Along the former
El Paso and Southwestern railroad, rail stops, water stops, and sidings were spaced about every 6 miles. After the decommissioning of the railroad in 1961 many of the rail stops became ghost towns as local residents moved elsewhere. One of these abandoned sidings was Apan, New Mexico. A siding and waterstop, Apan was the home of a Post Office from 1905 -1913. Located between
Rodeo and Pratt, Apan is one those places found in the literature but one no one seems to know about. While out walking part of the Painted Pony Resort property Apan was rediscovered. The presence of an underground water tank as well as another concrete footing on the other side of the rail bed combined with the presence of broken dishware and a remains of a telegraph/power pole indicate that the location was once Apan. Located at 31 54.272 N, 108 58.867 W Apan was officially located at mile marker 1170.5 along the rail line. One more piece of the puzzle for the
cultural resource inventory. A map of the towns and sidings of the old El Paso and Southwestern railroad may be found
here.
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| The view east of the underground water tank at Apan | |
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| The view north to the underground water tank at Apan NM |
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| The view facing west of Apan NM. |
This is news to me I did not know any of it! Great pictures to go along with the news of Apan.
ReplyDeleteThank you. While Rodeo is the railroad stop everyone is familiar with in the San Simon valley, there were many other stops and sidings along the railroad. Apan was north of Rodeo while a siding called Mora was south of Rodeo. Almost all evidence of these smaller stops have disappeared over time, so relocating them can be difficult and why I was pleased with recovering its location.
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