The Flickr Grandcanyonrailway Image Generatr

This the Grand Canyon's train being turned on the wye after arrival in Williams.

When I planned my Arizona trip, the Grand Canyon Railway was not a factor at all in my decision making process. While I would be in the area of Williams for two nights, I decided to treat their southbound return trip as a bonus, if I happened to be otherwise untangled from shooting the Transcon and Peavine.

As it turned out, the trickle down effects of maintenance of way windows near Flagstaff and Yampai resulted in relatively few trains on Saturday afternoon. With the first clear sunset of my trip shaping up to the west, I knew I could knock off some shots of the returning GCRY trip without missing much or anything on the normally busy mainline, in the golden hour.

Upon arriving at the closest grade crossing to Williams, I discovered a local fan already staking out the scene. He confirmed that the train hadn't passed yet, and we commenced chatting. In the following minutes several other carloads of photographers and tourists pulled up and spread out around the crossing. My surprise must have been visible, so my new friend iterated "It's the first Saturday of the month." as if this was to mean something to me. Still not getting what he meant, he clarified that on the first Saturday of each month, the Grand Canyon Railway powered their excursion train with one of their steam locomotives. No sooner had this registered, then the stack talk of the approaching Mikado became audible.

I did my best to crouch down out of the line of sight of the ragged photo line, and shot the above image. Unfortunately the train is coasting downhill at this point, so the only steam emitted from the locomotive was that from the whistle.

The first railroad in Williams was the western division of the transcontinental railroad built by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1882. By 1885 the first station was built in the town. Two years later, the Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railroad was built to transport supplies and workers between Williams and the copper mines near Anita. In 1901, the SF&GC was sold under foreclosure to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, who completed the remaining fifteen miles to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The company was renamed the Grand Canyon Railway and the Santa Fe's first passenger train from Williams to the Canyon ran on September 17, 1901.

The Grand Canyon Railway departs each day from the historic Williams Depot, located at the south end of the rail line. Built in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, the depot was an oasis for travelers heading to and from California along the main line running from Los Angeles to Chicago. Incorporated into the building was one of the first Harvey House hotels, named the Fray Marcos after Spanish missionary Marcos de Niza, who explored the Southwest in the early 16th century. It had 43 rooms, as well as a formal dining room, cafe, bar and a news room.

In 1960, the Santa Fe built the "Crookton Cutoff": a re-routing of a 44-mile (71 km) stretch of the Southern Transcon to avoid the sharp curves and steep gradients of the line between Williams and Ash Fork. With the new tracks bypassing the town of Williams completely, a new station at Williams Junction replaced Williams Depot as the connection point between main line services and trains to the Grand Canyon. Williams Depot was now served solely by the rerouted Hassayampa Flyer service between Williams Junction and Phoenix via Ash Fork and the Peavine route. Both Williams stations closed in 1969 following the Santa Fe's discontinuation of passenger services to the Grand Canyon and Phoenix via the Peavine the previous year. The connecting line through downtown Williams from Williams Junction was retained for freight traffic but there was limited scope for a similar retention of the Grand Canyon Railway. In the summer of 1974, a Santa Fe works train traversed the rails, removing track equipment and demolishing many lineside structures. It was the last train to run on the line for fifteen years. The station building at Williams Depot fell into disuse.

Plans by entertainer Arthur Godfrey to resume service on the Grand Canyon Railway in 1977 fell through. In addition, two other companies attempted to resurrect the line in 1980 and 1984, with each attempt helping to maintain interest in preserving the line and saving it from scrapping without actually bringing trains back to the route. In 1988, the line was bought by Max and Thelma Biegert, a couple from Phoenix. The railway was restored, along with the stations at Williams and the Grand Canyon South Rim, and reopened as a separate company, independent of the Santa Fe. The first journey of the restored railroad was on September 17, 1989, exactly 88 years after the first train to the Canyon was run.

Today, the depot is where passengers of Grand Canyon Railway pick up their tickets. There is also an expansive gift shop in the depot full of Grand Canyon Railway and Grand Canyon mementos. Although the Fray Marcos hotel closed in 1954, the original building remains and is the oldest poured-concrete structure in the state of Arizona. It is listed on the register of Arizona State Historic Properties. The Grand Canyon Railway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original Atlantic and Pacific station building on the opposite side of the tracks was retained and remains in existence to this day, serving as the Williams Chamber of Commerce since 1994.

Grand Canyon Railway

Kodak Baby Brownie, 127 film

Wyeing the train in Williams

September 10, 2024 - Grand Canyon Railway train at the station at the Grand Canyon before heading back to Williams, Arizona

Grand Canyon Railway Mikado no. 4960 departs from Grand Canyon Village for the return trip back to Williams.

Grand Canyon Railway Mikado no. 4960 races through Quivero during the journey north to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Railway Mikado no. 4960 arrives at the Grand Canyon Village.

Grand Canyon Railway Mikado no. 4960 and F40PH no. 4128 climb the grade at Quivero shortly after letting the train robbers off of the train during the return trip from Grand Canyon Village.

Grand Canyon Railway Mikado no. 4960 comes around the curve at Pronghorn Ranch while traveling north to the Grand Canyon shortly after departing from Williams, Arizona.

As I tried to snap a close-up of this steam engine that was at the Grand Canyon Railway's train yard, these lovely youngsters stepped into the frame as they were posing for their father. Well... they sure made excellent references as to how large the engine actually was. 😁

Check out a previous post in the comment too.

Have a fantastic day, everyone...

The southbound 3:30 pm Grand Canyon Railway excursion train departing Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, with two rebuilt EMD F40FH locomotives leading elephant style.

...

Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, USA

June 24, 2024

Canon EOS 60D

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6

Passenger cars for the Grand Canyon Railway.
Williams, Arizona
Tuesday afternoon 30 May 2023

Williams Depot, originally built in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, now used as the southern stop for the Grand Canyon Railway.
Williams, Arizona
Tuesday afternoon 30 May 2023

A classy A-B-A set of Montreal Locomotive Works covered wagons heads up a Grand Canyon Railway train as it prepares to depart Williams, AZ. The train is bound for Grand Canyon National Park on tracks that once belonged to the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe. Williams serves as the headquarters for the railroad.

After documenting the departing Alco's, a quick trip through the deadline was in order to see some items that I hadn't had the chance to shoot yet. Grand Canyon Rwy. is storing numerous engines, rolling stock, and other railroad items for the future Arizona State Railroad Museum that is to be built adjacent to the GC's line. One of those items is one of the Magma's Alco RS3 locomotives. The railroad was headquartered in Superior, AZ., 1920-1997, and served the copper mine there while interchanging with the SP at Magma in the Florence, AZ. area. This unit was 1 of 8 RS3's rostered by the company. Interestingly, units 8-10, 12, and 13 were older having been built in 1951, with 1-3 coming in 1955.

Another chapter is about to start for these Montreal built FP4's after sitting silent for over 10 years on the Grand Canyon Rwy. GCRY picked up 5 A units and 2 B units, all originally from CN and then VIA, and ran them daily on their trains to the Grand Canyon for many years. One ABA set was painted in silver with the gold and red stripe for use on the first-class trains and this ABA set received the dark green paint for use on the Pullman class runs. When the GC eventually started purchasing more efficient and easier to maintain F40PH's in the 2000's, they were moved to back up power status, and then were finally parked as the fleet of F40s grew. I last shot these in the deadline in 2012.

Now these two units have been sold to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic RR and have been prepped for movement by the BNSF. They will be joining their fellow graduates of the FP4 class with builder numbers in the same series on the CVSR. The GC still has 4 A units (1 green, 2 silver, 1 in VIA used for parts) and 1 B unit in silver on the property. None of them are in use.

GCRY 6773, blt. 2/1959 Ex-Via 6773, nee CNR 6773.
GCRY 6871, blt. 3/1959 Ex-Via 6871, nee CNR 6871.

After documenting the departing Alco's, a quick trip through the deadline was in order to see some items that I hadn't had the chance to shoot yet. Grand Canyon Rwy. is storing numerous engines, rolling stock, and other railroad items for the future Arizona State Railroad Museum that is to be built adjacent to the GC's line. One of those items is one of BM&LP's first E60C locomotives that the isolated coal hauler used to move product from the mine to the power plant on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Built in February 1973, this was part of a 6 unit order they received from GE and was built to operate from a 50,000 volt overhead catenary system supplied by the very powerplant they hauled the coal to in Page, AZ. IN 2019 the BM&LP was shut down for ever with its rail equipment moved off the property and the overhead catenary brought down. The Navajo Generating Station, built beginning in 1970, was decommissioned and leveled over the next few years.