On a train ride from Santa Fe to Lamy, you can take in opera, burlesque, or indigenous hoop dancing, be serenaded by local performers, or even become part of a murder mystery. It all depends on which carriage you board.
The Sky Railway offers exciting, all-encompassing short-line railroad journeys arguably unlike any other. It is a passenger adventure that feels like something out of a fantasy storyfitting, considering that none other than George R.R. Martin, the creator of Game of Thrones, is behind the project.
Opened in December 2021, the Sky Railway is a revival of the former Santa Fe Southern Railway (SFSR). The 1880-built train, facing an uncertain future after ceasing regular operations, was rescued from dereliction and transformed into a new attraction by Martin and other local arts benefactors.
For over a century, the SFSR helped to connect New Mexico to the rest of the United States, playing a crucial role in the area’s development. Over the years, it carried notable figures from Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy to Manhattan Project scientists en route to the secret city of Los Alamos.
Enter George R. R. Martin, a Santa Fe resident since 1979, with other investors including bestselling mystery author Douglas Preston and Magnolia Pictures owner and filmmaker Bill Banowsky. Together, they combined their resources to repair the 18-mile spur of bridges and tracks between Santa Fe and the neighboring town of Lamy, and two 1920s vintage passenger trains. The outcome has been a slow-train experience combining traveling between different eras and realities with chugging across rolling desert terrains.
Train carriages have been gorgeously refurbished to evoke their original golden eras with a touch of contemporary culture (think dragon armrests à la Game of Thrones folklore). Each one has a different local musician playing tunes and a bartender serving specialty drinks.
Experiences include “The Stargazer,” with passengers cozying up to professional astronomers under the night sky, “Sunset Serenade” with cocktails and live music, themed 1920s, 1960s, and 1980s trains, “Jazz Under the Stars,” and a “Lore of the Land” ride with local storytellers.
As an added suspension of reality, Santa Fe graffiti and tattoo artist Joerael Numina has transformed the trains into vibrant works of art in locomotion. While hosting Prohibition era-themed parties or doing a wine or beer tasting inside, the outside carriages pay homage to Martin’s fantastical worlds. One trundles through the arid landscape painted as a dragon, while the other is a wolf. Game of Thrones fans, how’s that for a plot twist?
