Western Railroad Discussion > ATSF and LaPosada

Just left the Fred Harvey Hotel,La Posada in Winslow Az. An excellent place for the railfan as it is located right next to the ex Santa fe Transcon. They have made an excellent restoration of that old Harvey house with about 30 rooms now available, also brought in a chef from California who puts out quite the menu,quite similar to Fred Harvey type meals. BNSF had quite a fleet pass by during the 2 days I was there.

what does a room there cost? Restrooms in the room?

That is a great place. I was in the Carol Lombard room, 2nd floor, faced south, great view of the tracks. The food is out of sight.

$79 or $89 a night, for the experience it is worth it.

That PRR obeservation car still there? Someone was living in it.

All rooms have indoor plumbing, icluding showers.

An hour past (before) Flagstaff, assuming you can get a room overlooking the tracks, other than RR stuff, what is an attraction that one could use to justify a stop there and not Flag?

"Standing on the Corner Park" if you are an Eagles fan.

...Painted Desert and Petrified Forest? Fred Harvey Indian Detour, tours via old time buses too.
And "Don't let your own wheels drive you crazy."
Inspector Gadget

There are literally hundreds of thousands of people that have discovered many of the old attractions along old Route 66 through programs on The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, PBS and other media that have aired or printed documentaries on the subject. Many of these programs have had no focus on the railroads other than maybe a casual mention of Fred Harvey's connection to Santa Fe. I spend a lot of time on the road throughout the southwest and have met a lot of people who just tour along the old route with no thought about the trains whatsoever.

Ah, the La Posada. In my youth I would lv LA at 630pm on #4 to WI. Had about 4 hrs there and returned on #1 arriving back in LA in time to walk from LAUPT to First st for an 8am assignment.The La Posada was renting rooms at that time (1949) and in the basement was the bar/lounge The Bull Pen. I recently sold a swizzle stick marked Fred Harvey-Bull Pen-Winslow, Ariz. for $40.00. I had an annual pass and this was just one of many weekend trips at no cost.

May I also recommend dinner at the Port Java Cafe at the historic Winslow Airport, just a few minutes south of La Posada. Excellent family-style meals and the owner entertains guests with music after dinner.

I believe the Port Java Cafe at the Winslow airport has closed. I was going to eat there when I was staying in Winslow last March but their telephone had been disconnected and the building locked up.