Western Railroad Discussion > Cruds and donkeys in Arizona

Last weekend, I took advantage of the Monday holiday and took a drive with my wife and granddaughter over to Arizona. The plan was to spend the night in Kingman while going through the old mining town of Oatman on old Route 66 to see the wild burros. Not really a railfan trip but I snuck out Monday morning to the industrial park north of town to see if the Kingman Terminal was working.

1) Right away I found SW1500 1542 parked and posed for a picture. The Arizona sun has not been kind to the lettering on these ex-SP units, commonly referred to as “cruds.”

2) I soon heard a horn and it was the other KGTR unit 1541 along with FRTX 1315 MP15DC pulling out with about 25 cars.

3) Here’s a roster of the ex-CNW, ex UPY switcher lettered for Lange-Stegmann fertilizer company that was located in St. Louis. I had no idea they had this unit.    
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/21 15:57 by oyw.

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4) A close-up of the roof details on 1315, including the open rain caps. Man, these units sounded nice!

A couple of burro pictures to fill out the post.

5) I happened to have my camera in hand when a fight broke out. After this near-miss, cooler heads prevailed and they moved along.

6) As seen through my windshield, we encountered a stubborn pedestrian in the hills east of town.

We probably saw 50 BNSF trains on our drive home but nothing out of the ordinary and it was cloudy for the most part anyway. Everybody had a good time, it was a nice getaway.

OYW
 

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I was half expecting a steam donkey, not real donkey's. Nice pics! In that last image with the mobile road block, looks like there is a old mine tunnel straight ahead on the hillside.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Great pictures. Love going over to Oatman and Kingman, can't wait to go back.

Tom

Sometimes you have to get away from the mainlines and seek out the other stuff.  Switchers need their time also, even donkeys!  It's nice to see former class 1 switchers working for a new owner and in new colors.  I've actually switched with some of those MP15' s and they were nice switchers.  Glad to see that their still earning their keep.  By the way, I wouldn't want to be standing behind that donkey with an attitude.  It looks like he (or she) can pack quite a punch!

Oatman is a neat little town. Back in 1998 I was traveling with my sister and and made it a point to go there. Although it was early in the morning just after sunrise the donkeys were out and about looking for handouts. I remember my sister feeding a donut from the window to one of them.  

Nice group of some seldom-seen subjects.
GK

OYW, if you wanted to see donkeys you only have to go as far as Reche Canyon and Pigeon Pass which are between Moreno Valley and Loma Linda.
This is in Southern California for those who want to know.

We have over 1500 too many donkeys and BLM is both moving them and giving them to good homes. They'll stand in the
middle of the road and wait for a handout which is not a good idea on Bullhead Parkway, things do happen.

Out 

Down in Riverside County in the Redlands area the UP RR has to contend with the Donkeys as seen here on Aug 2nd 2016 as the WB Rock Train makes it's way towards Loma Linda .

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A very creative trip endeed.  Really nice to see the end cab switchers.  A few years ago on our west trip we drove old 66 Kingman to Topoc and went through Oatman.  Saw the donkeys at several locations and was especially surprised at some points how winding and narrow the roadway was.  Thanks for showing the donkeys also.
Brian Stevens

Neat series with no Orange or Yellow!

oyw Wrote:
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> 5) I happened to have my camera in hand when a
> fight broke out. After this near-miss, cooler
> heads prevailed and they moved along.

Great timing!

> 6) As seen through my windshield, we encountered a
> stubborn pedestrian in the hills east of town.

Giving you the stink eye!  Did you see a fake gunfight?  Oatman is the only town I've been in where a shopkeeper has said, "Excuse me.  I have to close up shop and go shoot a man."

mapboy

 

4th of July at Oatman is a trip onto itself! And yah, it's hard to believe that "Ancient 66" used to be the main road East,
oh I'm sorry "Historic 66". 

Out

Thanks for the pics...

mapboy Wrote:
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> Did you see a fake
> gunfight?  Oatman is the only town I've been in
> where a shopkeeper has said, "Excuse me.  I have
> to close up shop and go shoot a man."
>
It was fake? Damn!

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PHall Wrote:

> OYW, if you wanted to see donkeys you only have to
> go as far as Reche Canyon and Pigeon Pass which
> are between Moreno Valley and Loma Linda.

Oh, he knows.  Trust me. ;^)

 

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