I have two questions:
I recently heard that the Grand Canyon Railway stopped using one of the stations on the route.
Does the Grand Canyon Railway use the same tracks/depots from the Santa Fe’s Grand Canyon?
I rode the GCR a few years ago and it was a nice ride. Loved the train robbery play. [:D]Has anyone been on it?[8D]
thanks, Aric
I have not ridden it, so I can’t speak for the stations. The track is a rebuilt Santa Fe line. In 1987 we drove to the Grand Canyon; this was before the line was reopened, and it was somewhat overgrown at the time. The old “Red Lake” sign was visible from the highway but I never got a photo.
I rode this line in 1964 on a Santa Fe train from the Canyon to Williams Junction. It was a bit different back then, no train robbers!
They only have two stations on the whole route, one at williams and one at the Canyon and they use them both. The railroad built a new station at the Canyon but it has never been used. They still use the original station, built in 1901, located near the lodges and still use the original track, except for a small section near williams which was taken up by Santa Fe to encourage a buyer. They made a threat to take up the whole line and gave a deadline, a point of no return. The city of williams and many many others tried to save the line but was found impossible to do so. Thank Heavens for the Grand Canyon Railroad coming down to the wire, replacing the removed track and saving a great piece of Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona history . I hope they never use the new station. The Canyon would never be the same not using the old original log station.
While on a trip to Sedona, AZ a few yeas back we took a side trip to the Grand Canyon and while walking around the GC Lodge what do I think I hear but the sound of an Alco diesel idling (remembered the sound from my days in Wisconsin and the GB&W). I walked around the hotel and found down some stairs a wonderful looking (Green?) train with two or more Alco cab unit diesels. Well, I used up about a full roll of film on the train! Now I have read that the GCRy. is buying (or has bought) a couple or more ex-Amtrak F40 units to supplement the Alcos. Wonderful site and sound and smell of those Alco units and a beautiful train back then, hope to see it again some day.
When the Santa Fe ran the Grand Canyon Train, did they use the streamline cars (Like from the Super Chief) or Grand Canyon cars currently used? Thanks
The scheduled daily trains used coaches, mail and baggage and pullman type cars. They had specials that used the streamline cars such as the El Capitan, Chief , freedom train and many others. The freight was mainly water and empty cars to the canyon, the south rim had no water until the pipe line was built out of the canyon , logs cattle in season and ore back to williams.
there is a video on the GCRy out there somewhere…I had it at one point but the production company name eludes me.
If I remember correctly, the Grand Canyon Limited was simply a name of a train that did indeed stop at Williams and make a connection with the branch line train to and from the Canyon, but did not go to the Canyon itself. It never, if my memory is correct, was fully streamlined, although before it was taken off, during slack periods single-level coaches and sleepers not required for the “Chief” fleet and the El Cap did show up on the train to the point that once and a while it was “fully streamlined” except for head end cars.
It was fully streamlined for good after everything else CHI-LA but the Super came off in 1968. No reason not to be. They kept 23-24 on for the pass and reduced fare riders, since ATSF still held the Super/El Cap as special and wouldn’t let them, or other reduced fares, on.