History of the Santa Fe Southwesern Railway

In order to better explain the existence of this facility, I think it is necessary to explain the beginnings of the 'railroad' that owns it.

The Santa Fe Southwestern Railway began as an idea in the mid 1990's for a fictional line that I wanted to model. It had many incarnations until sometime in early 2000 it struck me like a bolt of lightning what the name of my line should be. Having settled on a name, I began the process of planning a model railroad. However, I wanted to go further than just creating a model railroad. I wanted it to be believable. In order to make this happen, I set out to create a history, compile a roster, even get satellite photos of the area (compliments of terraserver-usa.com) the railroad would have run in. The line is still in the creation phase, but lots of progress is being made.

Now, during all of this, I got into making TrainGIFs. The first site I had was very simple as I only had three GIFs that I could call mine (and even then, they were merely repaints with two having minor modifications). As I got more into the hobby and added more GIFs to my collection, I realized that I needed a new site that would be a bit more permanent. I created this 'facility' in order to showcase my work and thought about the possibilities of including my own railroad in GIF form. With that idea in mind, I felt that making this site a 'division' of the Santa Fe Southwestern Railway was only fitting.

As my railway grows both in GIF form and in model form, this site will grow as well. Once I get to the point of actually constructing a railroad, I will institute a site for it in order to provide information throughout construction and the continued operation of the line.

Now that you understand where this site comes from, I certainly hope that you enjoy your visit. Come again soon!

- Matt Liverani, Facility Manager




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