Winslow, Arizona - Transportation Hub of the Western U.S.?

When you hear Winslow, Arizona it is very hard to not hear the song "Take it Easy" by the Eagles running through your head. If your anything like me you imagine them referring to some tiny desert town, with a few houses and stores, and tumbleweed blowing down the street. When you actually see Winslow though you find it's a lot different then you had expected. 

Winslow has the honor of not only being a Route 66 town, but also the district headquarters of the Santa Fe, now BNSF. This meant that Winslow was not only visited by Route 66 travelers, but had such iconic Santa Fe trains as The Super Chief, and El Capitan pass through daily. One could only imagine that in the 1940's through early 60's between Route 66 and the daily precession of Santa Fe passenger trains, Winslow was a busseling travel mecca. 

But did you know Winslow also has passenger aviation history as well? This fact was bought to public intetest thanks to a traveling exhibit that the Smithsonian, in conjunction with the Winslow Old Trails Museum, and La Posada Hotel, bought to Winslow last week as part of its "Journey Stories" tour. One of the exhibits and lectures made the world  aware of this forgotten part of Winslow's and avaitions history. The TAT or Transcontinental Air Transport airline came to being in 1928, flying its first flights in 1929 offering a hybrid of air and rail transport to deliver passengers from New York to LA or San Francisco in 48 hours. 

Winslow was a fueling stop on the second air leg of the westbound trip. But by no means was Winslow nothing more then a runway and a fuel tank. The airport itself was state of the art at the time designed by Charles Lindbergh, giving the airport part of its name Winslow-Lindbergh. 

Sadly, the TAT was short lived and after an accident a few months after the first flights TAT was forced to emerge with other airlines that would eventually became TWA. By the mid-1930's non-stop passenger travel also became more prevalent, especially with the development of the sturdy DC-3 by Douglas in the late 1930's. This meant that Winslow not being a major city was bypassed by most major airlines, however the airport lived on serving the military in World War 2 as a USAAF Transport base. The airport still serves general aviation, US Forest Service fire planes, and occasionally some military. 

It's interesting to note that between Route 66, Santa Fe's operations, and the potential of the TAT Winslow was in fact a Western travel hub in 1929. I would have to suggest definitely spending time in Winslow if you can, make sure to stop by and see the Old Trails Museum, and the La Posada which is worth staying and/or eating at. I would have to suggest seeing both since you can learn all about Winslows place in transportation history from both places,since they work hand and hand with each other to present a complete picture. If you in to train watching or your kids are, Winslow has a lot to offer as well. 

 TAT Ford Tri-motor flown by Charles Lindbergh. 

I'll cover the TAT more in future blog postings

Boron a Town of Ghosts & Legacy's: Part 1 - Legacy of The Chief

A small Mojave Desert town witnesses the legacy of American transportation history. 

40 miles West of Barstow is the town of Boron, CA. In late summer through early fall the nights are beautiful. The temps stay in about the mid-70's, the gentle desert breeze creates music in the windchimes, and there are no Mosquitos for several hundred miles. The nights are perfect for sitting outside and having a great conversation over a few glasses of wine, or just gazing at the stars. 

The only thing that interupts these quiet nights are the sounds of BNSF frieght trains pushing through town a few times an hour. After a while even that becomes part of that ambient environment, and the rumble of trains seem natural and missed  after they pass. 

From the porch of my wife's childhood home, one can look accross a 1/2 mile of desert and see the trains pass. Sometimes as you sit there, especially at night, your imagination allows you to hear what these tracks where 60 plus years before as steam locomotives made their way down these stretches. You can hear the whistles blow, and the chuffs of steam, and see the glow of the fireboxes in the still desert night. You can imagine the outline of a 2-10-4 Texas, pulling an endless stream of box cars in your minds eye. 

You see as middle of nowhere and as far from civilization and history this little desert town may seem, the town itself has many stories to tell. This little nowhere town has a history that in many ways should make it well known, yet it lies forgotten. You see in Boron, the roads, the tracks, and the sky all have a story to tell. Boron is a town of ghosts and legacy's in 20th century American history. 

The tracks running through Boron have a particularly captivating history. Currently these tracks serve a very busy BNSF route between the Barstow Yards and the Bay Area, as well as serving a lively spur to US Borax mining operations nearby. But the interesting facts about these tracks is that until 1971 these tracks saw Santa Fe passenger operations. 

Such trains as the San Francisco Chief, The Navajo, and The Grand Canyon all traveled this route on their way North through the Tehachapis and on to the San Francisco Bay Area. I can only imagine what it must have been like to pass through the tunnels and grades of thr Tehachapi mountains, and than the famous Tehachapi Loop as a passenger on one of these trains. 

Although the bulk of Santa Fe's passenger trains headed to Los Angeles, Santa Fe knew that the San Francisco market was competitive, and lucrative. Passenger service to San Francisco gave Santa Fe access to the surrounding cities of the Bay Area and Northern California beyond. The San Francisco Chief was Santa Fe's luxury answer to the City of San Francisco a luxury liner jointly opetated by the Union Pacific, Chicago Northwestern  and Southern Pacific, and the jointly operated California Zypher shared between the CB&Q, Western Pacific, and D&RG. Santa Fe was obviously hoping the brand value of The Super Chief would carry over to the name on the San Francisco Chief when the luanched the service in 1954, which obviously it did since the train discontinued service in 1971 with all other Santa Fe passenger operations.

The Navajo was meant to serve a similar role as the El Capitan did on the Los Angeles route as an all coach consist, and The Grand Canyon was to serve a mixed consist aimed at Grand Canyon tourism and the Santa Fe/Fred Harvey operations nearby. 

As in the cases of most passenger trains the town of Boron probably saw each of these trains twice a day, one Eastbound, the other Westbound. I try to imagine what it must have been like for this small town to see the Warbonnet livery, and gleaming consist of silver stainless steel passenger cars flying through the town. You have to ask what stories could be told, and if and when the trains made flag-stops to pick up town residents. 

I could only imagine what a thrill it would have been to stand on the porch of my wife's childhood home, or from the patio of Domingo's Restaurant in town and see these trains go by. To see the desert sun shining off the cars and thier windows, and watching the train disappear accross the flat desert beyond. 

To its residents of Boron the mere fact that these silver luxury liners passed through town every day must have made them feel like the center of the world at that time. Today though there are no reminders of that era, no connection to those gleaming daily visitors. What are left behind are the ghosts of Santa Fe's passenger train heydays, and the legacy of its operations in today's BNSF traffic through the town. 

But remember I said the roads and sky had a story to tell here too, and I will tell them in postings to come.