Shops and Operations
While the first Mission style depots and hotels were being built at the turn of the century, steps were being taken to reduce operational costs: larger locomotives were developed and the line was rebuilt for heavier loads; shops were centralized at the most advantageous locations; employee bonuses and a pension program were begun; record keeping in the shops and supply stores began more detailed; and a system of apprentice instruction was instituted. All were aimed at improving efficiency and, thereby, increasing profits. (6)

The bonus system and record keeping would have the greatest effect on new shop construction. First, standardized schedules were written to cover every step in the repair of each locomotive type. An ideal time was next calculated for the completion of each step. Any worker who completed the work in less than one-and-one-half times the allotted period received a pay bonus. Ideal times had to be adjusted for each shop once it was discovered that local machinery and work place conditions effected efficiency. A leading trade journal, Engineering Magazine explained that: "exact comparison between performances of the same operation in different shops is permitted.

Variations or defects of practice, methods or machinery are thus immediately apparent, and may be investigated and corrected." (7) With methods increasingly perfected, the two most important remaining factors were the presence of overhead moving cranes and adequate lighting. It also became possible to calculate that the cost of building modern shops which incorporated these features was justified by the reduction of labor costs which would result.

The Santa Fe began the construction of a series four modern shop complexes to realize these savings and to accommodate the new larger locomotives, By 1909, much of the operation at Topeka, Kansas had been modernized. Facilities at Albuquerque were constructed between 1914 and 1924, with the main locomotive shops appearing between 1921 and 1923. Similar shops at Cleburne, Texas date to about the same time, and those at San Bernardino, California followed shortly after. (8)

Albuquerque Shop Buildings
About 1912, the Santa Fe Railway approached the City of Albuquerque with their plans to modernize and expand the outmoded A and P locomotive shops which stood between Second Street and the main tracks, and from Hazeldin south to Pacific. They requested and received a grant of $65,000 dollars from the city to purchase property for the expansion. Three, formerly-residential blocks were purchased to the south as far as the current Bridge Street overpass. A surplus of $25,000 was returned to the city. First phase construction began on the new property in 1914 and was completed by mid-1915 at a cost of approximately $500,000. The 35-stall Roundhouse and the Storehouse (comparable to an Army quartermaster department), remain today. Several major buildings for freight car repairs located near the Bridge Street overpass, and a Power Station, all built at this time, have since been demolished.

All subsequent shop buildings remain standing. Construction of a new Blacksmiths Shop was authorized in 1916. Built about the same time was the Flue Shop which was later attached to the Boiler Shop. Design of the massive new Machine Shop was completed in August, 1920; work was begun in February of the following year and completed eight months later. The companion Boiler Shop was designed in mid-1922 and completed in 1923. The most notable auxiliary building, the Fire Station, was built in 1920. A Tender Repair Shop was designed in 1924 and added off the north side of the Boiler Shop the following year, completing the shop complex, (9)

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