Large Scale Central

What we did on the 4th. Grand Canyon RR

General Discussion
#1

What we did on the 4th. Left early wednesday, drove 6 hours to Williams Az to ride the GCRR. Got there about 2pm to get settled in. Outside the Station we saw a pair of neat little speeders

They town had a parade scheduled for that evening and had a bunch of tractors on Display that were going to be in the parade later

also included was the coolest and smallest Cat I’ve ever seen:

Later at the parade:

Lots of hot rods:

Cant handle a broken down float at the Rose Parade like this

Worlds first hot rod?

Now for the Trip up, we had A/C coach class which I HIGHLY recommend as the minimum class for summertime, it was 100+ crossing the open plain portion.

Our train was pulled in the morning by an F40 and a vintage FA1

Grand Canyon Station

At the Canyon it was HOT, but beautiful! It actually clouded up and we got thunderstorms there and on the way back.

Trip back we were in the DOME car, this is the best way to go IMHO

back at Williams, got nice close ups of our engine, a terrific 2-8-2

Friday we went to Sedona for a few hours, then back to L.A.

We would like to spend more time in Sedona, but it was getting late so, 8 hrs back to home…:smiley: PS the town also had a fireworks display on the 4th but cancelled it after about 10 minutes when it set 5 seperate small fires…:open_mouth: Funny part is that it poured rain the next day :slight_smile:

#2

Great pics, Vic! Thanks for posting them. The steam loco is a beauty, is it operational? I like the tiny 'Cat too.

#3

Yes Ray, its operational, thats the loco that pulled us from GC back to Williams, if you look carefully at the 2nd pic from the dome car you see her on point. They have 3 steamers I believe, the other pair are 2-8-0’s

#4

Next time your in Sedona make sure you ride the Verde Valley Railroad. Did that in April of this year. Got 200+ pictures, even saw eagles nesting. Verde Valley is just south of the grand canyon. and I 40. Its in a town called Clarkdale and if you have time there is a town called Jerome wich is classified as a mining town with a lot of railroad history. It is worth a day long trip if you have time. Great prices and food in Jerome. try the Red Roster resturant if you can get in.

Take hwy 89 west out of Sedona.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onemillion/sets/72057594073699090/

#5

B.K (before kids) Carla and I went out for 2 weeks to Chandler AZ for some Inter-tel training…Once again BK I was a phone man.

It was in January, and the weather was great! I had rented a car, and decided we MUST go to the Canyon. The night b4 the trip, it snowed in Flagstaff- 48" to be exact…I was determined to see the GC, come hell or high snow drifts.

We drove up in a little Mitsi, and well the drive could be a whole 'nuther post…it was Beautiful and Great! Got to Flagstaff and ran into Wal-Mart to buy us a few coats and some Gloves!

We did make it to the Canyon…(insert words there-I can’t summon any to describe-WOW, What a Creator!)…but due to time constraints, did not ride train…it is one of my biggest regrets (nowadays)…remember this was BK, so a trip to the HD store held the utmost importance,I had to have a Black T shirt!

We do plan to visit after we complete the family 3 and counting…I Will take my kids to see it, and we Will ride the train!

Glad you had a great trip Vic!

cale

If you have never seen the Canyon first hand…go, you must…inspired you will be!

#6

In 1970, I went down Bright Angel, along the river path and back up Kaibab in a day. Had zero interest in trains then, and probably couldn’t have afforded the ride even if I’d wanted to.

I will never forget the stink of donkey p__s, the warnings from the muleteers to give way, the sensation that the original rock must be down along the Colorado somewhere, the incredible thirst on the way back up (the hard part comes when you’re tired) and, most of all, the sheer awe-inspiring beauty of the place.

In the decades since, I have not seen anything, natural or man-made, that I’d put ahead of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. If I ever visit the US again, I’d like to take my better half on that train ride. This time, though, we’ll content ourselves with the view from the South Rim.

Cale, you hit the nail on the head - what a Creator!!!

#7

Geez Vic, missed ya by a few days. We took a bus tour on June 26th whille we were at the GR convention in Vegas. Our bus pulled into theVisitors Center just as the steam engine was pulling out. I managed to get a shot of it from the bus window. I did manage to get some pix of the diesel before it pulled out. If we’d have had more time I’d have liked to have ridden the train from Williams. so much to do, so little time…:wink: