Pelea is located south of Sunland Park, New Mexico at the point where
the railroad touches the Mexican border. Both the Southern Pacific and
the El Paso & Southwestern railroads meet at this point. The Pelea
station was built by the El Paso & Southwestern. Just north of the
tracks, Southern Pacific built the town of Anapra (old maps show as West
El Paso). When Southern Pacific purchased the El Paso & Southwestern
in 1924, the entire area became known as Anapra, and several Southern Pacific
employees and their families lived here. When Southern Pacific abandoned
the "Southline" route it was actually at this point westward that was abandoned.
To this day Southern Pacific still operated both sets of track heading
east onto El Paso.
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A portion of a U.S. Geological Survey map, dated in 1946 shows the location of Pelea and Anapra. The tracks meet the Mexican border here. |