Day 3: For conventioneers participating in the Verde Canyon Railroad trip, day 3 of the convention started early with departure from behind the Williams, AZ depot at 7:30 am for the 2 hour bus ride to Clarksdale. The day was bright and sunny though and convention star AT&SF #3751 shone beautifully in the warm morning sun as she rested at the depot.

Our trip to Verde Canyon took us alongside I-40 East towards Flagstaff; as our caravan of buses paralleed the BNSF mainline, maintenance of way and eastbound freight trains dotted the right of way. Near Flagstaff we exited I-40 for a trip through the Oaks Canyon; after a brief scenic photo stop in Sedona, we rolled into Clarksdale at the Verde Canyon Depot about 9:30.

Because of drought conditions which Arizona has been suffering from for about three years, there were to be no photo run-bys enroute on the railroad due to the danger of fire. However, Grand Canyon Chapter worked with the Verde Canyon Railroad to arrange an "in the station" photo run-by at slow speed that still gave folks a time to take pictures of the Verde Canyon's locomotive set, which includes two EMD FP7's painted in a beautiful aqua and white paint scheme with an eagle adornging the front of both sides.

Passengers boarding our chartered train had two pre-selected choices for accommodations, coach seating or first-class seating. All passengers were able to enjoy the use of the five open top, open air observation cars. Our train pulled from the depot at 10:00 for it's four hour, rambling, low speed journey into the Arizona wilderness.

Our forty mile round-trip from Clarkdale to Perkinsville begins at milepost 38 along the former line of the forty mile Santa Fe, Prescott, and & Phoenix Railroad (later Santa Fe), and was built between 1911 & 1912 to connect Clarkdale and the copper smelter there with the Santa Fe Mainline at Drake. The original line was built at a cost of $600,000.00.

Our train snaked along the eastern wall of the stepped valley as we descended gradually down to the Verde river's edge. The scenery was breathtaking. Along the way our on-board narrator, Clay Miller, described the history of the valley and the railroad, and pointed out many points of interest, played music, and sang songs about Arizona's natural beauty and wonder. Cave dwellings, bald and golden eagle nests, and even an abandoned dynamite storage facility were readily available from the train. At milespost 22.5 the train passed through a 680 foot tunnel.

Our vintage FP7 locomotives powering the train, #1510 & 1512, two of only 12 remaining FP7 locomotives in North America, provided ample power for the train; their rhythmic & distinctive cadence, and occassional "gurgle", was often heard as we ascended the grades of the line. At Perkinsville they were run around the train and connected to the rear-end; thus we we made the return to Clarkdale with the rear of the train now at the front.

On-board passengers ate a light southwestern fare lunch as they took in the scenery. Most folks spent much of the trip in the open air cars, though everyone took a break inside the air conditioned coaches from the 96 degree heat occassionally.

As always, an NRHS convention brings together a variety of diverse people from wide and varied locations. Jill and Dona, two sisters from Detroit, Michigan, who were riding the train because they "like train travel, are able to do things they could not do when they were younger, and are always able to learn something new." And there was Michele, who hails from Paris, France with an avid love of trains. Steve Rippeteau and his wife Linda, from Ft. Madison, Iowa, were also spotted aboard snapping pictures of the train and Verde Valley and taking a break from their other convention duties. Steve is a BNSF conductor and as a member of the #3751 steam crew is working on all the convention excursions involving that locomotive. And, as shown at the right, Richard Tankersley, of White Marsh, Maryland, was standing in an open air car "enjoying the beautiful scenery."

Our train returned to Clarksdale about 1:50 pm in the afternoon; a second station photo-runby was provided for those who were interested. Most though, took advanage of the gift shop and then headed for the air-conditioned buses for our two hour journey back to Williams.

Train Consist :

Train consist for the trip is below (front to back):

EMD FP7 1510 (formerly Alaska RR)
EMD FP7 1512 (formerly Alaska RR)
Power Car VCRR #110
Scottsdale
Santa Fe Bell
Prescott (Open Air)
Wickenberg
Flagstaff
Camp Verde (Open Air)
Sedona
Mesa (Open Air)
Cottonwood
Clarkdale (Open Air)
Tuscon

* All photos by J. Lilly, Dir. of Internet Services, NRHS