Steel Across the Sands

If you stop to stretch your legs along Route 66 in the Mojave Desert, close your eyes, unleash the imagination, and listen, you can almost hear the wheeze of a steam engine climbing a steep grade from the Colorado River Valley. Legendary Route 66 between Kingman, Arizona and Barstow, California is a popular drive for railfans as well as road trip enthusiasts. 

Barstow’s identity as a railroad hub dates to the 1880s, when the Southern Pacific Railroad pushed steel rails across the sands to connect with the rails being laid by the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, predecessor to the legendary Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. By 1883, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad had reached the Colorado River at present day Needles, and shortly afterwards linked with the line from Barstow. That cemented another transcontinental connection that would make both freight and passenger travel across the Southwest routine. 

Barstow’s place on that line made it a fulcrum of growth. Rail yards with repair shops transformed a dusty desert crossroads into a bustling, modern community. In the early 20^th century, the Arrowhead Highway, National Old Trails Road, and then Route 66, fueled Barstow’s growth. 

At the Colorado River itself, the story is one of tenacity and resilience. Early railroad bridge builders learned the hard way that the river could be an unforgiving foe. Wooden bridge spans repeatedly succumbed to flooding in the 1880s. That forced railroad engineers to rethink where and how to cross the river that had been deemed too thin to plow and too thick to drink.  

Eventually, solid rock foundations at Topock, site of a ferry crossing, allowed for construction of the Red Rock Bridge, a steel cantilever span completed in 1890. With completion of more modern bridge in the 1940s, this historic bridge was transformed into a river crossing for US 66. That allowed for the closure of the Old Trails Bridge that opened in 1916. 

Evidence of the important role played by the railroad in remote desert communities can be found in Needles, California. Built in 1908, the El Garces hotel and depot complex with its sweeping columned porticos and fountains was a crown jewel of the Fred Harvey properties. Today it serves as an event center and offices that stand as a testament to the golden age of rail travel. 

Tours are available. Inquiries are to be made at the museum across from the plaza opposite El Garces. They will also be offered during the Route 66 Info Fair scheduled for February 14, 2026. 

During Arizona’s territorial years several short line railroads connected remote mining camps with main lines and civilization. The companies behind these short-lived endeavors carved rugged paths through the desert in pursuit of ore and economic promise.

The Mohave and Milltown Railway was one such bold venture. Built in 1903 as a narrow-gauge line to serve the Leland Gold Mine near Oatman, Arizona, it ran northeast from the Colorado River just across from Needles to the mining camps at Milltown below Oatman. Despite its ambitious start, flooding the following spring washed out miles of track and doomed the line to an incredibly short life. Its rails were removed by 1912. Today, several miles of the old grade remain as a hiking and mountain bike trail.

Further east, the Arizona & Utah Railroad connected McConnico where the Santa Fe Railroad with the silver boomtown of Chloride in the foothills of the Cerbart Mountains. Chartered in 1899 and completed by 1900, this spur carried ore, supplies, and passengers for decades. The depot still stands in Chloride, a silent sentinel of that bygone era. Though ambitious plans to reach White Hills never happened, and operations faded by the early 1930s, in the Sacramento Valley the railbed is still traceable.

The unforgiving nature of railroading in the desert is nowhere more palpable than at the forlorn remnants of Franconia, Arizona, a once-active siding, section house and supply center on the Santa Fe Railroad line west of Yucca. 

Over the decades, Franconia has been the scene of multiple serious train wrecks. The most horrendous occurred in the early 1900s when two heavy trains collided near the siding, killing several railroad workers and both engineers, and injuring many more. National news accounts detail the aftermath of twisted rails and wreckage piled in the sands.

Another collision between a freight train and a passenger train occurred in the 1940s. As speeds were lower in this accident, casualties were less than the earlier wreck. 

The great railroad era paved the way for the highways that followed. As the National Old Trails Road, Route 66 and later Interstate 40 paralleled these steel corridors, Barstow, Needles, and Kingman became tangible links to the glory days of the great American road trip. 

Whether you’re walking the Mohave & Milltown grade, exploring Chloride’s depot, driving Route 66, or standing beside the Colorado River near the Old Trails Bridge, the echoes of steam and steel are never far away.

Written by Jim Hinckley’s America