Bobby Troup called out Flagstaff, Ariz., in “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” and railfans will too. The city of 65,000 is surrounded by ponderosa pines and flanked by the San Francisco Peaks. At 7,000 feet, Flagstaff offers comfortable summers, snowy winters, and fall colors. The city is home to BNSF’s Seligman Subdivision, part of the former Santa Fe Railway “Transcon,” and up to 100 trains blast through town each day, including intermodal, unit grain, and manifests. Santa Fe predecessor Atlantic & Pacific arrived in summer 1882, and the city’s popularity soared as a base for hiking, camping, skiing, and visiting nearby national parks.
TRAIN WATCHING
For a relaxed place to watch BNSF freights, go to downtown Flagstaff. BNSF still uses the 1889 ex-Atlantic & Pacific stone depot. Next door is the 1926 former Santa Fe depot in Tudor Revival-style, which serves Amtrak and is also a visitors’ center. Amtrak’s daily Southwest Chief stops here in the early morning (eastbound) and late evening (westbound). An astronomical observatory, Lowell Observatory on Mars Hill, just west of downtown, offers unique photo angles. A short drive outside of town in either direction delivers spectacular views of BNSF from Route 66. East of Flagstaff, the old highway follows the double-tracked main line to Winona/Darling, where you can capture eastbounds framed by the San Francisco Peaks. Also east is the Nestlé Purina plant, served by a Flagstaff-Winslow local. West of Flagstaff, trains cross the Arizona Divide through 30 miles of forests to Williams, paralleling Interstate 40. Northern Arizona is also home to three historic railroads: Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Verde Canyon Railroad in Clarkdale, and Apache Railway in Holbrook. Don’t forget to visit the Harvey House, La Posada, in Winslow.
RAILROAD FREQUENCIES
BNSF: 160.935, Seligman Subdivision (E. Seligman-Winslow); 160.335, PBX Seligman Subdivision (Flagstaff)
FOR YOUR FAMILY
Your family will enjoy downtown Flagstaff’s historic retail district: shops, restaurants, galleries, coffee houses, and micro-breweries. Nearby Sedona offers shopping, arts and culture, and outdoor sports. Three national parks are less than two hours away: the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest. Monument Valley is three hours away on the Arizona-Utah border. Go to www.flagstaffarizona.org.
The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce used to have a "Downtown Cam" that you could move to see the mainline at Beaver Street just by the depot and the Beaver street Brewery! They really need to reactivate that camera…PLEASE!!
Why do the tracks on the main line deviate from the tangent? I notice some clearance where the tracks may have formerly followed a direct course.
Is that a historical structure where the railroad tracks are bumped out around that barn looking building?
To the west of town towards Williams, at the Parks interchange of I-40, go south a quarter mile to the BNSF main line, which is called Main on the railroad. At the public road crossing you get great shots of trains coming off the Arizona Divide with the mountains as backdrop and to the west, they are in full throttle as they climb up to the grade crossing.
I always enjoy going to Flagstaff, although just a trifle less since a city ordinance was put into effect prohibiting train horns at the crossings!