The wife and I are think of going to the Grand Canyon this spring. Neither of us have ever been there, so I'm wondering if there are any good train things to see/do in the Grand Canyon/Williams area. We'd probably go to Las Vegas as well for a day. We're already going to ride the GCR when we're there, so yes, we have that covered.
Any advice on things to see in the area would be greatly appreciated. Anything well outside of that area I'm talking about (like the Tucson area , for example) would not be helpful as we won't have a lot of time to travel outside of the area between Las Vegas and the Canyon.
Thanks!

If I remember the roads correctly, you hit I-40 at Kingman. Kingman has a really nice park loco, and there is a canyon just West of town that offers some wonderful photo opportunities. The town also offers the Route 66 museum.

The Kingman depot still stands, and there is a good Mexican restaurant just across the street from the depot.

Between Kingman and Williams you follow the ATSF mainline... Lots of action.

The depot area in Williams is textbook Fred Harvey, as is the depot at the canyon.

This is a bit off topic but it reminded me of my experience riding the Grand Canyon Railway a few years back.

My wife had a convention in Vegas of which I decided to tag along to take advantage of a free hotel stay.

On one of her few days off, she reluctantly agrees to do the Grand Canyon train thingy.

We wake up bright and early 5:30 in the morning (God bless her) and are soon on our way for the 3+ hour drive to Williams.

Foolishly thinking we're flush with time we round the bend and begin to cross over the top of Hoover Dam.

While admiring the early morning sun and sky, I casually happen to notice the time zone marker denoting Pacific/Mountain time.

It is then and there that I have one of those epiphany "oh s$#t" moments.

We are no longer on schedule, but rather and hour behind our departure time.

Needless to say the gas pedal found the floor real quick and we just managed to make the train.

We had a great time, but next time, I'll be sure to remember the hour time difference.

On the way to Vegas, save time to swing through Boudler City (next to the dam) and the railroad museum there.

http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums ... ity/rr.htm

Rob

Vote for Randy's suggestion. The park engine in Kingman is ATSF 3759, sister to 3751. Great photo ops in Kingman Canyon of today's BNSF traffic crossing bridges marked "Santa Fe." Also a good call on the time difference. AZ doesn't do the daylight saving thing. If it's after next weekend, I think your OK.

While in Kingman make sure you visit two museums located within a block or two of the 4-8-4.

One is a typical local history musuem, it has a wooden Santa Fe caboose on display and has information on a "favorite son" of the community -- the actor Andy Devine who has a major road in town named for him.

The other is a museum about Route 66 and the people who traveled it. This museum is located in an old powerhouse next to the railroad.

At Henderson, Nevada, between Las Vegas and Boulder City, there is the Clark County (Southern Nevada) Museum. At this museum you will find the relocated Boulder City station, along with a UP 0-6-0, box car, caboose, and even a "Harriman" steel coach. The museum is located along the old Boulder Highway and minutes from the newer freeway.

The museum has a nicely-done, not unexpected prepared exhibit on the natural plants and animals of the area and of the native americans.

But one of the nicest thing in the museum is the "Heritage Street." This has relocated houses and a few commercial structures from Las Vegas, Henderson and other southern Nevada sites.

See the website for the Clark County Museum

Williams, AZ, has the Canyon Caboose B&B with 2 ATSF steel waycars that they rent as overnight accommodations, 1-800-482-3935. Roger

Canyon Caboose web site: http://thegrandcanyon.com/canyoncaboose/

It ain't en route between Vegas and Williams, but I can recommend the Verde Canyon RR between Clarkdale and Drake. Spectacular canyon railroading, if you can ignore the unorthodox rolling stock they use.

Flagstaff has two nice steam locomotives on display, and three brewpubs within walking distance of the downtown depot.

In Prescott you'll find a nicely restored station, an 0-4-0T at the Sharlot Hall Museum, and the still-inexplicable-to-me sight of a couple stainless steel cars atop a former steel-truss bridge.

The "Peavine" between Williams and Phoenix supposedly sees two to three round trips a day from the BNSF, with some spectacular trestles at Hell Canyon, Little Hell Canyon, and elsewhere. Easy to get to. On the old ATSF main, there's Canyon Diablo Bridge near the Meteor Crater, Crozier Canyon, etc.

If you're truly adventuresome, buy or borrow "Santa Fe to Phoenix" or any of the other books by Myrick on the railroads of Arizona. There are lots of fascinating old rights-of-way worth exploring via Jeep or suitable 4WD SUV (warning: you had better be or be with an experienced off-road driver--I made these trips with official Yavapai County search-and-rescue team members in Jeep Cherokees).