Western Railroad Discussion > Quick visit to Arizona

I made a quick visit to Arizona over the weekend and checked off a few boxes I had been wanting to get to.

1-3) Apache RS-36 800 in its final resting place on the grounds of the Navajo County Historical Society museum at the corner of Navajo Blvd. and Buffalo St., at least until it's devoured by a ravenous dinosaur.  The locomotive doesn't show in Google's aerial or streetview imagery yet: https://maps.app.goo.gl/D4aBjsNSsipKqaQNA

See also: 
https://www.tribunenewsnow.com/articles/featured-stories/locomotive-becomes-new-attraction-at-historic-navajo-county-courthouse/
https://railfan.com/apache-railway-donates-rare-alco-rs-36/

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4-6) There are two notable bridges on the ex-Santa Fe main line between Winslow and Flagstaff, AZ.  Canyon Diablo is the better known, but 5.6 miles further west is another, shallower gorge through the bedrock called Padre Canyon.  The railroad bridge across Padre Canyon isn't as tall or as interesting as Diablo, and it's also harder to drive to, but getting off at Twin Arrows, driving around the casino, and onto the dirt road that's a bit less awful than the one to Canyon Diablo got me close enough to send the drone over for a look.  BNSF obliged with a couple of westbounds, the first of which had more CSX power than BNSF.  Nice to see blue and yellow on this line - albeit not quite the right kind.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/fEo9bfUnM3e1yPeg6

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7) I decided to take old US-66 between Seligman and Kingman, stopping at Pica to photograph the trio of old railroad water tanks.  BNSF was very generous with trains on November 9, and I decided to try a bit of drone video plus audio provided by an external recorder.  I didn't think out the positioning of the drone relative to the recorder very well, so the recorder ended up a lot closer to the crossing, and syncing train's passage makes it sound like the engineer didn't time his crossing horn sequence very well.  Trust me, it was by the book.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/SWTTn8grkspcqivEA

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8) I brought the drone down, turned off the recorder, and only then heard BNSF 8121 West sneaking up behind me.  There wasn't time to get everything back up again, but now that I had a westbound in hand, I decided to race over to Crozier Canyon between Truxton and Valentine, AZ to see what could be d(r)one there.  This first view looks over the top of the short canyon at 8121 West passing under the new flyover at Truxton.  The smoke plume on the horizon is from a fire burning some distance northeast of Pica.

9) The trees in the bottom of Crozier Canyon were just starting to turn - looks like it will be a nice show in another week or so.

10) While the drone was over the canyon, I was perched on the hillside along old 66 just to the west, standing in the footprints of countless thousands of other railfans before me. https://maps.app.goo.gl/55YMUApB6sZkFWEZ6

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11) I was surprised and pleased to see that the Santa Fe water tank at Hackberry was still standing, a bit more weathered than the last time I saw it in the 1990's.

12) Crossing the Colorado River back into California as sunset was approaching, I decided to try a ground-level shot of a BNSF train passing the Calfornia welcome sign just east of Needles.  Might have to try the drone here some other time to put a bit more separation between the train and the sign.

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Great set of photos, and good to see something totally different.

Those are some great angles. I wonder if you can get on that rocky hill by the Truxton flyover seen in your photo.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Very nice bunch, but, $3.09!!!! as Charlie Brown would say aarrrgggggghhhhh! Just paid $2.27 in TX. Assume you droned into Crozier and not drove? I don't believe I have ever seen a shot of the "other" bridge down the line from Diablo? Great job. And Ted, yes, the same road you take into Crozier but left instead of right.
JB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/25 06:00 by 3rdswitch.

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Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> 10) While the drone was over the canyon, I was
> perched on the hillside along old 66 just to the
> west, standing in the footprints of countless
> thousands of other railfans before me.
> 
As one of the thousands that left their footprints at this spot, i really liked and appreciated this shot.  The rest of them were also very nice.  Thanks for posting.  

Nick Tharalson,
Mrion, IA

Thanks for the views of the smaller bridge west of Canyon Diablo.  I don't know why, but I always thought it was a smaller version of the Diablo steel arch.  Nice to know that it's not; I've thought of going back there some time but probably won't put in the effort now.

Andy

Fantastic photos !!

Great series, some really nice photos.

Tom

Excellent report and great photos/video Evan! Last month, Mike and I spent a few days in Arizona around Parker and Kingman as well.

Great stuff Evan, well done amigo!
Bryan

That first photo reached out and grabbed my attention !

Awesome series!

Very nice group!
GK

Great shots, 2 dinosaurs facing off in that 1st shot! ;-)

Good shots Evan.upkpfan

funnelfan Wrote:
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> Those are some great angles. I wonder if you can
> get on that rocky hill by the Truxton flyover seen
> in your photo.

That land is public land owned by a rancher so yes it is accessible. The only worry is the crazy guy near the crossover who shoots his guns in the direction of railfans