Back in January I drove from Palm Springs, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, with a stopover in Kingman which is a hoot. My Epic Road Trip along the length of Route 66 was already in planning, so I thought “why not do a sneak preview in Kingman?” I had read that it is a classic Route 66 stop. I was not disappointed – not back in January, and not when I stopped off again last month for another visit (in better weather).
Most of these are from the January stopover. You can tell the January shots by the overcast skies. Only the pix at the end of the set are from the much warmer and sunnier day I was there in March. The sky and light were better in January so I will mostly post those shots which are for the most part better than my March pix. It’s about the light. It was damn cold when I took the January pix. The desert can get really, really cold.
Kingman has lots and lots of Route 66 signage with several surviving Route 66 motels, plus a good collection of vintage bars, garages and more. Fun photography.
In January I drove out to what is called the Kingman Airport but which seems to be mostly what is left of the WWII era airfield (a hugely important training center during the war and also where a lot of planes were scrapped after the war – over 5,000). That’s the WWII flight tower in the pix. Its current claim to fame is as an aircraft “boneyard”, where lots of commercial jets are mothballed for future use. Read more here.
As for the trains, there seemed to be one coming through the little downtown by the old train station about every 15-20 minutes. I positioned myself just on the other side of the station for these two. That’s the restored train station in one of the pix at the beginning of the set. According to the little bit of googling I did, this is train watchers’ heaven – more than 100 trains per day pass through on BNSF’s main line on their way through northern Arizona.
I remember finishing a fine day of photography back in January with a “Macho Burrito” washed down with a Modelo at a local Mexican dive. On the return trip, I had a steak at the famed Dambar Steakhouse – “cowboy cuisine with style”.
No comment on Thunder Rode Motorcycle Accessories in Kingman (where one can also purchase a concealed carry vest according to the sign), except to say that it can be very different out there away from the coastal bubbles as all of you have probably long since figured out from prior posts…
Besides the old trains in the park there’s a great Route 66 museum in Kingman in the former Desert Power & Light Company powerhouse – mothballed for 60 years until repurposed in the 90s.
I can recommend Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner which used to be the Kingman Cafe and once was also a gas station. Good food, good service…that beautiful Wurlitzer juke box is in Mr. D’z.
