You Can't Get Lost - Day 17

 WooWoo!  Today was train day.  I've been looking forward to this since I learned about the Grand Canyon Railway the last time Sally and I were here, 2010ish? or so.  That is the reason for the stop in Williams, AZ instead of Flagstaff (for the Lowell Observatory and the 24" Clark Refractor telescope [which Lowell used to map the canals on Mars.]).  

The original train its first scheduled run on September 17, 1901.  It was The way to travel during the early 20th century, but by the 1960s, cars became more common and the preferred way to go.  The train made its last run on June 30, 1968.  Its equipment was sold, but the tracks still remained.  In 1989, Max Biegert decided that train travel was becoming popular again and started rebuilding the railway.  Locomotives and cars were located around the country and were brought here to be restored and put into service.  They can do all the restoration here in Williams.  

Trains leave the station at 9:30 and 10:30 in the morning.  They start the trip with a wild west show, a marshal and three outlaws, some horses and pistols with blanks (one hopes).  I think the primary reason for the show is to keep the people on the later train from crowding the loading platform for the earlier train. After the show, we boarded the train.  I opted for the "fancy" observation car on the way up and the "fancy" club car on the way back.  These were the last two cars on the train.

View of the train from the observation platform on the back of the club car.

The observation car was the Mary Colter.  Mary Colter was the architect hired by Fred Harvey to design a number of his hotels.  At the Grand Canyon, she did not design the El Tovar exterior, but she did the interior design.  And she designed the Hopi House.

A problem with an observation car like that is that it can get really hot on hot sunny days. It wasn't a problem today and was a comfortable way to see a lot of the countryside.   Being the geek I am, I bought the book that described things to see by mileposts.  Unfortunately, I was seated on the side away from the milepost signs, so I had to keep trying to identify features and then compare them to the descriptions in the book.  

When we got to the railyard at the Grand Canyon, we had to go through the process of reversing the train by driving into a wye, switching tracks, backing up, switching tracks again and then backing into the depot.  The guide book had maps of the Williams and the Grand Canyon yards, so I was able to follow what we were doing by following the maps.  

Anyway, when you get out at the depot, you take a walkway up about 50 feet and then you walk out to this great big hole in the ground.  Unless you are me, of course, and I walked directly into the El Tovar hotel and made a reservation for lunch.  Then I went out to the edge.  I remember the feeling I had when I saw it the first time.  It looks like a painted backdrop for a movie scene.  It really doesn't look real.  The only thing that gives you any scale at all is seeing a section of the Bright Angel trail which is only half way down to the river, which you cannot see at all.  You can see the trail in these four pictures.

What I wanted to see was the El Tovar hotel, the prime jewel in the Fred Harvey hotel chain.  It was constructed using local limestone and timber logs brought in by the railroad from Oregon!

Two front views of the El Tovar, the main dining room and the view from the depot.  

The trip back to Williams was in the club car.  This was the Max Biegert, named after the founder of the restoration of the railway.  The club cars were always the fanciest cars on the train and this one is no exception.  The chairs are not the bench chairs of the other cars, but upholstered and set up for one or two passengers to sit facing across the center aisle.  

Mine was the empty chair in front, which was the last chair on the train, and next to the rear platform.  Which was where I spent most of my time.  From there, I could see the milepost signs and follow with the milepost book.  

So, what did I eat for lunch at the El Tovar?  A Navajo taco and a creme brule from desert.  Hey, you got to go with the flow....I just ate a salad for dinner, I'm still stuffed.  

It's 32 degrees out now, and the mattress pad on the bed is warm.  Have a good sleep!