The El Paso Museum of History (EPMH) held a ribbon cutting ceremony as part of the inauguration of its first exhibit of the year, “Tracks Across the Desert: More Than 100 Years of Railroad in El Paso.”
The theme of this exhibit focuses on the 100 years of railroads in El Paso and the important role they played in shaping the city’s economy and technology.
“El Paso and the borderlands are a very important place for the railroad, because the railroad not just extended East and West and met here, but it also extended North and South meeting in Mexico,” said Erica Marin, curatorial lead for the exhibition. “We crossed nation-state boundaries with the railroad.”
The exhibit features an electric train model, a variety of photos depicting life in El Paso during the railroad era and a timeline of the history of railroads in the city.
“The railroad made El Paso grow,” visitor Aurora Bustos said. “The city used to be much smaller and it made it much bigger.”
The exhibit also includes an interactive play area where children can play with toy trains and look through the various flip-book albums of the Southern Pacific railroads.
“We wanted to make an exhibit (that is) very family-targeted, more for children, and also for those who brought the children,” Marin said. “That was very important for us, we wanted this to be a fun exhibit.”
The latest exhibition’s opening night was Thursday, Jan. 23, featuring local artifacts and relics from the railroad area. The night was complete with food and refreshments for all visitors to enjoy.
The exhibit is free and open to the public through June 14.
Paulina Astrid Spencer may be reached at [email protected]
