Passenger Trains > Grand Canyon Railway first Polar Express of the season

On the first day of the cross country car trip (Long Beach CA to Greensboro NC via I-40), we drove from my house directly to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to see the sunset.  We then retreated back to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams AZ for the night.  We then rode the GCR to and from the canyon on Wednesday November 17, 2021.  No photos on this post of that, but after our train was backed out of the station, we headed back to the car at which time I heard a BNSF train.  I trotted back to trackside in time to capture the frieght passing and then noticed another GCRy train pulling in.  It happened to be the first Polar Express train of the season.  Here are two photos.  Second post will be 2 photos of GCRy 4128 and decoratons.

1) BNSF 7728 eastbound from Phoenix passing GCRy Williams station iwth GCRy 4128 pulling in. Sorry about photo quality as these were grab shots after sunset.

2) CP 8623 in the consist meeting GCRy 4128.

Terrapin Station

"Beat it on Down the Line"

"Well this job I've got is just a little too hard,
Running out of money, lord, I need more pay.
Gonna wake up in the morning lord, gonna pack my bags,
I'm gonna beat it on down the line.
..."

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Nice Shots!  Was wondering when they were going to start.  Looks like it is time to to re-adjust our Radiofeed for the area. :)

Christi

RailFanAZ - RailFanning BNSF & UP
AZ, CA, NM, TX
RailFanAZ.com

GCRy Polar Express locomotive 4128 at Williams AZ November 17, 2021.

I haven't much planned after returning to Greensboro later today and will try to post some photos from work in the Port of Long Beach earlier this month.

Regards,
Terrapin Station

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Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I thought the BNSF line had been rerouted away from Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams Junction out in the middle of nowhere.

MattW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I thought
> the BNSF line had been rerouted away from
> Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams
> Junction out in the middle of nowhere.

I think the Peavine (Phoenix line) goes through Williams.

Dave

Pictured freight train is a train on the Phoenix line.  BNSF mainline goes a few miles north of Williams on the Crookton Cutoff build by ATSF in the 60s.  

MattW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I thought
> the BNSF line had been rerouted away from
> Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams
> Junction out in the middle of nowhere.

The Peavine does go through Williams and connects Phoenix to the transcon.  The Southwest Chief no longer stops at Williams.  

Nice pics, might take the offer a lady named Ann offered me a few weeks ago about giving that train a shot just to enjoy it, I might do it might not, depends on finances!

Regarding the reroute of the Santa Fe at Crookton, from this point one can trace 2 different old railroad grades.  One is marked Old Santa Fe Railroad bed and the other is Gleed Station Road.  They eventually cross and warp back into the same old alignment a few miles west of Ash Fork.   The wye at Ash Fork was removed and is still visible on aerial imagery.  It was visible and obvious from the Grand Canyon Limited train of 2012 which was pulled by the 3751.

MattW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I thought
> the BNSF line had been rerouted away from
> Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams
> Junction out in the middle of nowhere.

The Amtrak stop at Williams Junction was discontinued several years ago; I expect mainly because it was the middle of the night eastbound and frequently late westbound.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MattW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I
> thought
> > the BNSF line had been rerouted away from
> > Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams
> > Junction out in the middle of nowhere.
>
> The Amtrak stop at Williams Junction was
> discontinued several years ago; I expect mainly
> because it was the middle of the night eastbound
> and frequently late westbound.

My understanding is that the reason was the shuttle provided by the contract service company operating the Grand Canyon park and hotels and such discontinued it. It was not an Amtrak decision. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Junction_station

jst3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cumbresfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > MattW Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Great pictures! The BNSF surprises me, I
> > thought
> > > the BNSF line had been rerouted away from
> > > Williams, hence why the SWC calls at Williams
> > > Junction out in the middle of nowhere.
> >
> > The Amtrak stop at Williams Junction was
> > discontinued several years ago; I expect mainly
> > because it was the middle of the night
> eastbound
> > and frequently late westbound.
>
> My understanding is that the reason was the
> shuttle provided by the contract service company
> operating the Grand Canyon park and hotels and
> such discontinued it. It was not an Amtrak
> decision. 
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Junction_st
> ation

Discontinuance of the Williams Jct. stop occured 1/1/2018, and is discussed at length here:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4455932,page=1

Short version of the story is that GCR no longer wanted to provide the shuttle service and accommodate Amtrak passengers, in the wee hours, at its facilities.

https://www.williamsnews.com/news/2017/sep/26/grand-canyon-railway-discontinue-amtrak-shuttle-se/

 

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA