From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former train station in Williams Junction, Coconino County, Arizona
Williams Junction station
was an
Amtrak
train station
on the
Southwest Chief
route, located three miles (4.8 km) southeast of
Williams, Arizona
in the
Kaibab National Forest
. The station primarily served passengers travelling to the
Grand Canyon
via the
Grand Canyon Railway
.
History
[
edit
]
The first station at Williams Junction was built by
Morrison-Knudsen
for the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway
as part of construction of the
Crookton Cutoff
: a new 44-mile (71 km) stretch of the
Southern Transcon
built to avoid the sharp curves and steep gradients of the existing line between Williams and
Ash Fork
.
[6]
With the new route bypassing the town of Williams completely, Williams Junction replaced the downtown
Williams Depot
as the connection point between main line transcontinental services and Santa Fe trains to and from the Grand Canyon (trains 14 and 15). The station officially opened on December 18, 1960.
[1]
Williams Depot remained open for the
Hassayampa Flyer
service between Williams Junction and Phoenix via
Ash Fork
and the
Peavine
route (trains 42 and 47).
[7]
Both Williams stations closed on April 30, 1969 following the Santa Fe's discontinuation of passenger services to the Grand Canyon and Phoenix via the Peavine.
[3]
[8]
The station building at Williams Junction remained standing for a few years following its closure,
[9]
but was eventually demolished. The spur from the Southern Transcon and the line through downtown Williams were retained for freight services.
[10]
Following the successful regeneration of the
former Santa Fe line to the Grand Canyon
as a privately operated tourist venture in 1989, Amtrak introduced a stop at Williams Junction on their
Southwest Chief
route to connect with Grand Canyon Railway services. The new station opened on August 2, 1999.
[2]
Unlike its predecessor, the modern Williams Junction had no station building or facilities, and no access for private motor vehicles.
[11]
Passengers could only access the Williams Junction station using an
Amtrak Thruway
shuttle operated by the Grand Canyon Railway.
[12]
The collection and drop-off point was the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel adjacent to the refurbished Williams Depot, now the southern terminus of the Grand Canyon line.
In 2017, the Grand Canyon Railway announced they would be discontinuing their shuttle that connected this station with their station and hotel in Williams,
[13]
forcing the station to close on January 1, 2018.
[4]
To accommodate passengers requiring a connection to the Grand Canyon, Amtrak introduced a new Thruway bus service to and from
Flagstaff
.
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Hoyt, William (December 18, 1960).
"Grand Canyon First Train Over New Williams Cutoff"
.
The Arizona Daily Sun
.
Flagstaff, Arizona
. p. 1
. Retrieved
November 8,
2021
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
Sanders, Craig (2006).
Amtrak in the Heartland
.
Indiana University Press
. p. 134.
ISBN
978-0-253-02793-1
.
- ^
a
b
Pearson, Helen (April 29, 1969).
"It's Last Trip for Santa Fe's 'Williams Junction Run'
"
.
The Arizona Daily Sun
. Flagstaff, Arizona. p. 2
. Retrieved
November 8,
2021
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
Fonseca, Felicia (January 4, 2018).
"Heading to Grand Canyon? Well-traveled train station closes"
.
The Arizona Republic
. Retrieved
January 4,
2018
.
- ^
"Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2017, State of Arizona"
(PDF)
.
Amtrak
. November 2017
. Retrieved
December 16,
2017
.
- ^
Trimble, Marshall
(2008).
Ash Fork
.
Arcadia Publishing
. p. 8.
ISBN
978-0-7385-4832-6
.
- ^
Gerber, Rudy J (1995).
The Railroad and the Canyon
.
Pelican Publishing Company
. p. 99.
ISBN
978-1-4556-1086-0
.
- ^
"Condensed Schedules of Passenger Service, effective July 15th, 1968"
(PDF)
.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
. 1968.
- ^
"Williams Junction disused station building, 1973"
. Trainweb.org
. Retrieved
November 24,
2017
.
- ^
Glischinski, Steve (1997).
Santa Fe Railway
. Voyageur Press. p. 53.
ISBN
978-0-7603-0380-1
.
- ^
"Williams Junction, Arizona"
.
Amtrak
. Retrieved
November 24,
2017
.
- ^
"
Southwest Chief
schedule, effective November 5th, 2017"
(PDF)
.
Amtrak
. 2017.
- ^
Howell, Wendy (September 26, 2017).
"Grand Canyon Railway to discontinue Amtrak shuttle service"
.
Williams News
. Retrieved
November 24,
2017
.
- ^
"Southwest Chief Flagstaff Service Change, effective January 1st, 2018"
.
Amtrak
. 2018. Archived from
the original
on February 15, 2018
. Retrieved
February 14,
2018
.
|
---|
Active stations
| |
---|
Former stations
| |
---|