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Tuesday, May 23, 2023
"Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona"
Winslow to Kingman, Arizona
Virtual Railfan Day! Yep, we're gonna visit 3 railcams in Winslow, Flagstaff and
Kingman today. The Winslow cam is conveniently located at La Posada, so I mosey
on over there. As a plus, Amtrak #4 (the eastbound Southwest Chief) is about an
hour late so I can get a shot of him too in daylight.
At this hour, the cam is in darkness, but you can SORT of see me taking its
picture and waving; There's a constant parade of freight trains pulling into the
yard for a crew change.
Here comes the Chief. Leading is the Operation Lifesaver P42 #203 with #153
following. It's a quick stop and #4 is soon hurrying east.
Check out is fast and we're soon flying down I-40 towards Flag. Wondering if
that's Humphrey's Peak (12,000 feet high) in the background? At unforgettable
Winona, we exit to follow an old section of 66 into Flag featuring this
magnificent stone cairn highway marker.
At Flagstaff, we pull over for our big presentation at the former AT&SF
passenger station. Note the camera on that U shaped bracket.
Just before we arrived, a Q train (priority, domestic containers) blasts through
the station; Set up and waving at the camera.
So you don't have to squint, the sign reads, "Mark -N-
Lindsay, 2 VR Brothers, US Route 66 West". We're also wearing our official
Virtual Railfan Tee Shirts, but the gray color and being backlit (morning shot)
makes them hard to see. Believe me. I tried to get us YELLOW shirts, but there
were none for sale. :(
I'm not sure how this will show up on my ancient website software, but...we made
one of the VR Grab Bag videos!!! Here is a link to see Mark and myself at the 6
minute, 30 second mark at Flagstaff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vcUUqOBct4
If this link is still working, this is the actual Flagstaff railcam, if you'd
just like to watch trains for a while:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJzYyUpf2mg
Well, that was fun. Okay, on with the show. Breakfast was at McDonald's on me,
because I wanted to PROVE to Mark that those in-store kiosks really work!
Flagstaff was the first place we started seeing mention of Los Angeles on the
highway distance signs. Primitive Road! I could see Mark's lip curl in a defiant
sneer. How fast could he take THIS stretch of dirt roadway?
Beautiful emblem and Santa Fe lettering on overhead railroad bridge coming into
Williams. The town itself, not impressed with its section of Route 66. Mind you,
both Mark and I have ridden the Grand Canyon
Railway from Williams to the South Rim which is a great ride and THE way to
get there.
The Crookton Overpass! (Just east of Seligman). J.B. Hunt containers as far as
the eye can see.
Seligman! (Sah-lig-man) Texaco station and bits of a Jeep; yet another souvie
shop; VW bus covered with stickers; Kick AT&SF sign -- no mention of BNSF - down
here, they call it the "Big New Santa Fe".; Neon hype with the Supai Motel
advertising new color TV's!
From Seligman, we pretty much punched the entire way to Kingman on 66. There
just wasn't anything interesting to stop for and we were getting a little tired
(retirement age does that to a guy).
Santa Fe 4-8-4 #3759! A movie star and
featured in my More Obscure Train Movies blog resides in a Kingman park.
Meanwhile, over at the Kingman depot, I don't have to wait long before a
westbound BNSF grain train thunders through.
Dinner at Denny's, back to the rooms at the Super 8 for a drink and discuss the
day's happenings, then to bed.
 
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