While it appears the last vestiges of fall have arrived, the temperature seems anything but. The weather in the greater Southwestern United States has been "off" this whole year it seems. The lack of monsoonal moisture has kept much of this part of the country in a near constant fire danger, and the heat continues to work air conditioning systems in the later afternoons here. The Galisteo Creek here is bone dry having not been fed by rain in months..
And even the trains have wandered off their normal patterns.
Here we see the Tri-Weekly Southwest Chief, a victim of Amtrak's slash and burn reaction to the 2020 Pandemic. Under a normal operation, we'd be able to catch its westbound counterpart, Train 3. But we won't see it today, nor will we see it tomorrow, as the next train won't be for another 48 hours as I bring the next Train 4 on Friday. Luckily, Friday and Sunday will find this canyon full of the chant of GE 4-Stroke diesels, but on Monday, Thursday and Saturday's now, only the silence rules. — with Elijah Cross.
