Western Railroad Discussion > Truxton Canyon

During a recent trip across old Highway 66 between Seligman and Kingman, I caught this early morning BNSF container freight descending in Truxton Canyon near Valentine -- SD40s with the dynamic breaks whining away. This is really active trackage, and when things are busy, there may be three or four trains an hour. Any time I am watching trains on this section of track, I am reminded of S. Kip Farrington's book "Railroads at War" where he described the beauty of a night crossing of this part of the desert from the cab of a 4-8-4 in which he was the engineer.

"Seligman departure at 12 12:20 AM, Pacific War Time. We have moved our watch back an hour. The elevation at Seligman is 5,240 feet; at Needles, 149 miles away, 483 feet above sea level. Dropping down this long, winding grade our average speed is fifty-four miles an hour. The engineer's hand is frequently on the handle of the automatic brake-valve, checking, steadying those swift-running iron feet of No. 19 (The Chief). A beautiful bit of running here."

Farrington should have been a poet. His description of a night crossing of the Sangre de Cristos north of Albuquerque in the cab of a passenger engine got me an "A" in a class of Oral interpretation of Literature.

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This location looks like just a short distance out of the confines of Crozier Canyon, about two miles east of Valentine, AZ (Now East Valentine on the railroad).
Back when the railroad was first put in and for a time after that, this was referred to as "Truxton Wash". They had a bad time with high water all along here,
and even in the modern era, they on occasion still do. But it is most commonly referred to now as Crozier Canyon. As an assist, I would refer you to "The Santa Fe
Route--Volume Four" by David Myrick. Signature Press is the publisher and I think it is still in print. Excellent reading. I have been to this area many times,
but I learned a lot of things I never knew after reading the book.

As to the locomotives in your photo, go to your computer search engine and put in "Burlington Northern Santa Fe Roster". The roster information is very detailed
and will give you correct information as to every locomotive type in a few seconds.

Thanks for posting the picture.

Hermosa45

I am sure you are right. I only get to do that drive every few years. When I was a kid -- in the 50s -- my dad seemed to know the rail sidings in that part of AZ when we were driving through there. He was a railroader on the UP. I thought it was Truxton and never considered it would be called something else. It was very close to Valentine. I will try to get the My see exrick book you mentioned. Thanks.



Hermosa45 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This location looks like just a short distance out
> of the confines of Crozier Canyon, about two miles
> east of Valentine, AZ (Now East Valentine on the
> railroad).
> Back when the railroad was first put in and for a
> time after that, this was referred to as "Truxton
> Wash". They had a bad time with high water all
> along here,
> and even in the modern era, they on occasion still
> do. But it is most commonly referred to now as
> Crozier Canyon. As an assist, I would refer you to
> "The Santa Fe
> Route--Volume Four" by David Myrick. Signature
> Press is the publisher and I think it is still in
> print. Excellent reading. I have been to this area
> many times,
> but I learned a lot of things I never knew after
> reading the book.
>
> As to the locomotives in your photo, go to your
> computer search engine and put in "Burlington
> Northern Santa Fe Roster". The roster information
> is very detailed
> and will give you correct information as to every
> locomotive type in a few seconds.
>
> Thanks for posting the picture.
>
> Hermosa45

Posted from Android

This is west of Crozier Canyon and is just east of Valentine as was previously mentioned. Truxton is east of Crozier Canyon.