Ted and Sylvia Blishak write

the Leisure Rail column for

Passenger Train Journal

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Information below is reprinted by permission of the publisher, White River Productions, Inc.  www.whiteriverproductions.com

Clarkdale, Ariz., May 5 2007:

"It's not the destination, it's the journey."  That's the idea behind our LeisureRail column—and also the slogan for the Verde Canyon Railroad. You've probably seen magazine photos of the railroad's pair of blue-green FP7 diesels with huge eagles painted on the sides. Built by EMD in 1953, the duo originally rumbled over the tracks of the Alaska Railroad. By 1988, they were hauling freight on the Wyoming-Colorado Railroad. Locomotives 1510 and 1512—two of only about a dozen FP7s still in service in North America—then joined the VCRR in 1997.

In spite of its obscure location in Clarkdale, Ariz., this tourist and freight railroad is a going concern, carrying about 90,000 passengers a year. A large, attractive building houses the depot, gift shop, and reservation center, along with managerial and freight services. A museum and cafe are also on the property. The railroad promotes special-occasion trains for various holidays and seasons with colorful brochures for each one; there are star-gazing trips, fall color trips, a Fire-Cracker Express on Independence Day, and today, for Cinco de Mayo, there are mariachis performing in the large landscaped plaza, and margaritas and Mexican snacks on board.

The company produces a slick, 40-page color magazine full of history and photos, including six previous paint jobs—faithfully recorded by photographer Alan Miller—that the locomotives have displayed during their colorful history.

The VCRR's Wilderness Route excursion train starts at the base of a steep mountainside, with the former copper mining town of Jerome perched precariously a couple of miles above the station. The train's 17-car consist includes eight first-class cars, seven open-air viewing cars, two coaches, and a luxury-class caboose available for private charter.

Although the mines are now closed, they were once richly productive. Since rail transportation was needed to move the copper out, tracks were laid in this once bustling, but now peaceful, location. Back in 1911, it was somehow possible for 250 men, using picks and shovels, 200 mules, and black powder explosives to lay 38 miles of track, including tunnels and two high trestles, through this rugged terrain in one year.

We climb aboard the first-class railcar Sedona. It has a living-room-like Southwestern decor with luxurious suede love seats next to a coffee table. Murals and stencils are unique to each car's interior, one featuring a cowboy theme, another cactus, and one with native petroglyphs. To save the switching costs of pulling each car in turn out of the consist, artists Rhinehart and Drayton were asked to do the painting while the train was rolling. They soon learned which parts to paint while in motion, and which finer details had to be done while stopped. With this moving experience under their belts, they claim that they can do anything. "We hope our next big job is Air Force One," chuckles Rhinehart.

These cars are advertised as "climate controlled," and in warmer weather, when the average high in July and August reaches a sizzling 100 degrees, the power car (generator) keeps the interiors 15 or 20 degrees below the out­side temperature. Today we alternate by cooling off in the chilly open-air cars and warming up in the stuffy atmosphere inside which the ceiling fans can't quite make comfortable.
Even in the openair cars it is difficult to take in all the rock formations, river cascades, and blooming wildflowers—sort of like a three-ring circus where you're never quite caught up with the show.

The train begins its trek past a gigantic black slag heap of copper mine tailings. On the mountainside with its many layers of ancient sediment hardened into rocks of livid red, black, or buff colors, ruins of some thousand-year-old cave dwellings once inhabited by Sinagua Indians appear about a quarter of a mile above the canyon floor.

One of our car attendants offers a complementary margarita, then opens the snack buffet and the cash bar. There are at least three happy staff members on hand, so someone is always available to clean up empty plates or answer questions.

After the first mile or so, the distinctive, throaty sounds of the FP7 locomotives accompany the train's entry into completely unpopulated wilderness; no roads, power wires, or buildings break the spell for miles. The steep-sided Verde Creek Canyon is lush with trees, wildflowers, yucca, and blooming cactus.

Called Arizona's "Other Grand Canyon" this, unlike the more famous one, is viewed not from the top down, but from the bottom up. The crystal-clear air is tempered by weather patterns which lend constant variety—a squall of hail pours out of the clouds like a waterfall; there is an occasional grumble of thunder and some sprinkles of rain mixed with the sunshine.

Passing over a heavy steel-truss bridge, the Wilderness Route train reaches the ghost town of Perkinsville, which brings half of the railroads slogan, "It's not the destination..." to mind. Although located in a beautiful bucolic setting where cattle graze, deserted Perkinsville's only claim to fame is that some scenes from the movie "How the West was Won" were shot here in the 1960s.

The two vintage locomotives are uncoupled here to run around the train on a siding and hook up to the other end. They will then pull us back to Clarkdale as we munch on ice­cream sandwiches.

The tracks, used for freight by the Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad, continue another 18 miles to Drake, junction with the former Santa Fe secondary line linking the transcon main at Ash Fork to Phoenix. CAC trains transport raw materials for cement into to a plant called the Salt River Materials Group, and bring the finished product back out.

Dave Durbano, the absentee-owner of the entire line, purchased it, he says, "...sight-un­seen, based on freight figures alone... When I made my first trip through the canyon, I was awestruck at the natural beauty and undisturbed wilderness... I knew others would want to see the Verde Canyon in this same, unique way..."

To get to Clarkdale with an Amtrak and Hertz car combination, as we did, you'll get off the Southwest Chief at Flagstaff, 45 miles away. Your rental car keys will be waiting at the station when Amtrak's Southwest Chief arrives— or, as they claim, whenever it arrives. We took scenic Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona, past rocky spires and into a mountainous high-desert landscape.

Advance reservations are required. The railroad has arranged Room & Ride packages with various hotels in surrounding areas, including Sedona. For a list, visit www.verdecanyonrr.com or call the reservation line at 1-800-293-7245.

In the next issue of passenger train journal, LeisureRail will feature the Grand Canyon Railway, including the company's new owner and its newest steam locomotive. You may reach us at accentontravel@juno.com, or call us at 1-541-885-7333.

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