Re: Off Topic: Railfanning in the SouthWest

Greg (What a fantastic Name),

Good suggestions by all. In 1992 I did a video "Santa Fe 3751 Los Angeles To Chicago". Les Jarrett was my second cameraman. We would set-up between stops to have someone shoot the departures(Cause the engine worked more), and the other guy go to a decent scenic spot. We did west to east but here are some highlights I remember. The train stayed over at Belen heading east, and the next morning we shot Abo Canyon headed to Mountainaire. Lots of good stuff, but perhaps out of your way slightly.

West of Belen there is some semi-desert vista shots to be had, We shot two scenes between Gallop and Belen, before the sun went down. West of there I think we shot Holbrook(Where the Apache Connects), and in the mountain region near Flagstaff. On a different trip we shot Diablo Canyon. Best shot from the east side in the morning for best light. Rough road, but doable, and watch for snakes(Everywhere along the SF actually).

We got shots departing Seligman, and there is an overpass east of Seligman for Rt 66 which one guy (Les shot, while I got the departure from Seligman). I believe its a crew change point. We did grab some food at one of those burger places there. Some interesting RT 66 stuff there as some have mentioned, but we were blowing through. That was our longest chase day. Needles to Belen.....675 miles. We were shot!!!

There is the Colorado River Bridge which is east of Needles....again best in the morning(Needles is just west of the bridge). There is a park down below, and I think you can get something on the se side as well more elevated. West of Seligman is Crozier canyon which requires dirt roads, except where it comes out headed west. Some interesting stuff around there. Kingman Canyon is located just to the west. Take the the road to the town, and follow the Railroad. It eventually comes back to the interstate or 40(cannot remember). Not big, but a few neat shots, and I think there are two levels of track through it. Between Kingman and Needles there were a couple of interesting spots, one which I think had an older water tank from steam days(no spount or anything like that, but a big black one). Of course there is also Cajon Pass, but thats in CA as you are probably well aware.

In our America By Rail video, we had Les do a fly-over in a helicopter, for some breath-taking views of the canyon. They have rides, but not sure what the cost is. I visited there as a kid also, and found the South Rim to be sorta boring. After you see the canyon from a few vantage points it gets old. Also I hate crowds!!! There is a place where the BNSF crosses the GCRR just north of the engine house, and I think we shot 3751 there going east. There is also a nice grade eastbound from there to Flagstaff, and the scenery is more lush in that area also.

Also check google maps for details on this stuff. You can access that info with a tablet or phone while shooting the area, or better yet plot it with some detailed scouting notes before you leave.

Do a search for Harvey House towns, and SF stations. There are a few of them, but not sure which ones I can remember off hand. Lamy and Los Vegas come to mind, but I think they are on the line to KC and Santa Fe, but you could start in Trinidad and do Raton Pass(although I hear its mostly just Amtrak these days). Some neat places there, like Las Vegas Depot, Starvation peak. Its chaseable to some degree. This line still has some semaphores I believe. They were cool when we shot it in 1994 for the last America By Rail Show we did "Route of the SW Chief",

Have fun!
Greg (What a great name, eh) Scholl