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.

 

 

A Ride On The Williams Flyer

A couple weeks ago I finally rode the train between the Grand Canyon and Williams, Arizona. This is a trip I had anticipating making even before my arrival in the Canyon last September. But things happen. I was busy adjusting to a new job; the weather turned cold; I'd wait for the steam to start running again; etc.; etc.; etc. Even with the enticement of a free ride for myself as an employee, it did not happen until the very last day of July. This was not my first ride on a Grand Canyon train, however. Back on June 9, I rode on shakedown runs of the Coconino Canyon train which were open only to residents of the Canyon. This is a new service being tried this summer to test the market for a train originating in the Canyon. Unfortunately the public response has not been great and I doubt we will see the train offered next season. The train would be much more successful, in my opinion, if a chuck wagon dinner with campfire and cowboy music were offered before the turnaround at the far end of the route. Of course, if a steam locomotive could replace the GP7 I think success of the train would be assured. As it now operates there just isn't enough scenery or glitz to attract a significant audience.

The daily train comes up to the Grand Canyon from Williams each morning. During the height of the tourist season there are two trains a day. One of the trains is headed up by steam locomotive from the Memorial Day weekend until the Labor Day weekend. This year the operation of two trains was cut short by rising fuel costs and some decrease in ticket sales. As a resident of the Canyon, I did not want to drive to Williams to catch the train's morning departure only to drive back to the Canyon following the train's return to Williams. So I chose to take the afternoon train from the Canyon and stay overnight in Williams. I had "purchased" my ticket (employees ride coach at no cost) the previous day but arrived a half hour before departure. I was then able to upgrade  from coach to first class observation car in available unused seating. This gave me access to the rear platform for picture taking.

At this time Engine 29 is the lone operating steam locomotive on the Grand Canyon Railroad. Two other steamers were traded off to acquire a larger locomotive capable of handling larger trains on the stiff grades of the GCRR. That locomotive still sits on track outside the shops in Williams awaiting restoration. The restoration has been in doubt since the takeover of the railroad by Xanterra. If the impending purchase of Xanterra by Phillip Anschutz, who has some personal and business interest in other trains, may have any effect on the future of the restoration project is unknown. Engine 29 is heading up the train today and the return trip tomorrow as well.

The train departed Grand Canyon station promptly at 3:00 PM and was quickly headed south out of the Park. To exit the Park the route follows a depression created by the Bright Angel Fault which bisects the Canyon at the west end of the village on the South Rim. There is scarcely a glimpse of the Grand Canyon from the train. Upon leaving the southern boundary of the Park, the train enters the Coconino National Forest. This is part of the world's largest forest of Ponderosa pines. The stout, red trunks carry the crowns of these trees more than 100 feet into the air. During this initial portion of this journey, the train will lose a thousand feet of elevation and then must climb again to regain the thousand feet before arriving in Williams a bit more than 60 miles to the south.

The scenery along the route is far from spell-binding but the GCRR treats us to snacks, drinks, and entertainment during the ride. There is a distinctly western character to it all, of course. Passengers have full opportunity to interact with the entertainers in this intimate setting. There is even a train robbery before arriving in Williams. A few passengers taking a nap during this two and a quarter hour trip are jolted from their rest. Desperadoes pursue the train from horseback and board the train to lift a bit of silver and perhaps a few greenbacks from the passengers. Their ill-gotten gains go to a worthy cause I'm sure. There is no escape for these criminals who are apprehended before they can make a getaway. The marshal and his deputies take the villains into custody without firing so much as a single shot. If only all justice where so swift! All of this transpires with nary a pause in the train's progress toward its' final destination in Williams.

Upon arriving in Williams I walked two blocks from the station to my overnight accommodations in the historic Williams Hotel. Staying in this hotel struck me as being pretty much like my visits to Grandma's house back in my childhood. The place is furnished entirely with antiques. The rooms are small. The bathrooms are inadequate. There is no air conditioning, but a ceiling fan and an open window do the job with the cool mountain night air. Williams, located on historic US Route 66 is both archetypal small western town and tourist town. Without it's proximity to the Grand Canyon, it's Route 66 heritage, and the luck of being the terminus for the railroad Williams would have passed into near or total oblivion. But it bustles with tourists patronizing several shops, dining and drinking establishments, and more than a few motels. Most of my fellow employees bypass Williams for Flagstaff on their days off. I have come to enjoy the small town atmosphere, general friendliness, and camaraderie as a "local". If you're looking for night life this is not the place to be, however. By 10 o'clock PM the streets get pretty quiet. This is not a town with a lot of late night action. Even the bars seem as if you are sitting at a quiet kitchen table having a drink with friends. So it is early to bed.

 

Next morning, I go to Max and Thelma's restaurant for the breakfast buffet. This is a new building next to the historic Santa Fe station. It was built by the local couple who revived the Grand Canyon Railroad. By the time I have finished my breakfast the train is on the tracks behind the restaurant and the station and restaurant. This morning I get upgraded to the first class parlor car, but as a first class passenger I will still have access to the open platform at the rear of the train.

Both the parlor car and the observation car where I rode the day before have been fully restored. Riding in them you can understand what "luxury" rail travel once meant. The two dome cars in the train have also been returned to prime condition. I took a peek into one of the domes shortly after our departure from Williams. The large windows of Amtrak's lounge cars give great views of Glenwood Canyon on the current California Zephyr but domes like these would have been even better on the original train. The scenery between Williams and the Grand Canyon is not like that between Denver and Glenwood Springs, so I return to the open platform to take pictures of the train.

As the train moves between Williams and the Grand Canyon  the line drops into a bowl which is 1,000 feet lower than either Williams or the Canyon. The bottom of the bowl has a distinctly different ecology than the rim on which the two ends of the line are situated. Williams and the South Rim of the Canyon are both forested. The bowl is grassland and scrub which makes it suited for ranching. Although some early copper mining took place in the northern transition area between grassland and forest, it is only ranching which persists. Some corrals still exist and once were served by stock trains but are now visited only by trucks. Locomotive 29 puts on a show from time to time as it encounters stiff sections of grade. It is unfortunate these locations are on private land and in any case would be accessible only with an ATV or some other 4-wheel drive (both of which are popular in this area). Whereas I have neither I will have to be content with the shots I get from the rear of the train. The trains arrived back at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on schedule just after noon. Since my ride I pass by the train nearly every day on my way to and from work and as I go about my daily activities. There will not be many more days with engine 29 at the head of the train, so this will certainly have been my only ride behind GCRR steam this season.

Trip to Winslow

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.

 

 

 

 

Phoenix Weekend

The first weekend in March I traveled to Phoenix to attend a meet of the Arizona Division of the NMRA. More than one hundred model railroaders were in attendance. These meets are held three times a year in various locations around the state. As with most such events a  contest room, swap tables, layout tours and clinics filled out the schedule. I must confess to some doubts when I saw the clinic titles. The evolution of gas stations, modeling eagles from scratch, and measuring prototype structures did not seem to be topics up my alley. But the quality of the presentations was excellent and they managed quite well to keep my attention. The contest entries were a bit sparse, but an aspect of their contest room was something I would like to see more of at NMRA meets. They call it Lenny's Challenge. Members are encouraged to bring a modeling project which they would like to share with group. The projects are not judged or voted on. They do not even have to be finished. The idea is to simply share techniques and perhaps stimulate similar efforts. Too often, in my opinion, NMRA tends to project an elitist image. I think something non-competitive such as Lenny's Challenge says we are just a bunch of guys having fun and enjoying our hobby.

On Sunday I visited an open house at Richard Newkirk's Shasta Division home layout. This a large layout which Richard began work on ten years ago. But he abandoned his initial efforts and is completely rebuilding the layout with higher standards. One of those higher standards is hand-laying all of the track.  That is quite an endeavor on a layout this size which will be double decked when complete.

I also visited three club layouts in The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. This is the most popular park in Scottsdale's city park system. The land for the park was donated to the city by the McCormick family. Originally the land was part of a ranch owned by the McCormicks of the spice and tea business. A mister Stillman who married into the family had an interest in trains and built a 15" gauge live steam layout. This is now the core of the railroad themed park. Several pieces of prototype equipment and train stations have been moved into the park. The day I visited there were long lines waiting to ride the little steam train.

The old ranch bunkhouse now houses three model railroad club layouts which are in operation each Sunday in exchange for free rent. These are not huge layouts but the N scale, HO/HOn3, and tinplate pikes are well done. The N scale layout is a collection of NTrak modules. A large yard takes up nearly all of one side of the display. Some scenes are composed of more than a single module to create a more cohesive display than a might be typical of an NTrak setup.

The HO/HOn3 layout may have more space devoted to narrow gauge than to standard. It all displays a high level of craftsmanship. If you find yourself in Phoenix on a Sunday I definitely recommend a visit to the McCormick Railroad Park.