Parallel to the KCM&OR

This trumpet interchange is the western end of the Mex. 16-D toll road between Cuauhtémoc and Chihuahua. Mex. 16 traffic has access to a four-lane divided highway the whole way between the two cities, with toll being collected at a mainline barrier near the exit for Mex. 24 and Hidalgo del Parral (best known as the place where Pancho Villa was assassinated after visiting his bank). But as the ground-mounted signs indicate, the original untolled Mex. 16 libre remains available for use by the toll-averse and those seeking a scenic route with a little adventure thrown in. Cuauhtémoc, lying behind the camera, is a farming town whose original name was as boring and nondescript as its general appearance and character until the 1960's, when resurgent interest in Mexico's Aztec heritage led to its being renamed after the son of Montezuma who led the last-gasp resistance against Spanish rule. It is the business center of the campos menonitas (Mennonite fields), which were settled by pacifist Mennonite farmers taking advantage of a fifty-year exemption from military conscription granted in 1926 by the then Mexican president, Alvaro Obregón. Obregón got a town named after himself in the campos menonitas for his pains, but many of the Mennonites left the area when the service exemption expired in 1976.

Is this a successful choice of road alignment? The rock cut allows the designers to dispense with abutments and riprap for the overbridge, but with its sharp edges it creates an inelegant cheese-slice effect.

The sign at top uses a federal highway shield for what is, in fact, a state highway. The bottom sign does use the correct shield - all Mexican state highway shields use the same escutcheon, with the only varying element being the state name or abbreviation. Chihuahua alternates between "CHIH" (wide letters) on older signs and "CHIHUAHUA" (narrow letters) on newer ones. This picture was taken at La Junta, best known as the last flat-country stop as one goes west on the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad.

It is a long way to Hermosillo - and impracticable to go faster than 40 km/h for about 400 km of it. The hills around Pedernales, in the distance, give a hint of what will eventually become fantastically rugged terrain in the heart of the Sierra Madre Occidental.

The ground-mounted sign on right is essentially a primitive example of tourist signing. The Barranca de Cobre (Copper Canyon) area is Chihuahua's premier eco-tourist destination, so signing for various destinations within it - under a "SIERRA TARAHUMARA" black-on-white banner - begins right at the US border at Presidio.

This zero km-post (with obvious stencil marks) indicates the start of Chih. 37.

These signs are characteristic of Chihuahua SCOP's "house style" for guide signs. The sign panels are all of the same width and the same typeface is used for each destination, without any attempt to make more full use of sign surface area by putting shorter destination names in a less condensed alphabet series.

This is the standard sign indicating a carretera estatal and thus state ownership of a main rural highway; more elaborate signs (not shown here) have historically been used for state-owned four-lane divided highways.

This is the newer style of Chihuahua state highway km-post, with "CHIHUAHUA" spelled out in full. Chih. 25 (still shown on some signs and some older maps as Chih. 127) is the paved road between Mex. 16 at La Junta and Creel, an important entry point and outfitting post for expeditions into the Barranca de Cobre. Creel station on the Chihuahua al Pacífico marks the transition between the dramatic scenery of the Copper Canyon and the more mundane parts of Chihuahua.