "A.T.& S.F." were applied in a small font centered on the sides of the unit, as was the standard blue and white "Santa Fe" box logo. After World War II , diagonal white or silver stripes were added to

5336-466: The money-bleeding 23/24 (the former Grand Canyon ) led ATSF to get out of passenger service altogether. Amtrak still runs the Super Chief and San Diegan today as the Southwest Chief and Pacific Surfliner , respectively, although the original routes and equipment have been modified by Amtrak. AT&SF operated the following named trains on regular schedules: Occasionally, a special train

5428-592: The most popular and durable, becoming to the Santa Fe what New York City - Philadelphia trains were to the Pennsylvania Railroad . But Santa Fe flyers also served Tulsa, Oklahoma , El Paso, Texas , Phoenix, Arizona (the Hassayampa Flyer ), and Denver, Colorado , among other cities not on their main line. To reach smaller communities, the railroad operated mixed (passenger and freight) trains or gas-electric doodlebug rail cars . The latter were later converted to diesel power, and one pair of Budd Rail Diesel Cars

5520-536: The new "Super Fleet" campaign (the first Santa Fe units to be so decorated for freight service). The six remaining FP45 units were thereafter similarly repainted and renumbered. From that point forward, most new locomotives wore red and silver, and many retained this scheme after the Burlington Northern Santa Fe merger, some with "BNSF" displayed across their sides. For the initial deliveries of factory-new "Super Fleet" equipment, Santa Fe took delivery of

5612-463: The now-famed waffle fry in cafes across the United States. His patent was granted two years later for what he called a "slicing machine with a stationary knife and reciprocating carrier" made "for the slicing of potatoes and like foods into attractive shapes." The waffle fries could be paired with Belén's own Hub City soda pop brewed and bottled locally by the Belén Bottling Co. The soda's trademark

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5704-416: The other half, merged the TP&W in 1983, then sold it back into independence in 1989. AT&SF began merger talks in the 1980s. The Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad (SPSF) was a proposed merger between the parent companies of the Southern Pacific and AT&SF announced on December   23, 1983. As part of the joining of the two firms, all rail and non-rail assets owned by Santa Fe Industries and

5796-409: The population. There were 2,596 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and

5888-590: The private St. Mary's Catholic School (affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe ), and Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley runs the private Canon Christian Academy. Belen residents are served by the University of New Mexico Valencia Campus in Tome and the University of New Mexico's main campus in Albuquerque. Belen's western boundary is Interstate 25 . Belen is intersected by New Mexico Highway 314 and Highway 309. Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ( reporting mark ATSF ), often referred to as

5980-572: The railroad's Point Richmond terminal across San Francisco Bay. The service was originally established as a continuation of the company's named passenger train runs such as the Angel and the Saint . The larger two ships (the San Pablo and the San Pedro ) carried Fred Harvey Company dining facilities. Rival SP owned the world's largest ferry fleet (which was subsidized by other railroad activities), at its peak carrying 40 million passengers and 60 million vehicles annually aboard 43 vessels. Santa Fe discontinued ferry service in 1933 due to

6072-460: The railroad. The Scholle building, located at the intersection of Main Street and Becker Avenue, is one of the more architecturally significant buildings in Belén, due to the engineering behind the architecture. Originally designed as a Swiss chalet, the Scholle building has more than eight miles of rail built into its walls. The Oñate Theater, located on Dalies Avenue, was built in the early 20th century, showing many major marquee films. The theater

6164-422: The rare 4-4-6-2 . The railroad retired its last steam locomotive in 1959. During the twentieth century, all but one of these was painted black, with white unit numbers on the sand domes and three sides of the tender. Cab sides were lettered "AT&SF", also in white. The subsidiary Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe often painted all or part of the smokebox (between the boiler and the headlight) white or silver. In 1940,

6256-401: The residents in both parts of town disagreed over the construction of a new Catholic church, with residents of Old Town wanting the new church to remain there, while residents of New Town wanted it built in their part of town. Ultimately, the adobe church in Old Town was abandoned, and a new church was built in New Town. In 1910, the last ruins of the former church were blown up with dynamite, and

6348-416: The same. On all but the " Erie-built " units (which were essentially run as a demonstrator set), GE U28CG , GE U30CG , and FP45 units, a three-part yellow and black stripe ran up the nose behind the band. A "Circle and Cross" motif (consisting of a yellow field, with red quadrants, outlined in black) was painted around the side windows on "as-delivered" E1 units. Similar designs were added to E3s , E6s ,

6440-433: The scheme to consist of three yellow stripes running up the nose, with the addition of a blue and yellow Cigar Band (similar in size and shape to that applied to passenger units); the blue background and elongated yellow "SANTA FE" lettering were retained. The years 1960 to 1972 saw non-streamlined freight locomotives sporting the "Billboard" color scheme (sometimes referred to as the "Bookends" or "Pinstripe" scheme), where

6532-497: The scheme to its gas-electric " doodlebug " units. The standard for all of Santa Fe's passenger locomotives, the Warbonnet is considered by many to be the most-recognized corporate logo in the railroad industry. Early after Amtrak's inception in 1971, Santa Fe embarked on a program to repaint the red bonnet on its F units that were still engaged in hauling passenger consists with yellow (also called Yellowbonnets ) or dark blue (nicknamed Bluebonnets ), as it no longer wanted to project

6624-467: The settlements along the Rio Grande in 1760. By the 1790s, Belén had established a city center known as Plaza Vieja , or Old Town, and had grown from a paraje , or precinct, to a partido , or district, with a population of 1,695. By 1793, a Catholic church and parish were founded. By the middle of the 19th century, Belén had outgrown Old Town and was expanding into what became known as New Town. In 1853,

6716-531: The sides and ends of the units in order to enhance their appearance. In a little over a year, the EMC E1 (a new and improved streamlined locomotive) would be pulling the Super Chief and other passenger consists, resplendent in the now-famous Warbonnet paint scheme devised by Leland Knickerbocker of the GM Art and Color Section. Its design was protected under a U.S. design patent , granted on November   9, 1937. It

6808-531: The sparse population. It set up real estate offices in the area and promoted settlement across Kansas on the land granted to it by Congress in 1863. On March 29, 1955 , the railway was one of many companies that sponsored attractions in Disneyland with its five-year sponsorship of all Disneyland trains and stations until 1974. In 1960, AT&SF bought the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad (TP&W); then sold

6900-645: The town's streets were to be named after Spanish explorers, such as Coronado , but were quickly changed to the last names of the town's founders, such as Becker, Paul Dalies, and Charles Reinken. In 1907, the Belén Cutoff for the Santa Fe Railway was completed, connecting Amarillo with Belén. Prior to the Belén Cutoff, trains used the steep Raton Pass on the Colorado and New Mexico border. The cutoff made it possible for many more trains to travel east and west across

6992-536: The tracks were laid directly over the wagon ruts of the Santa Fe Trail . In 1869, the first general office building of the company was built in Topeka. This building also served as a passenger station and freight depot. When the line was extended to Newton, Kansas in 1871, the railroad became a major cattle shipper to ensure a steady revenue stream, at the end of Texas cattle drive trails . Despite being chartered to serve

7084-439: The units were predominantly dark blue with yellow ends and trim, with a single yellow accent pinstripe. The words "Santa Fe" were applied in yellow in large bold serif letters (logotype) to the sides of the locomotive below the accent stripe (save for yard switchers which displayed the "SANTA FE" in small yellow letters above the accent stripe, somewhat akin to the Zebra Stripe arrangement). From 1972 to 1996, and even on into

7176-656: Was "Pop with Personality." According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12 km ) of land. The city lies in the Rio Grande Valley of the Albuquerque Basin , on the west bank of the Rio Grande . This climate type occurs primarily on the periphery of the true deserts in low-latitude semiarid steppe regions. Belén's central business district and downtown

7268-639: Was $ 26,754, and the median income for a family was $ 30,765. Males had a median income of $ 26,551 versus $ 21,300 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 12,999. About 23.2% of families and 24.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 18.2% of those age 65 or over. Belen is governed by a mayor-council form of government, with a city manager. The governing body consists of an elected mayor and four elected councilors. The city also has an elected municipal judge. Belen has five appointed positions: city manager, police chief, fire chief, treasurer and clerk. Belen

7360-445: Was Roy's Cafe, a restaurant where military and science personnel would dine since it had the necessary security clearance. Local legend suggests personnel escorting the atomic bomb, and perhaps the bomb itself, stopped at Roy's Cafe as they passed through town. In 1950, William F. Beavers, owner of B&B Cafe on Becker Avenue, filed the first patent for a machine that sliced potatoes into waffle-like slices, vowing to help commercialize

7452-416: Was a means of acquiring land. Their settlement in Belén was established to protect the southern border of the colony from Apache raiders. Belén was the first of what would be many genízaro settlements, and by 1744, 40 families were in residence. Spanish and mestizo families also settled in Belén. Recognizing the strategic significance of Belén, Spanish authorities established a fort in Belén to protect

7544-428: Was a small farming community. For the next 25 years, there was little train traffic through Belen, because the main rail line went west from Albuquerque. In 1908, the railroad opened a new line that avoided the steep grades over Raton Pass. This new line was the Belen cut-off, and it routed many more trains through Belen. Shortly after the new development, Belen began to bustle. Rail passengers who stopped in Belen needed

7636-509: Was among the first to add dining cars to its passenger trains, a move which began in 1891, following the examples of the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. The AT&SF offered food on board in a dining car or at one of the many Harvey House restaurants that were strategically located throughout the system. In general, the same train name was used for both directions of a particular train. The exceptions to this rule included

7728-526: Was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas , and Santa Fe, New Mexico . The railroad reached the Kansas – Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado , in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farmland from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress for laying track. As the railroad was first being built, many of

7820-403: Was chartered to make a high-profile run over the Santa Fe's track. These specials were not included in the railroad's regular revenue service lineup, but were intended as one-time (and usually one-way) traversals of the railroad. Some of the more notable specials include: The Santa Fe employed several distinctive wayside and crossing signal styles. In an effort to reduce grade crossing accidents,

7912-416: Was constructed of terron , a material similar to adobe . The Belén Harvey House is located within feet of the BNSF rail yard. It is a two-story building that opened in 1907, one year before the completion of the Belén Cutoff, to provide room and board to railroaders and others passing through. The original Belén rail depot is adjacent to the Harvey House grounds, owned by BNSF and used as office space for

8004-402: Was eventually added. After World War II, Santa Fe Trailways buses replaced most of these lesser trains. These smaller trains generally were not named; only the train numbers were used to differentiate services. The ubiquitous passenger service inspired the title of the 1946 Academy-Award -winning Harry Warren tune " On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe ." The song was written in 1945 for

8096-417: Was named after the wife of Belen's most influential businessman, John Becker. It was once a pond where residents ice skated in the winter. The park includes a sand volleyball pit, basketball court, and historic gazebo. Doodlebug Park features a restored Doodlebug rail car. The Doodlebug is known in Belen for shuttling Belen residents to Albuquerque in the early 20th century. The Doodlebug at Doodlebug Park

8188-530: Was opened. The Santa Fe was the only railroad to run trains from Chicago to California on its own tracks. The railway's extensive network was also home to a number of regional services. These generally couldn't boast of the size or panache of the transcontinental trains, but built up enviable reputations of their own nonetheless. Of these, the Chicago-Texas trains were the most famous and impressive. The San Diegans , which ran from Los Angeles to San Diego, were

8280-508: Was originally called the "Village of Belén", later becoming the "City of Belén". In 1927, Belén native and movie stunt pilot Arthur C. Goebel took up the challenge by James D. Dole , the Hawaii pineapple magnate, to race with other pilots to be the first to fly nonstop from the mainland United States to the Hawaii territory, in what is known as the Dole Air Race . Goebel flew the Woolaroc . Of

8372-444: Was restored by the production crew from the movie The Last Stand , which was filmed near the park, at the request of Lions Gate and Arnold Schwarzenegger , who starred in the film. Belen also has Sen. Willie M. Chavez State Park, next to the Rio Grande along Highway 309. The park has walking trails and picnic grounds. During special events it is open for camping. It is the site of Belen's annual ham radio operator event, as well as

8464-564: Was widely known for its passenger train service in the first half of the 20th century. AT&SF introduced many innovations in passenger rail travel, among these the " Pleasure Domes " of the Super Chief (billed as the " ...only dome car[s] between Chicago and Los Angeles " when they were introduced in 1951) and the " Big Dome " Lounge cars and double-decker Hi-Level cars of the El Capitan , which entered revenue service in 1954. The railroad

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