Since the release of Volume 1 "The BNSF Seligman Subdivision Across Arizona", the Kingman Area has become the only site page in the Seligman Sub. pages that I will still allow for review.  In future presentations at railroad events, I will use the Kingman Area as my demonstration of what Volume 1 "The BNSF Seligman Subdivision Across Arizona" has to offer.

Although covered thouroughly in my ebook, the other four chapters will no longer be available on this website and can only be read by purchasing my ebook "The BNSF Seligman Subdivision Across Arizona" for $29.95.  Purchasing information along with shipping and handleing requirements can be found by accessing the Purchasing ebooks and Photos site page in this website.

Please note that my ebook is a 181 page book on a disc that you can load into your computer and read.  It will also include all the more than 200 photos along with 20 diagrams and over 44,000 words in easy to read text.  Also keep in mind that the page layout of my ebook is not like the layout within this website.  It is displayed in a regular professional two column book format with the pictures at the appropriate locations.  Pick one up and enjoy.

Kingman Area

46 photos included after text.

Continuing east along the Transcon across Arizona, the next town of importance you would come to would be Kingman, AZ.  Kingman, AZ is larger than Needles, CA with a population of around 22,000 and has many amenities for the traveler or railfan.  Gas is routinely about 20 to 25 cents cheaper than at any other town nearby.

Interstate 40 travels from the southwest and curves over the northern part of Kingman providing access at exits #48, 52 and 53.  Large truck stops are at exits #48 and 53 with various hotels and restaurants close to the interstate.  Exit #52 is more for shopping and residential access.

Kingmans best railroad asset is Kingman Canyon, and that is located on a side road called 4th Street off of Andy Divine Drive.  To get there, get off interstate 40 at exit #48 and turn east.  Grandview  Drive is the 1st stop light east of the interstate.  Turn right at the stop light on Grandview Drive which will quickly turn into Andy Divine Drive just after it passes the turn for the old Route 66.  (Remember this intersection.  We will be getting back to it later). 

As you continue on what is now Andy Divine Drive, it will curve to the left.  At this time, you should notice ATSF 4-8-4 #3759 with a caboose in a park to your left.  Photos of this engine are best in the mid afternoon in summer or winter.  (Good job, and Thank You to Kingman, AZ for NOT putting a stupid row of standard bushes all around the engine, or a fence.  Except for some stairs, and late afternoon tree shadows, photos of this fantastic engine are almost unobstructed.  YEA!!!  Thank You again to whoever is in charge of that.)  To your right is a small Route 66 museum and gift shop.

Continuing two more blocks and at the light for 4th Street, you will see the Amtrak depot next to the tracks.  The Southwest Chief stops daily at 11:46 p.m. as the west bound #3 and later at 02:03 a.m. as the east bound #4.  Kingman Canyon is just a short distance away from the depot, so cross the tracks and follow 4th Street as it changes its name to Old Trails Road and travels through some scattered, older residences. 

Follow Old Trails Road .8 mile past the depot to where the south track will cross over the road.  Go under this bridge and still travel another 1.3 miles to a dry creek bed.  You are now in the heart of the canyon where there are multitudes of photo possibilities close by.

The two mainline tracks have seperated in the canyon with the south track (main 2), being about 50 feet higher than the north track (main 1).  There are several very good places to photograph trains on either track as the tracks curve through the canyon.  The many cliffs and ledges provide many places to photograph from to achieve great camera angles for fantastic photo compositions.   Kingman Canyon has an infinite amount of photo possibilities so I have divided the canyon into three "groups" with several photo locations in each one nearby.

GROUP ONE

If you have followed my directions and parked near the dry wash and the high railroad bridge, you are at what I call "Group One".  There are six of my favorite locations near Group One that I would like to point out to get you started.  All locations for Group One are off of Old Trails Road.

1.  Go under the high bridge in the dry wash to about 50 to 100 feet north of the track.  This location is best in the early morning of summer.  Photos are only possible of east bounds as they cross the bridge though.

2.  Back to Old Trails Road, climb the rocky slope to some large rocks next to the end of the high bridge.  From here, you can see main 1 curve gracefully in front of you and main 2 behind you.  The early mornings in winter or late afternoons in summer provide an excellent sun angle for west bound trains on main 1.  East bound trains as they cross the high bridge on main 2 are ok, but are better in the late afternoon of summer.

3.  This location is that tall single rock formation on the other side of main 2 from you.  From here, you can now get an excellent photo of an east bound train crossing the high bridge and you can still get a west bound in the curve.  Best time for a bridge shot is early morning in winter or summer, the later being best. 

4.  This location is on the same side of main 2 but on the next rocky hill down the track.  Photos in the early morning in summer, are great of east bound trains, and you can vary your composition by shooting from either the top of the hill or the bottom.  West bound trains in the curve are still good in th same times as previously mentioned, and you now can get a photo of a west bound train on main 2 when that happens.

5.  This location you could either drive to or walk the .2 mile to get to it.  Number 5 is in between the two mains where there is a service road going toward main 2 from the Old Trails Road.  Drive back towards town .2 miles and when you see the road turn right.  Park as far away from the tracks as you can in the large open area.  From this location your primary focus of attention is main 1 but you could get a photo of trains on main 2 if you wished.  Main 1 is now a large "S" curve and you can walk along the open area to change your composition as you wish.

6.  Location 6 is next to main 1 at track level next to the bridge you see in the middle of the "S", or at the very begining of the large curve.  You should see a dirt road from Old Trails Road that leads to this location.  There is a large open dirt area to explore several different angles throughout the morning at this location.

GROUP TWO

There are four photo locations at Group two and with all of them, photos of any west bound trains are best in the mid afternoon of summer, or the late afternoon in winter.  At most of these locations, photos of east bound trains are best in the late afternoons in summer although winter is still ok, summer angles are better.  Group Two locations are all within the first mile of Historic Route 66 from Andy Divine Drive. 

To get to Group two, you would first have to get back onto Andy Devine Drive.  So leave the canyon on the Old Trails Road and at the Amtrak depot turn left.  Travel .1 mile to the park where the ATSF #3759 and caboose are.  Photos of this beautiful engine are best in the mid afternoons of summer or winter.  Another .1 mile and you should see the left turn for the Historic Route 66.  Turn left and travel exactly .3 miles to a dirt opening to your right.

1.  Park in that dirt opening and cross the street to step over the guardrail.  From here you can get great photos of west bounds as they curve out of Kingman and enter Kingman Canyon.  You can also get to another angle by climbing up the hillside next to where you parked, if you wished.

2.  Location 2 is just a short .2 mile walk down the road to a large and very rocky hillside on the track side of Route 66.  Climb up the north side of the rocks to the top and relax.  This is one of my favorite locations because you can get a dramatic photo of west bounds entering Kingman Canyon, and with a late afternoon sun in summer, a fantastic photo of east bound trains as they cross the Old Trails Road on that bridge you drove under to get into the heart of Kingman Canyon.  You could spend most of an afternoon in summer or winter up there and get alot of different photos.  Enjoy.

3.  Get back to your vehicle and drive another .4 miles to another dirt opening on the east side of Route 66.  Park there and you can climb another rocky hill in front of you for several different views of east and west bound trains on either main.  Again climb the hill on its north side but you can't climb to the top.  At least I haven't figured that one out yet.  (I'm not that much of a mountain goat)!

4.  The last of the locations in Group two is another .2 mile down the road just past the turn.  Photos of west bounds as they lean into a curve just past a signal are stunning.  One thing though.  Get these photos BEFORE any of the other locations because the sun angle here is earlier than the others.  I suggest mid afternoon summer or winter. 

There is another small dirt opening but I do not recomend that you park there because it is very dangerous to get out.  You are on a blind curve and you can not tell when another motorist is coming.  Just walk, but do be careful as you do.  This portion of Route 66 is narrow and the cars are traveling about 55 mph.  Be very aware of your surroundings at any of these four locations, while you are next to the road.

GROUP THREE

The three locations that make up my Group Three begin just a short 1.3 miles drive a little farther down Route 66 from Group Two.  Along the way you will pass a couple of really good places to get photos of trains as they cross the high bridge mentioned back in Group One locations 1 and 2.  This bridge is really cool, and still has, although it is fading, its original ATSF logo and lettering in white.  NOTE: At none of the locations for Group Three is main 2 a good photo.  It is just to far away, or behind a rock cut. 

1.  Like I just said, location 1 is just 1.3 miles from location 4 of Group Two.  (Or 2.3 miles from Andy Divine Drive).  You will see a very large open dirt area to your left just before Route 66 crosses the dry river wash.  You should also see a signal next to main 1.  Park in the dirt area as close to the tracks as you can, but do not drive over the incline through the dry wash to get closer.  It is easy to get stuck in the very loose, deep sand there.  Even in your kick-a** 4x4, you might get stuck.

From here, photos of west bound trains as they roar out of the canyon are spectaular!  (So is the sound!)  NOTE: You can also get to this same location by continuing past the dry river wash on Old Trails Road.  Travel another .5 miles to the signal.  Photos from that side of main 1 are great in the mid to late afternoons of winter, or the mid afternoons of summer.  The photos from the Route 66 side of main 1 are best in the late afternoon summer or winter.

2.  Just 1/2 mile from the bridge on Route 66, over the dry wash, is location 2.  This is another dramatic photo of west bound trains, but now the canyon is more in the background.  You should see a dirt road that parallels the track.  Park near here, and get your photo more in the late afternoons of summer than winter.

3.  For the "Roaring out of the canyon" photo in winter, travel another 1/2 mile down that dirt road next to the track to where the old storage yard is for the former steel mill.  Main 1 has curved enough now so that late afternoon photos in winter are also good along with summer.

There is one more location in Kingman that I'd like to mention to you before we continue on to more parts east.  I'll call it...

TOP OF THE CANYON

This is a great place where the two tracks meet again and continue east.  Just before they join, at the last portion of their climb out of the canyon, they will travel under the seperate overpasses for Hualapai Mountain Road.  To get there, travel again on Andy Devine Road, and 1.4 miles past the Amtrak Depot at 4th Street, is the light for Hualapai Mountain Road.

Turn right and travel .2 miles till you have crossed over both mains 1 and 2.  There is a convenience store on the left, that has a parking lot that you can park in.  Just do not park in the parking places in front of the store.  Get your gear and cross Hualapai Mountain Road to a large flat rock area.  Walk to the end of this area toward the track (main 2), and set up shop. 

This is a beautiful location for some fantastic photos of east bound trains as they crawl up the last of the grade in Kingman Canyon.  They will be working hard to finish their climb, and there are some great rocky formations in the background to make these photos some of your best.  West bound trains are only of the "reverse angle" variety, but you can get great side roster photos of engines or cars.

The sun is in the best angle for early morning photos in summer, with winter being more of a side angle with the sun.

By the way, Andy Devine Road is the connecting road between downtown and exit #53 for interstate 40, and after that, becomes the Historic Route 66 north of Kingman going toward Hackberry, Valentine, Crozier Canyon and Seligman, AZ.

Route 66 continues east out of town and climbs a long hill with the BNSF mainline about 1/4 mile due east.  Photos are possible from several places along the way.  After 17.5 miles from interstate 40, the railroad tracks travel around a broad curve along with the road.  Dramatic photos are also possible there.  When photographing trains near Kingman, you can definitely "Get your kicks, on Route 66".