Santa Rosa NM Part 2

March 2013 - Santa Rosa NM

We'll go with an automotive Route 66 theme this week.

Santa Rosa was connected by railroad to Chicago, El Paso, and the world at large in the early 1900s.

Santa Rosa's stretch of U.S. Route 66 is part of film history. When John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset. It was also one of shooting scenes for Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw starring Lynda Carter in the titular role.

The town was the childhood home of author Rudolfo Anaya, and is the basis for the fictional town of Guadalupe in his autobiographical novel Bless Me, Ultima.

The remains of the Rio Pecos Ranch Truck Terminal. This truck stop featured a cafe at one time, and was crammed with big rigs. You can just see in the broken neon on the sign, the truck driver’s faint Howdy, which no doubt drew folks in with its friendly wave.

The terminal opened around 1955 but has been abandoned for many years and the gas pumps are long gone. In 2003 the city of Santa Rosa expressed an interest in reloacting this sign and replacing the white plastic portion with a "Welcome to Santa Rosa" message board. The owner of the sign wanted too much money and the project ell through.

Not the posts are rotting and no one is sure how much longer it can support the sign.