I’m planning to make a trip to Grand Cayon by rail, that is if Amtrak is still running. My question is how far is Amtrak station from Grand Cayon station in Williams Juct.?
When I was there 2 years ago the only east/west tracks in town were the BNSF transcon. The GCRR station at that time was on the west side of Williams. [:o)][:D][:p]
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Originally posted by cspmo
About 30 miles, Amtrak stops in Flagstaff.
The original transcon tracks go right in front of the GCRY depot. These tracks are now the Peavine line to Pheonix. Back in the early 60’s (I think) the SF built the crookton line change bypassing Williams with the main line, though not by much. Now the transcon takes a more northerly route diverging from the original route at Williams jct. a few miles east of Williams. The GCRY goes under the transcon about a mile north of town. The transcon at that point is on a BIG fill. I think the stop closest to Williams is Flagstaff but I’m not 100% on that. Try calling the GCRY to find out about transportation. I’m sure they have all the info you need. 1(800) 843-8724
Here is the web site for the GCRR. I am sure they can give you whatever info you are looking for.
http://www.thetrain.com/home.cfm [:o)][:D]
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Originally posted by cspmo
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Yep, to get there you’ll have to arrainge a connection to take the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to the rim. Amtrack does this ALL THE TIME as its a big tourist draw and usually has a bus to meet the train in Flagstaff and the whole kiboodle can be done either thru Amtrack or your travel agent.
If your very lucky you might get pulled to the rim by one of the steam engines…
Oddly enough, the GCR website does not seem to indicate any information at all regarding the connection between Amtrak and the GCR.
However, after looking up the Amtrak station’s address (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Station/Station_Page&code=WMA) I realized that Amtrak’s Southwest Chief actually stops at the GCR Williams, AZ railroad depot. So the connection is literally a direct rail-to-rail connection! [:D]
Note that you need to get off at the “Williams Junction AZ” station on the Southwest Chief, not the Flagstaff station, if you wi***o make the direct connection. Otherwise if you get off at Flagstaff, you will have to take a bus to Williams.
Amtrak only recently began offering the Williams stop, so I suspect that most people are not even aware of the direct connection.
It is not a station to station transfer. The mainline is a mile away at its closest.
The tracks that run through Williams are the Peavine line to Pheonix, Amtrak does not run on that line.
Chad, I am a little confused!?!? [%-)] I will admit that I have never been to Williams AZ myself, but then how do you explain that the Amtrak station and the GCR station have the same street address? Any explanation?
Why does Amtrak not run on that line when “Williams Junction AZ” is listed as a train station stop on the Southwest Chief’s timetable (as a railroad station, not as a Thruway Motorcoach bus stop mind you). I am just trying to resolve this discrepancy in information between Amtrak and what has been said here… [%-)]
I don’t know why they have the same address. It’s most likly because they do bussiness in town and have a platform out on the main. Williams jct. is about 2 miles east of the town itself. And like I said the main veers north of town. I can understand the confusion but I assure you that Amtrak does not stop at the GCRY Williams station. But don’t let that detour you. Williams is a great spot for railfanning.
Hmmm… that’s certainly an odd arrangement for Amtrak (having the ticket office and the train stop in two very seperate locations) [%-)]. I am quite surprised that the Amtrak website neglects to mention this little detail… [V][oops]
Anyone know for sure if there is transportation offered between the two “stations”? I too am hoping to head over that way probably in a couple of weeks and I would certainly like to have all of the facts before I get stuck in the Arizona desert [C):-)].
[#oops] OK… I made a blunder… under the Amtrak website (when I was looking up the street address) I was looking at Williams AZ (station code WMA) rather than Williams Junction AZ (station code WMJ).
Amtrak’s website under station WMJ states that the train stop is not accessible to private vehicles, but only by a free Amtrak shuttle between the Williams Junction train stop and the GCR station. So apparently it is NOT a direct connection as Chad indicated [:)], but it is a short free hop between the two. This is still much better than getting off in Flaggstaff and taking the bus from there at one’s own expense[:)].
I don’t know but here are the two places that would.
Amtrak…1 800 USA-RAIL
GCRY…1(800) 843-8724