HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 93

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Ben Lujan

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATIONS ASK THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DESIGNATING THE CUMBRES AND TOLTEC SCENIC RAILROAD PART OF A NATIONAL HISTORIC SCENIC RAILWAY.

     WHEREAS, the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad is north America's most authentic steam railroad and is jointly owned by New Mexico and Colorado, managed for the states by the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad commission and operated as a living history museum; and

     WHEREAS, the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad commission is an interstate agency authorized by the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Compact, approved by congress on October 24, 1974; and

     WHEREAS, the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad operates a sixty-four-mile line connecting Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, via the ten-thousand-fifteen-foot Cumbres pass and is an archetypal remnant of the Denver and Rio Grande narrow-gauge railroad system that once stretched hundreds of miles throughout the Rocky mountains; and

     WHEREAS, it is necessary that the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad continue to make physical and passenger safety improvements to rebuild the system and to become operationally, economically and financially stable to reach maximum potential as a national historic site; and

     WHEREAS, the sustainability of the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad is a major concern of local residents and businesses and is key to the vitality of economic development and tourism in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico and Colorado congressional delegations ask the national park service of the United States department of the interior to evaluate the feasibility of designating the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad part of a national historic scenic railroad to preserve this historic treasure for all Americans and for future generations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico and Colorado congressional delegations.

- 3 -