All aboard ... for a history feast

CLOVIS - What's now enveloped in dust and times past may soon be a local staple where eastern New Mexico residents will be immersed in New Mexico history while getting a taste of local culture - literally.

Brothers Jordan and Tate Nichols of Farwell said they wanted to bring something unique to Clovis. And unique it would be, with residents enjoying fine dining from local farmers and ranchers as they watch trains go by.

The brothers, who bought Clovis' historic train depot on U.S. 60/84 in 2016, began construction in March to turn the historic treasure into a restaurant.

"We were talking about trying to do some kind of restaurant concept, and it would be a great location with a lot of history of the town. The railroad is the whole reason the town is here," said Clay Franklin, who joined the brothers in their endeavor after finding out about their purchase of the depot.

"We're trying to preserve the history of the town," said Franklin, who said opening his wife's business in another old building gave he and his wife, Traci, a passion for such projects.

The depot was built in 1907 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway when Clovis was established, with railroad enthusiast Phil Williams buying the depot in 1995 after many years of vacancy. Williams turned the depot into a model train museum and got the property added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Clovis Depot and Model Train Museum operated for 21 years before closing its doors.

"Even if you're not from Clovis, a lot of people from the area end up coming here, so it's still a part of New Mexico history for them too," said Jordan Nichols, adding that it is their hope that the depot restaurant will also serve as a tourist attraction.

"The concept is to kind of keep it within the historic value of the area, so agriculture, wheat, beef; we want to try to incorporate local products into the restaurant as much as we can," Franklin said. "We want to celebrate the beef cattle industry, the dairy industry, the wheat farmers that are here - the regional agriculture."

Tate Nichols said their goal is to have the freshest and most local food products possible.

"If you live in the middle of where these things are grown, why not celebrate that?" said Jordan Nichols, adding that the restaurant will serve a variety of American cuisine from steaks to barbecue and more.

And with the purchase of the depot came a lot of historic railroad memorabilia and photographs, which will likely cover the walls of the soon-to-be restaurant.

It's basically "taking the oldest building in town and keeping its history but adding that modern flare," Tate Nichols said. "The historic nature of the building speaks for itself, but we want to incorporate the railroad theme a little bit into the restaurant. We'll spruce it up with some historic artifacts, but we want to preserve the 1907 feel we already have here."

In fact, rather than undoing the original structure, they have been uncovering what was covered up in its 1950s-era remodel.

Jordan Nichols said the modern addition added to the front of the depot is for the restaurant kitchen, because a kitchen would have taken up a majority of the depot building itself, and they wanted the building preserved for customers to enjoy.

"There aren't many of these kinds of buildings left, and it takes time and work to preserve what's there," Franklin said. "If someone doesn't do something with these buildings, they fall apart. It's about taking something old and making it something new."

Although the COVID-19 situation caused a lot of setbacks for the construction project, Franklin said a lot has happened in the past two weeks, and the three men are estimating the restaurant will open around Christmas time under the name of The Rails (they think).

"I think this will be one of the most unique places in the area (of eastern New Mexico and West Texas), and I think it will be exciting for this area," Tate Nichols said.