Canyon Return

The Furnace Creek Inn closed May 10th. After spending a few days in Missouri with family I headed back to the South Rim of Grand Canyon for the summer. I expect to return to Death Valley for the next winter season. There will be plenty of railfanning to do next season. More time at Tehachapi; visiting Cajon when it is not raining; exploring more of the T&T and Death Valley's narrow gauge (if I can make friends with an owner of a 4x4). Maybe a visit to the Neveda State Railroad Museum in Carson City?

 Railfan experiences are a little closer to hand and more accessible at Grand Canyon. Railroad business may have declined with the rest of the economy, but it isn't noticeable on the BNSF mainline. And I am seeking out new photo locations. One of my friends reported a potential for finding trains along the Naval Observatory Road west of Flagstaff. He was right!

I call the location "Mile Post 350" because of small trestle designated 350.1 It is easily accessible via a dirt road off of the Observatory Road. It is near the crest of the first hill coming out of Flagstaff as the tracks climb over the Arizona Divide. The same friend also reported a road east of Flagstaff which parallels the BNSF line with a scenic backdrop of Ponderosa pines.

Today, after having some service work on my Tarus I went looking for this new location to the east. It seems I over-shot the exit on I-40 by two, but I found an interesting photo spot all the same. It is the Coconino Road exit and the spot is within sight of the Interstate. There is a nice curved cut just to the east of rail crossing with Coconino Road. Only two trains passed while I was there, one in each direction. Because of the relative location of the sun I could not get a decent shot of the eastbound train. That was a shame because the locomotive consist included a freshly painted BNSF unit and one from Kansas City Southern. The westbound had only three locomotives leading the freight and they were working hard as they came around the curve and entering the cut. The cut was made in the crest of the hill to reduce the grade, but there is still a pretty good grade for westbound trains. As the train passed it because evident why all of the growling. There were a number of coil steel cars and even a flat with a few sheets of thick steel plate.

Sadly, there is no steam running on the Grand Canyon Railroad this season. And I have yet to see the old Alcolocomotives pulling into the station in the Park, just retired and repainted Amtrak F40's. Tickets for the Polar Express went on sale this week. Maybe they will bring out the Alcos for those Polar Express trains. The tickets for the Polar Express went on sale a few days ago and the trains will be running from early November into late January. Christmas lasts a long time on the Grand Canyon Railroad.

TRACKS IN THE MOJAVE
Topic: Railfan

One of the benefits of my current employment is the opportunity to live in new places and to explore unfamiliar regions.  Not long ago in the interest of seeing something new, I took a drive down to Mojave National Preserve. Among my new discoveries, I learned the difference between a National Park and a National Preserve is that hunting is allowed in a Preserve but not in a National Park. This is not of much significance for me since I no longer go hunting. I also learned  this Preserve holds the  world's largest forest of Joshua Trees. These trees do not provide the shady canopy usually expected in a forest. But they seem to be the most a desert can manage. These discoveries were not, however, what prompted me to visit the Mojave. The purpose of my journey was to visit a railroad museum in Kelso located south of Baker, California.

For my trip I traveled on California Highway 127 from Death Valley Junction to Baker. This provided an opportunity to retrace a portion of the Tonopah & Tidewater RR route between those locations. Death Valley Junction sits just east of Death Valley National Park. It was where the Death Valley narrow guage railroad met the T&T. Death Valley railroad was built by the US Borax Company to service their mine at Ryan. As mining declined at the facility the Borax Company sought other  sources of revenue and began encouraging travelers to visit this previously remote area. During the early days of tourism in Death Valley the Junction was the major gateway for visitors to Valley. Passengers from the Union Pacific could transfer in Ludlow to the T&T. The DVRR train would take them to Ryan where touring automobiles of the era could then take them the final miles to Furnace Creek Inn in the center of Death Valley. A few ties of the old Tonopah &Tidewater standard guage can still be found in right of way at Death Valley Junction. Also  visible is the grade for the wye which marked the starting point for the Death Valley Railroad. Between Death Valley Junction and Tecopah the highway parallels the T&T or, in some cases the old roadbed is buried under the current road. The highway and the railroad part company south of Tecopah where the T&T enters Amargosa Canyon and the highway instead goes up and over the mountains. A few miles north of Baker the old roadbed of the T&T rejoins Route 127.

From Baker, the Tonopah & Tidewater headed southwest down the broad valley to Ludlow toward its' junction with the Union Pacific.  This UP route began its' existence as the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, a rare example of a western railroad which actually reached both of the locales in its' name. I had discovered some time ago a relic of the LA & SL  sitting in the ghost town of Rhyolite on the northeast border of Death Valley National Park. Given the T&T junction with the Union Pacific at Ludlow, California, it seems reasonable a LA&SL caboose might show up in Rhyolite. My guess is the Tonopah & Tidewater railroad had inherited this piece of equipment and abandoned the caboose in Rhyolite before they ceased operations. As you can see from the photo the caboose is in pretty poor condition. The lack of trucks seem to indicate it was used  for storage or some other purpose before the last train left Rhyolite.

While the old T&T line ran to the southwest from Baker, the road to Kelso instead heads more or less south from Baker. In this direction the valley floor is interrupted by numerous volcanos which erupted from the valley floor 10,000 or 15,000 years ago. The same geologic forces which created the volcanoes also pushed up a huge granite dome many miles wide. It was this dome blocking the way to Las Vegas and Salt Lake which created the railroad's need for Kelso. A source of water near by and the grade to the north made Kelso a good site as a base for steam era helper locomotives.

The Kelso station which still stands today was not really a station in the terms we usuallly think. It was primarily for railroad employes. The upper floor contained bedrooms for crew members who were there temporarily. The main floor was occupied by a beanery largely used  to feed employees. There was also an office for a dispatcher and telegraph. Itdid have a ticket window and small waiting area for passengers. The basement held a pool table and place for railroad employees to relax while off duty.

 

Kelso station has been renovated to serve as the Visitors Center. Today the beanery is still in operation, but now it serves visitors to the National Presereve. Park Service offices occupy some of the building, but most space is devoted to historical and interpretive exhibits. As a model railroader a diorama in the basement was of particular interest to me. The diorama depicts Kelso as it appeared at its' most active during World War II. I was pleased to see they had chosen to model it in N scale. Concrete slabs or crumbling walls mark most of what is left of the original town of Kelso. But Kelso is not a ghost town. There are still several modern houses on the south side of the tracks which are home for Union Pacific employees. Kelso is still a railroad town.

As I went about taking photos outside, I kept hoping a UP train would make an appearance. The park ranger at the information desk said a train had passed through about an hour before my arrival and that there were typically 20 trains a day. Alas! not a train in sight. My time was limited by my need to be back in Death Valley before dark. A road paralleled the railroad tracks to the east. I decided to take the road as far as Cima and hoped to come upon a train before I had to head back north. I had not gone far when I found the reason for the absence of trains. A track crew was hard at work. So long as these fellows were here I was not going to see any trains and I kept on moving.

Cima  sits at the top of the grade from Kelso. There is a building identified as a US Post Office. Who it might serve is a mystery to me and appeared as if it might be unoccupied. There are a few small railroad structures in an advanced state of decay. There is still a wye where helpers would have been turned.  A modern Union Pacific communications tower resides in the center of the wye.

The stretch between Kelso and Cima could offer some opportunities for a few photos of desert railroading. There are a number of small bridges over dry washes. And some distant mountain peaks might provide an interesting background. Eastbound trains would be working hard up the grade possibly causing the diesels to emit a few belches of smoke. Joshua trees become more prevelant as the tracks gain elevation. The trees could provide some interesting companions for the trains.  It was already late afternoon. Although the sky was cloudless it was approaching the time of day which can favor some good shots. But time was not in my favor this day. I had no idea how late the track work embargo might run. There was no guarantee I would see any trains if I stayed and I wanted to avoid driving back to Death Valley after dark. So I turned my car away from the tracks and headed north.

DATE WITH THE SLIM PRINCESS

Earlier this week I drove west out of Death Valley Park and north to Bishop, California. Bishop is located in the scenic Owens Valley. The eastern face of the Sierras provides a fantastic backdrop. About 4 miles outside Bishop is the Laws Railroad Museum. Laws was once a station on Carson and Colorado Railroad. This narrow guage railroad was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad until 1960. Some how it got the Slim Princess nickname, no doubt a reference to the 3 feet between it's rails. It was also known by the less flattering but descriptive moniker of the railroad from nowhere to nowhere. Like many railroads neither of the locations specified in the name, Carson, Nevada nor the Colorado River, were ever reached.

The town of Laws disappeared before the railroad was abandoned. But the original station, turntable, water tank, oil tank, and a few other railroad structures still exist today. Although none of the town's original buildings are left, the museum has moved several structures from other locations to recreate a village similar to the original Laws settlement. These relocated buildings house  displays of relics of the historical era. Amazingly, there is no admission charged and the museum operates entirely on donations and volunteers. These volunteers are very gracious and helpful to visitors.

One of the 4-6-0 oil-burners which operated on this line heads up a short consist of freight cars and a combination coach/freight car. The locomotive is no longer operable, but it is cosmetically maintained. the museum does have a fully restored and operating Brill car. It is one of only three narrow guage 55 class Brill cars in existence and the only one operating. This car originally ran on the Death Valley Railroad to transport tourists from a connection with the standard guage Tonopah & Tidewater at Death Valley Junction to the Ryan mine and town-site in Death Valley.

This handsome old car, unfortunately, was not operating and sat inside the locomotive shop on the day of my visit. One of the volunteers who had restored the Brill car was there, however, spent some time answering my questions and filling me in on the details of the restoration process. He also told me of their hopes to someday extend the tracks at least a couple miles beyond the immediate grounds of the museum to give visitors a real experience of what it was like to ride these early self-propelled cars. If you're ever near Bishop, California, I recommend you visit the Laws Railroad Museum.

EXPLORING NEW TERRITORY

Since relocating for the winter to Death Valley National Park, most of my time has been spent settling into the new job, sightseeing, and taking pictures of Death Valley. I have not forgotten entirely, however, about railroading. Although there are no railroads today within a hundred miles of Death Valley, there is a relic here of a railroad which penetrated the fringes of the Valley. It is sad, however, to see this old 2-8-0 in her current condition rusting away. The Death Valley Railroad was a narrow guage shortline owned by the US Borax Company. The rails connected the company's mine at Ryan with the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad at Death Valley Junction. This oil burner hauled borax to the junction where the ore could be transfered to the standard guage cars of the T&T.

The Tidewater and Tonopah has been abandoned for more than sixty years. Begun in the early years of the twentieth century never realized either of it's goals stated in the name of the railroad, i.e., Tonopah nor San Diego (Tidewater). The starting point for the T&T was at a junction in Ludlow, California, with the Santa Fe. It got no closer to Tonopah than the mines surrounding Goldfield, Nevada, and that far only by trackage rights on the Goldfield and Bullfrog Railroad. Portions of the roadbed are still visible where the T&T now parallels California Highway 127. There are no ties remaining on this section of roadbed. Ties still remain on other sections of the route, but these locations are accessible only with high clearance or 4x4 vehicles. Here and there a structure related to the railroad can be found. There is a small museum located in the hamlet of Shoshone and it exhibits a few photographs and items from the T&T. Shoshone was never much more than a water stop on the rail line. Availability of water was always a determining factor for settlements in this desert region. To my knowledge no T&T locomotives still exist, but a caboose is on the property of the Nevada Railroad Museum.

This past weekend I managed some time to get a little farther afield. I followed Highway 190 west out of the Park. I had never ventured out this way before. I can see why this route was not followed by the 49'ers or other early travelers. Even for an automobile the 9% grades and the narrow twisting road present a challenge. Once out of the Park, I headed south toward Los Angeles, but there was one stop to be made along the way. My time was very limited but I finally saw for myself a North American railroad landmark, the Tehachapi Loop. It is almost unavoidable to have seen photos and videos of the Loop, but seeing it is still a new experience. Photographic media can never convey the full context in which the subject is set. I had never realized how confined the Loop is by the surrounding mountains. Traffic over the Loop was at a standstill while I was there. From my vantage points it was difficult to see for certain the cause of this halt, but it seemed as though a track crew might be working in the cut on the east side of the tunnel. But having a UP train stopped on the Loop was something of an advantage for my picture taking. This allowed me to get shots of a train from more than one location. There was also a BNSF train holding west of the Loop. Maybe I will have another opportunity to visit Tehachapi when I will have time to do the tromping around which is required to properly photograph the Loop and the adjoining trackage. But the light was fading and I planned to spend the night in Los Angeles. 

After spending the night in Los Angeles I negotiated the rain covered freeway maze and headed for Barstow. A futuristic tower watches over a sizable classification yard. There is a humping operation visible from the public driveway. But what was most fascinating to me was the museum located in the old Harvey House and passenger station. The Harvey House exterior is pretty much in original condition, but the interior is unused for the most part. A large employee dormitory which once occupied the site was demolished long ago. It is difficult to understand how today's small towns such as Barstow and Winslow could once have had these grand passenger facilities. There is not much rolling stock at the museum, but it has good collection of railroad memorabilia. One entire room is devoted to a collection of date nails from many railroads. It is not all past history. You can also look inside a cab belonging to the latest Union Pacific diesels.

Amtrak still passes through Barstow and the rails in front of the station are kept busy with plenty of BNSF trains. It seems that for some reason AT&SF was in the habit of  choosing to locate their stations on the north side of the tracks. This creates a very unfortunate lighting condition for anyone wishing to photograph passing trains from the platform.  A rail grinding train  happened to be parked on a track next to the station which provided me with one last shot before I had to leave. But I expect to do more exploration of this region which is new to me. I have heard of a railroad museum in Bishop, California. Maybe that will be the next place I visit.

 

 

THE BOTTOM

There is much talk these days about finding "the bottom". I may not have found the bottom of the stock market, but I have found the bottom of the Western Hemisphere. It is is 282 feet below sea level and is called Death Valley. After living for more than a year on the edge (i.e., the edge of the Grand Canyon) I decided it was time to take a step or two back and get to the bottom of things. You will still find me behind a hotel front desk, but this one is in the Furnace Creek Inn. Since arriving I have discovered that a railroad once served Death Valley. The locomotive a (Baldwin 2-8-0 oil-burner) now stands in a museum here. I have been too busy to start taking pictures and will leave talk about Death Valley for another jounal entry.>

Before leaving Grand Canyon, I did take a vaction trip to Colorado where I once again rode the Rio Grande Scenic RR based in Alamosa.  The steam locomotive pulling trains this year, a 2-8-0 locomotive, came to Alamosa from the Grand Canyon Railroad. The steam engine which headed up the train when I rode last summer is being overhauled and sits in pieces in the yard. Unfortunately, I managed to lose most of my photos when I lost the data card. Very unfortunate because it was a beautiful autmn day. The aspen trees were turning and provided a wonderful backdrop as we climbed up and over Laveta Pass.

The next day I rode a train of a sort seldom see today from Alamosa to Monte Vista. This train was headed up by a diesel locomotive. It was a mixed train comprised of a single passenger coach followed by a string of empty covered hoppers. We delivered the freight cars to a siding in Monte Vista and then returned to Alamosa with only the coach in tow. The few passengers besides myself were children and teachers from the local grade school. But riding a revenue mixed tain in this day is a unique experience at a bargin price of $11.00.

The mixed train was only a half day trip. When we arrived back in Alamosa I got on the road to Durango. The highway took me through South Fork, over Wolf Creek Pass, and through Pagosa Springs. The Rio Grande tracks never crossed the Pass, but at South Fork turned north to the mining town of Creede and the end of the line. The track between South Fork and Creede lies abandoned. Trains no longer run regularly between Monte Vista and South Fork. The tracks are used by the Rio Grande Scenic to store cars for other railroads. Right now mile after mile of TOFC spine cars occupy the tracks. These cars are being held for the scrapper, victims of the move to containerized shipping. South Fork once boasted a moderate sized saw mill. Nothing remains today but foundations for the many buildings and an old D&RG water tower. In addition to the spine cars there were other unexpected rolling stock stored on sidings. At least I for one would not expect to see a Seaboard passenger car sitting in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.

 

I had no time to spend exploring South Fork further, because I was due the next day to ride a photographers' special train in Durango.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad is the holy grail of Colorado railroading and a Mecca for narrow guage fans the world over. It rained overnight but the clouds seemed to breaking as I arrived next morning at the Durango Yard.> It was a false hope, however. No sooner had we left Durango the clouds thickened and it began to rain. The rain and clouds were to dog our trip until shortly before we arrived in Silverton.  The weather was not the only problem. With a train full of passengers intent on photographing every mile of the trip, it was impossible to get a shot from the moving train of anything more than the back of heads leaning out the side of the cars.

It was nearing sundown when we arrived in Silverton. The photo special would return to Durango the following day, but my calendar required instead a return to the Grand Canyon. The bus for our ride back to Durango was an hour late. I was to stay that night in Cortez, an  hour's drive from Durango. It was a long drive at the end of a long day. I could not sleep in the next morning because I wanted to take a side trip to Monument Valley on my way back to Grand Canyon. I was brought up on the old movie westerns of the 1950's so I couldn't drive past the Valley without taking a look. It was a dusty, rough road but worth it to see the backdrop for so many of those old movies. Even with the side trip, I was able to arrive back in Grand Canyon in time to see the sunset. Soon I will be uploading to the Station Master's home page website new photo albums of this trip and a collection of Arizona landscapes.