Western Railroad Discussion > ATSF Peavine Line -- points of interest??

For those traveling on the 3751 Canyon Limited next week, is there anything worthwhile to pay attention to (and photograph) on the ride from Williams to Parker, both scenic and railroad-wise (i.e., bridges, junctions, depots, etc)? Any info is appreciated. Thank you!

Jim

Bridge over Hell Canyon @ Drake.

Come over to the Steam discussion board for this one....I almost missed this thread....Any other spots on that line??

The Search function can be a marvelous thing, if you learn to use it....

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?f=1&i=162220&t=162220

Thanks for the link to the earlier discussion. It is useful to me as I will be chasing. I think Jim was inquiring about things to photograph FROM the train, as he will be riding. Hell's Canyon bridge sounds interesting. It's all new to me, never been there.

southlandwarrior wrote:

> For those traveling on the 3751 Canyon Limited
> next week, is there anything worthwhile to pay
> attention to (and photograph) on the ride from
> Williams to Parker, both scenic and railroad-
> wise (i.e., bridges, junctions, depots, etc)?
> Any info is appreciated. Thank you!

The section of the Peavine from Williams to
Ash Fork used to be part of the Santa Fe's
double track main line, until the Williams-
Crookton cutoff was built in 1959/60. The
double track west of Ash Fork was abandoned,
and a single track was retained from Williams
to Ash Fork to reach the Peavine. I don't
know how much of roadbed of the abandoned second
main you'll be able to see, as they are widely
separated in places. I believe they do rejoin
and diverge a couple of times coming down the
grade, though.

When Ash Fork was on the main line, in addition
to the junction for the Peavine, there was a
main line helper district in both directions!
A few traces of those days remain, including
a huge 48 foot diameter silver painted water
tank with a Santa Fe emblem on it. Santa Fe
controlled the town's water supply too, so
the municipal water tank on stilts in the
middle of town also has the Santa Fe emblem
on it too. The depot at Ash Fork is a tan
stucco structure south of the tracks. It is
a small portion of what was once a very large
depot/Harvey House complex. A short distance
west of the depot, you curve south onto the
Peavine as the abandoned double track grade
continues west toward Seligman.

The next point of interest I'm aware of is
Drake. On the east side of the tracks is the
wye that forms the junction for the branch to
Clarkdale, now a shortline (Verde Canyon's
tourist train uses the eastern end from
Clarkdale to Perkinsville). A Santa Fe water
tank (big black cylinder with a red roof) is in
the middle of the wye. On the west side of the
tracks just south of the wye is the foundation of
a Santa Fe bunkhouse. Just beyond that, an
old Santa Fe standard section house nearly
fronts right on the tracks. I believe the
Hell Canyon bridge is less than a mile south of
the section house.

I don't know how much there is to see at Abra
any more, but this used to be the junction for
the Santa Fe branch down to Prescott. The
branch was originally part of the main line,
but Santa Fe built a cutoff from Abra to Skull
Valley in the 60's. The old main was cut back
to a branchline from Abra to Prescott, and
was finally removed in the early 80's. You
might be able to still spot the old grade on the
east side of the train as you make the curve to
the west onto the "new" cutoff. Likewise,
coming into Skull Valley, you may be able to
see the old grade slithering down through the
sagebrush off to the east and rejoining the
present-day line.

At Skull Valley, the old depot is now a museum
across the road west of the tracks. Last time
I saw it, it was painted red with white trim.
You should be able to see it from the train just
south of the town's main grade crossing. The
museum also has a section house similar to the
one at Drake. There are (were?) a couple of
two-light signals at Skull Valley too, whose
purpose I'm not entirely clear on. The timetable
refers to a short section of "double track"
through Skull Valley, and I seem to remember that
the signals were related to the position of the
spring switches at the ends of the double track.
Anyone?

There was a motorcar shed at Kirkland on the west
side of the tracks in 1998, but it may well be
gone now. There is also a talking high water
detector at MP 88.9 near Kirkland, which ought
to be good for a laugh in the 100+ degree parched
dry heat. Wonder if 3751's engineer will blow
down the boiler at that point and get a false
high-water reading to go along with the false
hotbox readings.

Matthie is the junction for the A&C line to
Parker. Not much to see there but the wye.
It's too bad the train isn't going all the
way into Wickenburg, with its nicely restored
depot, section-house-turned-antique-shop, and
bunkhouse-turned-residence.

There's not much along the A&C. At Aguila,
you might catch sight of a couple more section
houses north of the tracks (the Aguila depot is
now at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in
Scottsdale). At Salome, there's a big steel
water tank on the north side of the tracks.
Parker is where A&C has their main locomotive
shops, on the east side of the tracks. Their
office is in the old Santa Fe depot on the
west side of the tracks. West of Parker, you'll
cross the Colorado River on a through truss
bridge. There's another water tank at Vidal,
which I have only seen in pictures and don't
know which side of the tracks it's on.

http://atsf.railfan.net/tanks/wtvidalbrown.jpg
(Photo by Paul Brown)

At Rice, junction for the branch to Blythe,
there's a miserable tin shed that was the
"depot" for a time.

That's all I know, and my information is at
best 4 years old.

If you folks get a chance, pick up David Myrick's
book called RR's of Arizona Vol.#5. It covers
all the history of the Peavine and the Arizona and California. I just finished this book and it's well worth it !! As usual, Mr. Myrick has outdone
himself !!!
http://www.signaturepress.com/
Volume #4 covers the Santa Fe (A&P) mainline and again it's a fabulous book !!!

Later, Phil

Thanks again for the responses, guys, especially yours, Evan! Great info, and it will definitely be used. Good hunting!