About this time last month I made a day trip down to Winslow, Arizona. On my days off this summer I have been doing some traveling around Arizona but to places unrelated to railroads. This trip was different, however. When the AT&SF founded this town they anticipated it would become the principal city of northern Arizona. It has become instead something of a 
backwater. Fans of the Eagles may remember it as the subject of the song "Take It Easy", but it is not likely to pop into the consciousness of anyone else.
The only other possible claim to fame is that Winslow is also the site of the largest Harvey House. The Harvey Houses were the creation of hotelier, Fred Harvey. This was the largest of those hotels and was designed by Mary Jane Colter. Miss Colter was something of an anomaly in the early 20th century, pursuing a successful career and gaining recognition in a field populated almost entirely by men. She drew upon regional themes as inspiration for her designs. The Hopi House, Desert View Watchtower, and the Bright Angel Lodge on the Grand Canyon's South Rim were other projects where Harvey and the Santa Fe called upon her talents.
The La Posada was a much grander facility than a town of Winslow's actual size would ever have merited, but it was appropriate for the Santa Fe's intentions at the time of it's construction. With the end of passenger service on the Santa Fe, the contents of the building were put on sale and it was abandoned. It was rescued by a private individual who is now restoring it as a boutique hotel and private residence. An upscale restaurant also occupies a portion of the building. For my visit a modest budget dictated lunch in a much less grand establishment, i.e., a bar and grill popular with the local population. Bo Jo's Grill and Sports Bar is one of those small town establishments with no pretensions of being anything more. My traveling companion and I selected Mexican entrées from the menu. The food was great! The food was seasoned just right, plenty of zing while letting the flavor of all the the ingredients come through.
La Posada was designed as if it were the estate of a Spanish nobleman. The current owner is retrieving original furnishings when possible, but most are simply in keeping with the character of the original. A large and varied private collection of art adorns the walls. AT&SF railroad memorabilia is also on display. 
There isn't a whole lot to do in Winslow. Unless, of course, you want to watch trains. The hotel faces the double tracked main of the BNSF and the throat of a moderate sized yard. The mainline host more than 100 trains per day, so you seldom wait long for some action. In the short time we were able to stay, we witnessed a three way meet between a unit train of covered hoppers with mid-train DPU's and pushers on the rear, a mixed freight, and an inter-modal all with the latest multiple high powered six-axle locomotives. In with this action was yard switching by a couple four-axle locomotives. This photo shows the inter-modal approaching from the rear of the waiting grain train.
But our time was limited and we needed to head back toward home at the Grand Canyon. However, we still had one location to check out. That location was Canyon Diablo, one of the most photographed railroad sites in Arizona. This is not a site easily reached, however. It is only slightly more than 3 miles from Interstate 40, but it is overly generous to describe the means of getting there as a "road". It appears as if a bulldozer may have been used to clear loose rocks out of the way. Plenty of firmly anchored rocks remain to make this a trail suitable for 4-wheel drive. My Ford Tarus is not so equipped nor is it a high clearance vehicle. Thus 45 minutes were required to negotiate the 3 plus miles. The car was thickly covered with dust. But I considered us lucky that it was dust and not mud. Ominous clouds loomed overhead and thunderstorms completely surrounded our location. But we remained dry.
The BNSF mainline is just inside the Navajo Reservation and behind a barbed wire fence. However, a "road" parallels the fence and it was possible to get within easy walking distance of the steel trestle over Canyon Diablo. I was encouraged by the appearance of two trains before I even reached the canyon. But only a single train crossed the trestle before my concern over the ever closer rain storms forced my retreat to the safety of a paved highway.
