Grand Canyon Railway

The photos below are courtesy of Dave Hewitt, who visited the Grand Canyon Railway in June 2006 (most photos) & June 2015 (where stated):

Heading for the Grand Canyon through Arizona scrub in June 2006

The Grand Canyon Railway is a tourist line running 64 miles due north from Williams, Arizona to the rim of the Grand Canyon (ie it doesn't descend into or run along the canyon).   It was originally a mining railway, but turned to include sightseeing passengers in 1901 - a short history is available.

Inside the plush rear observation car

This car has an interesting history, including being seized by Mexico for debt recovery, becoming lost somewhere in the US, and having the end written off leading to it being rebuilt with an observation platform.

No.29 approaching the only road crossing on the route .....

No.29 , a 2-8-0 built in 1906 by ALCO, had been rebuilt for the GCR but is now out of common use.   There are a few notes on No.29 on Wiki Fandom.

..... & approaching the rim of the Grand Canyon .....

..... where a 1950s ALCO diesel waits to return the train to Williams
(It's usual for the two trains each day to run diesel one way & steam the other)

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

1923-built Baldwin 2-8-2 No.4960 heads out of Williams on the second train on another day

More modern (1970s) GM diesels in June 2015 - the cowboys wave to the outbound & hold up the return train

No.4960 returning a train to Williams in June 2015; the rh line to Phoenix is used by BNSF.
The camera seems to highlight gradients here! 

When the operating company went 'green', No.4960 was laid up; it now runs on waste vegetable oil.   There's some history of 4960 on Wikipedia.

See the Grand Canyon Railway's web  or  Wikipedia for more information.

The photos above are courtesy of Dave Hewitt.