Micah Gallegos
Stargazer trains stop in a dark spot in the Galisteo Basin for premium sky viewing.
A few minutes after the train pulls to a slow stop, the diesel engine cuts off and leaves the gasps of passengers and their shuffling feet as the only sounds. Without fail, people step onto the open-air car and crane their necks toward the sky to utter something awestruck—the pinpoints of light over their heads too numerous and amazing to absorb in silence.
That’s when astronomer Peter Lipscomb takes his cue, climbing onto a short stool and pointing a green laser beam from the spot in the Galisteo Basin toward Venus on the horizon. The thin line of light stretches inconceivably from the train car to the heavens and he launches into a lecture about the cosmos.
Later, he uses the beam to trace the reclining cat shape of the constellation Leo, and the edges of the rsas, bears major and minor.
This summer, at times when the moonlight is minimal and the weekend grows nigh, catch a similar show on one of Sky Railway’s Stargazer trains. As if just the train ride and astronomy lessons aren’t enough draw, each rail car also features live music and a bar with beer and craft cocktails, plus local snacks such as biscochitos from Sweet Santa Fe that can be ordered right from your assigned seat.
The two to three hour “adventure trains” are the latest incarnation of rail in Santa Fe. Bill Banowsky and George RR Martin, who respectively own the Violet Crown and Jean Cocteau Cinema movie theaters along the train tracks at the Santa Fe Railyard, partnered with arts patron Catherine Oppenheimer to invest in the railway operation in 2019. The first train rides for passengers were for Christmas in 2021.
“It’s a scary time for doing a startup, during a pandemic,” says Bryan Deutsch, director of entertainment. “We had masks and vaccination requirements to start. All that’s been lifted, but it was a weird time.”
Last year, the line carried 14,000 passengers for themed rides ranging from mystery theater to geology and history, plus beer tastings and more. The rides attract tourists with an interest in short-line railroads, sure, but Sky Railway is aiming for broad appeal.
While scenic train rides provide long vistas in the light of day (especially lovely on sunset runs), the night ride carries its own visual aesthetic: the headlight of the train illuminating red rock outcrops just south of -Rabbit Road as the tracks curve across a trestle or the glittering city showing a thin layer of brightness below a gradient of blues.
On our recent ride, a mustachioed man with a guitar performs a set list that included songs about stars and trains.
“I’m Westin McDowell, your entertainer, and we’ll be telling you about the history of space and all types of things like that,” McDowell says into the mic, sounding every bit like Arlo Guthrie as he launches into “Pennies from Heaven.”
Sky Railway hires about 30 local musicians, one per car, for its rides each year. McDowell tells SFR he loves to perform songs that date to the original era of the rail line. Pinning that down is a bit complicated. The car in which he was riding that night is the Orion, a 1920s restored Pullman passenger car. The engine pulling the set dates to the 1950s.
The cars are part of the rolling stock railway investors purchased from Santa Fe Southern Railway. That line had delivered freight and provided passenger rides back and forth to Lamy between 1992 and 2014. But this is Santa Fe, and the history always has another layer. The state now owns the train tracks and right-of-way, which were established in 1880 after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway blasted toward New Mexico’s Raton pass and headed straight on to Albuquerque in 1878 with Santa Fe in the dust. At the time, local residents raised money for a spur line to connect the city with the main tracks. Now the Sky Railway shares the in-town section of the line with commuter New Mexico Rail Runner trains that travel to Albuquerque.
Do you have to care about all that to ride? Not at all, says Deutsch, who admits he was not even close to a train buff when he came aboard. Game of Thrones author Martin’s fame attracts plenty of passengers—and those touches are everywhere, from the dragon and wolf painted on the engines to the carved wooden handrails on the seats.
“We have put emphasis on ‘It’s an entertainment train, an adventure train,’” Deutsch says. “Yes, we will do those history and scenic runs, but also mixing it up with Ale Trails, and jazz trains and just different options for people coming into town that just don’t want to ride your mom-and-pop shortline railroad.”
Stargazer trains run on June 10 and 17, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8 and 16, $139. For tickets and info about other trips, visit skyrailway.com.
