All Aboard at the Palace!

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Lamy Model Train. Courtesy NMHM.

The New Mexico History Museum’s delightful exhibition, 18 Miles and That’s As Far As It Got: The Lamy Branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, explores the unique connection between the little town of Lamy and the legendary capital city of Santa Fe.

On view in the Palace of the Governors, the exhibition highlights a 32-foot model of a Lamy train, meticulously crafted by the Santa Fe Model Railroad Club. This railway masterpiece transports viewers back to the early 1940s, when wood-framed buildings, traditional adobe houses, stockyards and the once-thriving "Harvey House" defined the community.

These architectural gems—anchored at one end of the tracks by Lamy’s iconic El Ortiz Hotel and at the other by La Fonda and the Palace of the Governors—showcase "Santa Fe Style," a blend of Pueblo, Spanish and Mission influences that remain a defining characteristic of the region's unique identity. Maps, vintage photographs and text panels flesh out the fascinating story of the railroad’s important role in community development.

This article and image are from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Member News Magazine.