The Märklin Diary of a 44 yr old Kid

Railroading with
The Märklin Diary of a 44 yr old Kid

The Grand Canyon Railroad - October, 1999

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In October of 1999, we went West. And then back east along Route 66, many times crossing the Santa Fe lines. This was before I was back in the hobby, but this is what probably started the itch. These are a few of the pictures I took along the way on our two week trek in a rubber-wheeled wagon train. I apologize for the quality, but they are scans of my pictures using an old scanner years ago. Some day, I will scan the pictures with a better scanner.

Cruise America
A big part of the trip was a visit to the Grand Canyon.


This is a giant fireplace in the main hall of the hotel at the canyon itself, Hermits.

While surfing the 'net looking for places to stay and things to see, I came across The Grand Canyon Railway, here The Grand Canyon Railway and here Sister Betty, A railfan. The Grand Canyon Railroad leaves from Williams, AZ, and heads North to the Canyon on a trip lasting a little more than two hours.

The Grand Canyon Railroad has three steam engines; 4960 is a 2-8-2 Mikado type built in 1923 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and Engines 18 and 29 are 2-8-0 Consolidation type locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Pittsburgh and. 18 is a 160 ton SC-4 class and Number 18 is a 185 ton SC-3. Included in the fleet are several FPA-4 diesel locomotives, all built built by ALCO in 1959.

The night before we set off for Williams, we stayed in Winslow, AZ, at La Posada Hotel Check the site, it has many wonderful old pictures and history.

The hotel from the street.


Four shots of the back side of the hotel from the tracks
The gate to the tennis court, now just ruins.	Breakfast was served in this hallway before the Restaurant was renovated.
The last surviving bedroom mural. Our room. The station master told us that it used to be the old sation master's office. Whenever the painters came, they were told to leave the mural alone. All of the other murals had long since been painted over. Visigoths!
This is the Winslow Train Station and is part of the hotel complex. The trains ran all night long. After a few, they actually lull you to sleep like thunder and rain.