Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-08-17
BY William E. Curtis


of in this country over which no
passes are issued. Everybody except
the conductor and the train crew
even the president himseif-has to
pay fare, and a round trip ticket ove
the entire system costs $3.50. The
railroad is ninety miles long. 1t has
no stations except the terminals at
williams, where it connects with the
Santa Fe, and at the Grand Canyon
of the Colorado. 1t has no side tracks
except the one to allow the trains to
pass. There are four passenger trains
a day, two in each direction, made up
of a baggage car and two coaches and
through Pullmans from Kansas City
and Los Angeles twice a week. There
are no freight trains and no freight
is carried except water and other sup
plies for the hotels at the Grand Can
yon. The road depends upon passen-
ger traffic alone. That is the reason
why passes are not given. There are
no switchmen in the employ of the
company and the pay roll carries only
twelve names, including conductors,
engineers, firemen, ticket agents and
all concerned, and the track is kept
in order by five section gangs of ten
men each. who are now rebuilding 1t
from the bottom with new ties, new
rails and ballast of volcanic cinder.
Among other curiosities of Arizona
are natural cinder pits-vast deposits
of ashes and half burned fuel, which
made things lively down here ages
ago. Nothing will grow on these de-
posits. They are as barren as the
shell of an ostrich egg, but the Gin
ders make good ballast for railway
tracks, and the railroad people tried
to buy a cinder pit which lies only a
few miles out of Williams for that
purpose. The owner got it for moth
ing from the government as a part of
a desert land claim, and for years
tried to give it away, but no one
would take it off his hands. When
he discovered that the railway COM
pany wanted the cinders for ballast,
he demanded $1,000 an acre, but fin
ally came down to $4,000 for the en-
tire tract of about forty acres. He
owns it yet. There is a moral to this
story. The railway company would
have paid him $25 or even $50 an
acre, which would have been clear
gain if he had not been so greedy
about it, but they soon found another
cinder pit only seven miles distant,
which they got for nothing.
This peculiar railroad was origin
ally built by a local corporation call
ed the Tusayan Development compa-
ny, in order to haul ore from the San
ia Anita copper mine, fifty-two miles
from Williams. The money was fur
nished by the Lombard-G oode compa-
nv pf pnCtnn NNhnp tho nina MIA UQ1
out in 1901, a receiver was appointed
and the track was extended to the
Grand Canyon, giving the public easy
access to the greatest spectacle in all
the world. There are mountains
which reach almost to the moon;
there are oceans which spread over
nearly half of the universe; there are
stars which sparkle in the heavens;
there are pyramids, palaces, nom
ments, ~cathedrals which excite W
and admiration; there are mighty riv-
ers and cataracts, but there is only
one Grand Canyon of the Colorado,
and those who have placed it within
the reach of ordinary travellers have
done the world an important service.
Formerly all the people who wanted
to see the canyon had to ride ninety
ihlAtS III Il Stage COdCH. / Hldtlt ll6 |
journey nee in a snow storm, and
when the wagon road through the for
est was covered with snow we lost
u way and wandered until half past
n O'Clock in the morning, wrapped
in blankets to keep from freezing to
death; and when we finally reached
the little tavern at the edge of the
chasm we could not wash our hands
and faces because the water in the
pitchers was frozen solid; and yet
many people think Arizona is a tropi-
cal country.
Nowadays one can ride to the can
yon in a parlor car or a Pullman
sleeper and step off the train into one
of the most picturesque and comfort
able hotels in the world. You can
come all the veal round. February
and March are the least pleasant
months, because there are apt TO be
rain or snow storms. From Septem
her Is to February l the weather is
most agreeable. but these summer
days are almost perfect-neither too
cool nor too hot. The thermometer
ranges from 65 to IS Fahrenheit.
There are several advantages in COM
ne bNh lNAt III INV NAllAAlNAH anu a |
many people are beginning 10
find them out. The altitude is 1000
feet above the sea and that insures
cool nights, no matter how warm the
days may be. But the days are not
too warm for comfort; the thermOme-
ter seldom goes above so; there is no
humidity in the atmosphere; and if
the sun is too hot all you have to do
is to raise your umbrella. There is
occasionally a freak of weather. The
snOwstOrm I'm which we were lost oc-
CURED on the goth of May, 1899, and
it is a singular coincidence that a
s0U0ll should arrive on the
very same date this year. with snow
enough fo hide the roadway through
the forest. But there is no danger
getting lost now. The trees have
been blazed on both sides of the trail
and If you stick to the railway cars
you are sure 10 bring up before Fl
Tovar hotel. three hours or so after
you leave the Santa Fe line at Will
The snow never lasts more
than a few hours. II may fall 10 a
of two on three inches during
night two or three times a year.
but as 500 as the sun comes out i'm
morning it disappears almost i'm
People are beginning 10 find their
way here Last year. which was the (
first since rhe railroad opened. about Z
81 mn -LaH- LA. q