Self-guided Tucumcari Talking Tour debuts

The self-guided Tucumcari Talking Tour debuted Wednesday afternoon with a brief live message on social media at the New Mexico Route 66 Museum.

The tour's creator, Tracy Johnson, drove her blue 1965 Ford Mustang in the museum's parking lot during the Facebook Live feed. On her car's AM radio, the brief message about the museum and other sites in Tucumcari came through loud and clear.

"We've got 16 locations (on the tour)," Johnson said. "Everybody's up and running and sounding great."

She thanked the city, Lodgers Tax Advisory Board, KTNM and Tucumcari MainStreet for their assistance in getting the project off the ground.

The Tucumcari Talking Tour is a self-guided radio tour of the city's historic landmarks, motels, murals and other points of interest. In addition to its goal of bringing more tourists to town, Tucumcari Talking Tour is taking donations through tucumcaritalkingtour.com to repair historic neon signs and facades and implement other beautification programs along Route 66.

The New Mexico Route 66 Museum and others in Tucumcari remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson said she spent that morning ensuring the radio transmitters at those 16 sites were working. She said the only one that didn't work was at the Tucumcari Historical Museum, and Johnson surmised repositioning the antenna inside the building would solve the problem.

All the 16 sites' radio messages are on the 1640 AM frequency except for the Blue Swallow Motel, which is on the 1630 frequency to prevent interference with another nearby signal. Each AM transmitter can be picked up in about a one-block radius.

Signs have been placed at each site giving the broadcast frequency.

The recorded message contains a short message about the site's history and the donations pitch. Tucumcari MainStreet is Tucumcari Talking Tour's fiscal agent.

If a site that hosts the tour is open, visitors can get a free sticker that promotes the tour.

Sites where the transmitters are placed are:

• Motel Safari

• Roadrunner Lodge Motel

• Blue Swallow Motel

• New Mexico Route 66 Museum

• Tucumcari Railroad Museum

• Tucumcari Historical Museum

• Pow Wow Restaurant and Lizard Lounge

• La Cita

• High Street Church

• Desert Inn motel

• Del's Restaurant

• "The Legendary Road" mural at Lowe's Market

• TeePee Curios

• Quay County Courthouse

• Odeon Theatre

• Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce

Johnson also is distributing rack cards about the tour along the Route 66 corridor in the eastern half of New Mexico. She plans to distribute more along Route 66 in the spring.

More about the program can be found at tucumcaritalkingtour.com.