CLOVIS RAILROAD HISTORICAL DISTRICT
A Draft Proposal
Author: Phil Williams

PURPOSE:

This paper outlines a proposal to create a Railroad Historical District in Clovis centered around the existing railroad depot and Harvey House buildings. It will provide a short historical introduction about the relationship between the railroad and the City of Clovis. It will then try to identify the buildings and other resources that should go into making this district. Finally it will attempt to suggest steps which will need to be taken, or are already underway, to accomplish the creation of this district. These views are presented by the author and may not accurately reflect all the tasks that will need to be accomplished. It is intended as a “straw paper” and one that will be refined.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The City of Clovis exists because the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway started it. At the start of the 20th Century, the Santa Fe Railway was constructing a transcontinental railroad across New Mexico. Their original route took the railroad across the Sangre de Christo Mountains in northern New Mexico at the Raton Pass and then along the eastern slope of the mountains through the town of Las Vegas, then back across the mountains to Lamy via the Glorieta Pass. The line then continued through Albuquerque, Rio Puerco, west to Gallup, and into Arizona.

This route had two very steep passes, the one at Raton and the second at Glorieta. These required the railroad to use additional motive power (helper engines) to get the trains over the passes. This was a very expensive and time-consuming activity. The railroad wanted to find an easier way to get across New Mexico. Several routes were explored. One called for building a line east from Belen, NM, across the mountains at the Abo Canyon, then across the eastern plains of New Mexico to the town of Texico on the Texas, New Mexico border. Here this proposed line would join up to an existing line, the Pecos Valley and North Eastern, which connected Pecos (Texas), Eddy (now Carlsbad), Roswell, and Portales to the Santa Fe’s subsidiary - the Panhandle and Santa Fe - which would take the trains up to Amarillo, Texas, then on up to Newton, Kansas, where they would connect to the then main line that went through Northern New Mexico. This route would be no shorter, but the grades would be much less severe and make train operations much easier. The Santa Fe Railway decided on this route and contracted with Strong and Sons to build the line starting in 1903. Initially, the Division Point for the line was to be located at the town of Melrose. For a variety of reasons, this division point location was abandoned. In October of 1906, the Santa Fe Land Agent in Texico, a Mr. Reid, was directed to purchase the “first level section of land west of Texico, for the purposes of establishing a Division Point.” Mr. Reid did so at a location near the railroad’s Riley Switch and established the township of Clovis. The new town would grow very rapidly, becoming the county seat for the newly established Curry County. The passenger depot was one of the first railroad buildings to be built and is now the oldest building in Clovis still located where it was built. While the Depot was being finished, work was started on the Harvey House next door. This became the Gran Quivira Harvey House. These two buildings were part of a set of five that were to be built along the northern side of the railroad yard and tracks. The other three were the General Office Building (GOB), still in use by the railroad, the freight house and the Railway Express Building, both of which have been demolished. Thus, the Depot, Harvey House, and GOB are the historical anchor of this community.

This railroad’s importance to our history is also highlighted by its role in the first transcontinental flight endeavor. In 1929, it would take some four days by train to travel across the United States from New York to Los Angeles. A company called Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) was formed to cut this travel time down to two days. The idea was to fly during the day and travel by train at night. In these early days of air travel it was not considered safe to fly at night. The concept was for passengers to leave Los Angeles on the morning of the first day and fly aboard a Ford Tri-motor airplane to Clovis, New Mexico. Here they would get off the airplane and be fed dinner at the Harvey House, then board a Santa Fe Pullman train and travel overnight to Waynoka, Oklahoma. There they would get off the train, have breakfast at that Harvey House, then board a second Ford Tri-motor airplane and fly to Columbus, Ohio. They would arrive in Columbus on the evening of the second day, have dinner, and get on the Pennsylvania Passenger Train and complete their journey to New York City the following morning, arriving 48 hours after their departure from LA. The inaugural flight of TAT landed here in Clovis on the 8th of July of 1929. The pilot was none other than Colonel Charles Lindberg. One of his passengers on that flight was Amelia Earhart. They were both very keen on promoting air travel, and it was they who selected Clovis to be one of the principal stopping points on this new service. The Portair Station and the hanger would eventually become Cannon Air Force Base, and TAT would go on to become TWA (Trans World Airlines).

The Clovis Subdivision was the last part of the Santa Fe Railway to operate steam engines. They were shedded here in Clovis and used along the Belen cutoff as helper engines for heavy trains going over the mountains through Mountainair and the Abo Canyon to Belen. In 1957, the remaining steam locomotives of the ATSF were all rounded up and parked here in Clovis before their disposal to other railroads or sold as scrap. A few were moved to Albuquerque until about 1984, when the railroad decided to tear down the roundhouse there and further disposed of the engines it had saved.
A story that I have been told, which I have not yet been able to authenticate, is that Clovis also played an important part in the railroad’s early development of the diesel-electric locomotive. Many railroads, including the Santa Fe, were experimenting with gas powered, self-propelled cars, nicknamed “Doodlebugs”. Santa Fe had one, the M190, which was their largest and one that was articulated. The front portion housed the cab and a gasoline engine, the center truck served as the articulated section between the front and trailing car and also housed the traction motors. The trailing section of the M190 was an RPO and baggage car. Passengers were pulled by this unit in a conventional passenger car. The original power plant was a gasoline engine. After WWII, the railroad was able to obtain a diesel engine, originally intended for use on a Landing Ship Tank (LST). The workshop here in Clovis removed the original gasoline engine from the M190 and installed this marine diesel engine in its place. This would become one of the first diesel-electric locomotives and would serve as a test-bed for this concept. One of the stories told about this adventure is that when the M190, which was located in the roundhouse for this modification, was first started up, the exhaust from the diesel engine set the roundhouse roof on fire! In the future, any time it needed to be moved into the roundhouse, it had to be pushed in or pulled out until its exhaust stacks cleared the building. Another important asset we have in Clovis that is part of our railroad heritage is the switch engine currently located in Hillcrest Park. This locomotive, ATSF 9005, was one of the switch engines that worked the Clovis yard. In 1954 the locomotive was given to the city and moved to its current location. The locomotive has several historical attributes. First, it was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1906, the same year Clovis was founded. Second, the locomotive is the only one of this class to still exist. All other locomotives of the class have been scrapped. Finally, a number of retired citizens of Clovis worked on or with that locomotive. It has deteriorated significantly; virtually all of the wooden parts of the locomotive have rotted. All the gauges and other fixtures in the cab have been removed as has one of its builder’s plates, and finally it is rusting very badly. The rear sand dome is virtually gone as is the headlight housing. This is a short historical summary of Clovis and some of the railroad artifacts that should become part of a Railroad Historical District.

STEPS INVOLVED IN CREATING A HISTORICAL DISTRICT:

Actions already under way:

First, the passenger depot has been purchased by the author of this study and has been restored to its appearance in the 1950’s when the railroad was changing from steam to diesel operation. The building has been listed on both the State and National Historical Registers for Historic Buildings. The Depot now houses a museum with three themes. These are the history of toy trains, the history of the railroad in Great Britain (where railroads started) and in Australia, and the history of the railroad here in Clovis and along the Belen Cutoff. Much of the history given in the first part of the paper is covered in various displays and artifacts that make up the museum collection. The property the building is on is also owned by the author and extends in front and along the sides of the building out ten feet to a chain link fence. On the street side the property is “L” shaped with the narrow end along the south east side of the building. The tall end extends toward Connelly Street. This configuration was brought about because the railroad wanted to maintain access to their engineering building and storage area. The Clovis Depot Model Train Museum, the name of the Limited Liability Company operating the museum, also owns the lot between the edge of the railroad property and First Street. This extends from Connelly Street to the alley. The remainder of this block is occupied by the old commercial icehouse, now a second hand store called “Cheapo’s Depot.”
Second, the Clovis Depot Model Train Museum has reached an agreement with the City of Clovis to be allowed to relocate the ATSF 9005 switch engine from its current location in Hillcrest Park to the vacant lot in front of the Depot. There is a semaphore from the Glorieta Subdivision that was donated to the Museum by the railroad, located on this lot. A section of railroad track is being constructed next to this semaphore to place this locomotive on. After the locomotive is moved and fenced in, it will be restored cosmetically to its condition in 1944. That is the date when that locomotive was converted from being a coal burner to an oil burner, which was its condition when given to the city. It is also planned to get the locomotive on the National Register. It is not contemplated that the locomotive will be restored to operating condition, since there would be no place to run it on should it be so restored. It is planned, however, not to do anything during the cosmetic restoration that would preclude operational restoration someday in the future should that become possible.

Third, the BNSF Railroad has been contacted by the City and the museum requesting the donation of an ATSF caboose, to be installed along with the switch engine on the lot in front of the Depot. The BNSF has given a favorable response to the idea and hopefully will be providing a caboose to add to the display.
The manpower to accomplish the restoration of ATSF 9005 will come from the members of the Clovis Depot Railway Historical and Modeling Society. The Texas Panhandle Railroad Historical Society of Amarillo, Texas has promised technical support. This group restored the ATSF 5000, “Madam Queen” 2-10-4 Texas Class locomotive and has offered to share their experiences and lessons learned with the Clovis group when we begin the restoration of ATSF 9005. Additionally, a number of members of the community who are retired from the railroad have offered their support.

Actions which have been explored:

The Clovis Downtown Revitalization Program (CDRP) has approached the BNSF Railroad on the subject of making the Clovis Harvey House available to Clovis for restoration. The railroad’s superintendent here in Clovis at the time felt that such a request would be considered favorably. In the discussions it was pointed out that the engineering building and property in front of the Depot would need to be included in this deal, so that all the property surrounding both the Depot and Harvey House would be available for development into the proposed railroad district. The railroad indicated that they saw no problem in relocating the metal building that now houses the engineering department to another location on the property so that all the land some 34 feet north of the tracks from ten feet west of the Depot to approximately the same distance to the east of the Harvey House and extending north to the Santa Fe’s current property line would become this railroad district.

Members of the CDRP have been shown around inside the old Harvey House, and have found that it is in sound shape, needing primarily cosmetic restoration. The building has two stories and a basement. When viewed from above it was originally shaped like the letter “F”. The long extent of the building ran east to west, with the upper wing extending to the north from the western end. This end was added to in about 1948 with an extension and an attached large square addition. The center northern wing remains as it was originally built. The space between the two wings has been filled in with a lower covered section. The second story of the building served as the guest quarters, except for possibly the northwestern end, which may have been the quarters for the Harvey Girls, the waitresses who worked at the hotel and restaurant. I know that the male employees of the Harvey House were housed in the dormitory rooms of the Depot during the 1930’s. In the 1920’s, before the square addition was added, the railroad had a two-story dormitory type structure for the employees of the Harvey House. The building resembled the WWII buildings the government built as temporary buildings to house wartime activities. This building was located between the Harvey House and the GOB on the street side and is now gone. The first floor of the Harvey House housed the hotel lobby, the Harvey Dining Room the kitchen and other office space. The open arched areas on the west, south and east side of the building were used as sales and vendor areas. In 1953 the railroad did an extensive facelift to the trackside of the building adding a snack bar and tourist type vending area in order to improve its services to its passengers. After the Santa Fe stopped offering passenger service because of the creation of AMTRAK, the Harvey House was modified by enclosing the arched areas on the west, south and east. The interior was used by the engineering department until approximately 1989, when this department was relocated to Belen; and the building was essentially boarded up and only used for storage. I don’t know what the basement looks like.

The actions to be taken relative to this building and property would include acquiring the building and land from the BNSF and restoring it, most probably to its condition in the mid-50’s the same period as has been chosen for the Depot. I suggest this period, because that was when the last major structural modifications were made. To try to undo these would be a large undertaking and would reduce the amount of room available in the building. While the steps to acquire the building are taking place, the paperwork necessary to submit the building to the State Historic Preservation Officer for inclusion on the State Historic Register should be taken. The State Historic Preservation Office would then submit the building for inclusion on the National Register. When the building and property were acquired, then restoration work would begin.
I would envision the first floor of the building being restored to house a restaurant in the style of the Harvey Restaurants; complete with waitresses dressed in the uniforms worn by the Harvey Girls. The large ballroom should be restored and be available for functions needing this type of facility. Another large area of the first floor could be used to house the model railroad that Mr. Lester Merrill recently donated to the City of Clovis. This model railroad depicts the State of New Mexico and many of its historical, economic and cultural facets and uses the model trains to tell the story. The model has been constructed so it is largely automated in its operation and would serve as an additional railroad attraction for visitors to Clovis and our young folks to learn about the history of the state and the role the railroad played in developing New Mexico.
The second floor should be used as a museum. One or two of the rooms should be restored to look as they would have when it was a Harvey House Hotel. One room would be done up as the deluxe type and the second in the more economic style. I would then use a number of the rooms to convey a historical progression of this part of New Mexico. The first room would contain artifacts and a diorama of Clovis Man, one of the earliest know human habitations in the Western Hemisphere. The next room would contain similar artifacts and a diorama of the Plains Indians who inhabited this region before the Spanish Conquistadores came. The next room would depict Coronado’s men and their search for the lost cities of Cibola, and show how the “Llano Estacado” came to get its name. The Spanish explorers noted that there were few landmarks on this high plain, so they planted stakes as they went so they could retrace their route. The name “Llano Estacado” means staked plain in Spanish. The next room might be made up to look like the inside of one of the dugouts used as living quarters by the early settlers and include a diorama of life back then. Next you might show a more permanent interior for later settlers. Then a room could show the construction of the railroad. This theme would be carried for as many rooms as are needed to depict the historical events that make up our rich history. In each room there would also be a direction on where to go in the surrounding area to see the real thing, such as the Blackwater Draw and the sculpture of Clovis Man at Clovis Community College. It will take a lot of brainstorming by members of the community to decide on the various themes to be presented in this museum and what to include.

Actions which need to be taken:
In order for the Railroad District to be a viable downtown anchor, it must present a good face to the city. The Depot owns the western half of the block between Connelly Street and Mitchell Street. The Cheapo’s Depot occupies the eastern roadside half of the block. In order for there to be access to the Harvey House from the street and adequate parking, this building must be acquired and Aerial view of proposed railroad district next to BNSF tracks removed. This acquisition and removal coupled with the railroad making the land behind the old ice house and between the vacant lot and the Depot available, would create adequate access and parking for the Depot and Harvey House. I would not make the space where the icehouse is into parking; rather, I would make it a landscaped drive giving access to the north side of the central wing of the Harvey House that would become its primary entrance. The area to the west of the Harvey House and in front of the Depot would become the parking area. To the north of this area would be the park housing the locomotive and caboose and perhaps other railroad artifacts that might be obtained. Ultimately, I would suggest building a cover over the artifacts to provide them better protection from the elements.

SUMMARY:
This paper presents my ideas of what might be done with the many historical resources we have here in Clovis and outlines briefly how these ideas might be approached. The final goal of this will be a few years in coming, but I think it will be worth the effort and really make Clovis an important historical place to visit. This in turn should help the City’s economy and that of the eastern plains of New Mexico. Please feel free to add ideas to this and details to help it happen.