Charging out of the sag which crosses Tecolote Creek in the distance, Amtrak's westbound Chief prepares to take a clear indication displayed by signal 7861, east of Chapelle on the Glorieta Subdivision. This remote stretch of railroad in New Mexico's San Miguel County looks much the same today as it did when the AT&SF first built through the untamed west. The historic signals, joined rail, wood ties, date-nails, and code-line that survive serve as unlikely caretakers of the memory of the Santa Fe and the import role it played in the growth of the Southwest.
