Trains, and Boats, and Planes — Transportation Geography in Huerfano County

A northbound BNSF train crosses West 7th Street in Walsenburg.

There's an old Bacharach / David song called "Trains and boats and planes," and I have chosen it to help organize this blog post about transportation geography in Huerfano County.

If you live in Walsenburg, you're accustomed to the constant presence of trains passing through town. I've observed only northbound trains here. I'm told that the southbound trains go through La Junta and on to Amarillo because Raton Pass is too steep for fully-loaded trains to cross, so only the empties go north across this pass and through Walsenburg.

In Walsenburg, the train horns can be heard at all hours of the day and night and are quite loud, plus there are about four at-grade crossings in the central part of town, each requiring multiple soundings of the horns. 

The boat ramp and swimming beach at Lake Martin in Lathrop State Park.

There is little or no water-based transportation in the county, because it's arid and there is so little surface water. Boats here are for recreation, not transportation.

The Spanish Peaks Airfield (4V1), north of Walsenburg and east of I-25.

Huerfano County has two airports that I know of. The Spanish Peaks Airfield, north of Walsenburg and east of I-25 has one paved runway and one dirt runway. I can't imagine taking off or landing on a dirt runway. 

The single runway at the Cuchara Valley Airport at La Veta (its official name). Its runway looks ratty and un-maintained. It has lots of weeds growing through the many tarmac cracks, reminding one of the saying, "Any port in a storm."

Of course, this blog post hasn't mentioned the most important form of transportation in Huerfano County — the automobile. I'll save that for a later post.

The Cuchara Valley Airport at La Veta (07V).