Transportation – RDZ Photography

Tucson – March 2023 – Garden Railway Club Open Houses

The Tucson Garden Railway Club had their annual open houses at 8 different locations around the city. I was able to visit 5 of them.

The first stop was at the Rincon Country West RV Resort. This location has over 1000 mobile homes and RV spaces, primarily for snowbirds. They also seem to have the most palm trees per square mile of anywhere in Arizona.

With all the retirees in the neighborhood they have clubs for everything, including their garden railway club. Their railway set up is permanent.

Many of the buildings were custom built.

The next stop was the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, located on the grounds of the historic railway station.

Their small garden railway has without a doubt the most impressive railroad artifact next to it, a 157,000 pound Southern Pacific Railway locomotive dating from 1900.

Next stop was a private home in the hills west of downtown. Their backyard setup was nice, as were the views.

Their pet Schnauzer kept watch over the happenings.

The 4th railway setup was in a backyard of a home in Marana. This setup showed you don’t need a lot of space to have a nice setup.

The Grand Finale was a home in Catalina Foothills. The owner, an artist, custom built nearly everything.

In addition he is an avid cacti gardener, with the railway highlighting the vegetation, and vice versa.

The building construction was impressively intricate.

All of the presentations were nice, but this one was the most impressive.

Benson, Arizona – March 2023 – Riding Through the Boulders

Nature, Transportation

The Amerind Museum is located about 10 miles east of Benson, situated on 1900 acres of land in an area known as Texas Canyon.

This area is known for the giant boulders that are scattered about along Interstate 10 for a 10 mile stretch. These granite boulders are a result of erosion with water working their way through cracks that over millions of years created these great rocks.

It received it’s name Texas Canyon as a result of the early European settlers all coming from that state, displacing the Native who had been here for more than 1000 years.

While the rocks are the most noteworthy part of the area, the grasslands have supported ranches for over 100 years.

A couple times a year the Amerind Museum opens up the trails and roads throughout their land for a ‘fun ride’.

It was 7 miles of bumpy ground down grasses, dirt, rocks and sand, with over 500′ of total elevation gain.

The views however were worth it.

Especially visually interesting was the mix of the grasses, rocks and landscapes in the distance.

There was some evidence of prior homesteads scattered about, including this windmill – still spinning but for no apparent reason.

The area is high enough in elevation there are no cactus, but the random yucca does make an appearance.

A couple of octotillo’s made an appearance as well.

The rocks are huge, as evidenced below with the semi trucks sailing down the interstate dwarfed by the boulders.

As we neared the end of our 7 mile loop we passed this area with rocks more reddish/orange than the other granite ones.

While the fun ride ended up being far more challenging than expected, the views were worth it.

Marana, Arizona – March 2023 – Pinal Air Park

History, Transportation

Arizona is home to many airplane boneyards. The Pinal Air Park in Marana is one for commercial aircraft.

Even before you reach the airport you find the random partially disassembled 747s sitting in the desert.

This McDonnell Douglas MD82 used to fly for China Eastern Airlines. It too sits just offsite of the airport.

Some of the fields surrounding the airport are green from winter rains and irrigation, making a nice contrast with the parked Atlas Air 747 in the background.

For obvious reasons all photos of Pinal Airpark were taken outside the fence, including these 4 vertical stabilizers.

Most seemed to be missing their doors.

Along the front fence is a large collection of American Airline’s CRJs.

The collection is varied, and seemingly randomly parked.

Our final look is this Boeing plan seemingly smiling at us.

Tucson – March 2023 – Views from Above Across the City

Nature, Transportation

After our visit to Sabino Canyon it was time to head back to Ryan Field, with the most direct route back across Tucson.

We popped out of the mountains above Saguaro National Park, in the foreground, with the city spread out beyond.

The Arizona National Golf Club is at the base of the Catalina Mountains. The well watered fairways and greens stand out in this desert landscape.

The foothills have small ridges running along them, with the houses all set up on top of them.

The larger washes in the valley were running with water.

The older single story homes in the city tend to have flat roofs, which can easily be seen as they are white.

From this view you can see that the distance from the University of Arizona campus in the foreground to Davis Monthan Air Force base in the background is not that great.

The smaller two story building in the lower center of this view is the historic train station.

Our final shot of the helicopter tour is a close up of downtown Tucson.

Tyler and the others at Volare Helicopters are a great organization, and provide a truly exceptional experience.

Tucson – March 2023 – Views from Above South and West Tucson

Nature, Transportation

A beautiful Saturday morning provided the perfect setting for a helicopter tour of the Tucson area.

We chose to fly with Volare Helicopter, with the owner Ryan as our pilot. Having flown in airplanes hundreds of times this was my first ride in a helicopter, but Ryan made us feel at ease from the first moment.

After a few minutes explaining the sounds and feels of the 4 seat Robinson 44 helicopter, we were off.

The first noteworthy view was of the Casino del Sol, backed by the smaller hills in the middle of the shot, with the Santa Catalina’s filling the background.

Just a bit further east revealed this expansive view of the entire valley, with downtown Tucson looking quite small compared to the towering Catalina’s in the background.

The Asarco mine filled the view south. An early visit to this mine is detailed here. https://rdzphotographyblog.com/2023/01/25/sahuarita-arizona-january-2023-a-necessary-evil/

Black Mountain is a lava capped mesa on the San Xavier Reservation. While not visible here, the mountain top is home to ruins of an ancient Hohokam fortification.

The mountain is off limits to the public, so this view from above is the only way to see the saguaros growing out of the lava covered hillside.

The Tohono O’odham Nation owns the somewhat symmetrical Desert Diamond Casino. Clearly a light gambling crowd on this Saturday morning.

The Green Valley Pecan orchards extend as far as you can see to the south. The ponds in the foreground are at a concrete plant.

This simple view of the interstate running through the desert provides a great contrast of nature and development.

This is I 19, which runs 60 miles from Tucson to Nogales. It has for it’s entire existence, been the only interstate in the United States to use kilometers instead of miles for the exit numbers and mileage markers.

The Marriott Starr Pass Resort takes up a huge space at the base of the Tucson Mountains.

A couple of close ups of the mountains as we made our way back west.

The view from 1500′ above the ground shows the varied topography of the area – large expanses of flat desert areas, with some smaller mountains backed by the towering ‘sky islands’.

While this is the first in a series of aerial views of Tucson, our tour ended where it started, at Ryan Field on the far west end of town.

Bisbee, Arizona – January 2023 – A Revisit to Lowell

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

The city of Bisbee is actually made up of the original town, plus a few of the outlying former small towns. One of those just south of the original part of Bisbee is Lowell.

The town was once like most places, with a main street shops and a few neighborhoods. Unfortunately for Lowell the massive copper mine next door wiped out all of the housing leaving only the main street, Erie Avenue.

Rather than completely die, Erie Avenue lives on thanks to a group of people who make up Lowell Americana Project.

At first glance it seems it is a ghost town where someone has parked a number of old vehicles. Closer examination shows there are a number of business that cater to the steady (but small) stream of tourists, including the very good Bisbee Breakfast Club restaurant – get the Shrimp Omelet, it is very good.

We arrived mid afternoon on a Sunday so there weren’t any tourist cars parked in the way of the photo ops with the vintage ones parked all along Erie Street.

One of many low angle views, this one of an Edsel.

Almost all of the cars and trucks parked around town are ‘rusty gold’ including this Studebaker pickup.

An old Chevy underneath the dealership sign.

This old bus has been renamed Strayhound.

There are a few open businesses to entertain you.

A couple of fully restored vehicles stand out amongst the rust.

Lowell, Arizona is one quirky stop, and literally about 1/4 mile from the Shady Dell!

Bisbee, Arizona – January 2023 – The Shady Dell

Architecture, History, Transportation

Bisbee, Arizona is an eclectic little city that has for more than 100 years been a mining town. In addition for the last 40 years it has been a tourist town focused on their thriving artist community. As a result you get some really funky places like the Shady Dell.

The Shady Dell amazingly dates from 1927, when it was started as a motor court for the traffic that was going across county on U.S. 80, long before the interstates.

Today the Shady Dell is home to a number of permanently parked vintage campers that you can rent out for the night.

The Shady Dell’s environment encourages a sense of community.

If you are hungry Dot’s Diner is part of the setting for breakfast and lunch.

The trailers are scattered about, giving you a peaceful setting.

To add to the atmosphere there are a few old cars and trucks sitting around.

For a bit more luxury they offer a restored bus.

For those who love the water, this 1947 Chris Craft yacht is the ticket. Sorry no water, it’s Arizona.

The Shady Dell is truly one of those funky places that you must make a stop at. If you want to stay overnight, plan ahead, rumor has it they are booked up 6 months in advance.

Douglas, Arizona – January 2023 – A Historic Border Town

Architecture, History, Transportation

The town of Douglas, Arizona was founded in 1905 as a copper smelting center. It sits directly on the border, across from Agua Prieta Sonora Mexico. For decades the two towns functioned as one.

As with most towns and cities in Southern Arizona it has a history of Native American, Mexican and European cultures.

The town very early on had an airport that attracted cross country flights, including Amelia Earhart who stopped by during a 1929 Women’s Air Derby.

It was known as the world’s first international airport since the runway crossed the border – not anymore.

The town has many historic buildings, including the former El Paso and Southwestern Railroad depot at the north end of town. It now serves as the police headquarters.

Completed in 1913 it is said to have an impressive interior, but sadly we were unable to see inside.

The Avenue Hotel consists of two buildings. The left one is made of adobe and dates from 1901. The one on the right is a 1915 brick building.

It is now a B & B.

The 1919 Grand Theater was the center of cultural events for Douglas. While it closed as a theater decades ago, it is in the process of being restored, albeit slowly. This is understandable given the significant cost for such a small town.

The Brophy Building was completed during the boom years in 1907. It was designed by famed El Paso architect Henry Trost.

It too is waiting for someone with the love, and money, to restore to it’s former glory.

This small building has had a varied history. Another Henry Trost building, it was completed in 1913 as the Airdome Theater.

It closed as a theater and became a Chevrolet dealership in the 1920s. The depression took out the dealership and it became a supermarket.

In the 1940s it became a USO canteen serving the thousands of soldiers from a nearby Army Air Corp training center. Later it became a real estate and insurance office. Today is still serves as a financial advisor’s office, and a copy center. They should call it the cat building as it seems to have had 9 lives.

Our final stop in Douglas is the Gadsden Hotel, which is featured in the next posting by itself.

Douglas is a pleasant little city with some interesting history.

Santa Cruz County, Arizona – February 2023 – A Ride up Box Canyon Road

Nature, Transportation

The Santa Rita Mountains are located in the northern portion of Santa Cruz County and southern Pima County, Arizona. They rise as high as 9453′ Mt Wrightson, towering 6000′ above the nearby towns.

As with the other mountains in Southern Arizona, there is snow this time of year above 7000′-8000′ elevation.

While there are highways that circle the mountains, Box Canyon Road rises up and through the shoulder of the northern end of the mountains. This dirt road is fairly well maintained, and an easy drive down in the valley – tricky enough though that all photos for this posting was taken by my co-pilot in life while we bumped along the road.

As you rise up the western side of the pass you get great close ups of the 9300′ Mt Wrightson.

The mountains here have a variety of vegetation growing on them, heavily dependent on which way they face as well as their elevation. The higher up the mountain, the more precipitation, resulting in a much denser coverage of trees clearly seen in these two photos. The close ups were taken with a 400mm Canon lens.

The canyon narrows the further up you go.

A switchback provided a look back to where we had just come from, as well as the entire valley and the Sierrita Mountains in the background.

At it’s narrowest point the road is barely one lane, with one side going nearly vertical above you and the other a very steep drop into the wash – which is why someone other than the driver is taking the photos.

Once you reach the top you do not go back down – you come into the Sonoita Plains – a large grasslands at an elevation over 5000′, so there is none of the desert landscape seen in the lower elevations.

As we continued on east towards Arizona Highway 83 we get one last look at Mt Wrightson up close.

The final portion of the afternoon ride back north on Arizona 83 takes you past the Empire Mountains. We have dropped a bit in elevation so the desert landscaping is starting to return.

As I looked through the photos I found this one – alien? rouge balloon? or more likely a strange reflection?

No flash was used, but we have a perfect circle in the sky 🙂

Regardless of where you live, getting off the main roads can provide great scenery for photography, and sometimes maybe something more.

Glendale, Arizona – January 2023 – Martin Auto Museum

Museum, Transportation

The final stop on the Phoenix area car extravaganza is the Martin Auto Museum.

The Mel Martin Auto Museum recently moved to a much larger facility on Thunderbird Road in Phoenix. One great aspect of this museum is you are allowed to open the doors, and get in the cars if you like, on nearly all of the collection.

The facility is well lit, and nicely spaced out.

We start our tour with a couple of Crosley’s tucked back in a corner.

I can see Elvis cruising down the Strip in Las Vegas in this 1964 Ford Thunderbird.

The exquisite tail end of a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado.

A early 1950s Ford Woody Wagon. Ford dropped Woodies in 1951, although they made a faux comeback in the 1960s, but they weren’t real wood like this.

A front look at this 1949 Ford Custom.

I have always been more of a Ford fan than Chevrolet, but this Ranchero in my opinion is nowhere near as cool as an El Camino. Also fairly certain it is looking at envy at the Porsche parked in front of it.

A nice looking mid 1960s Studebaker Wagonaire.

Mel was a hard worker his entire life, and one of his early successes was a towing business, which is represented here by a 1928 Graham Tow Truck.

This long machine is a late 1930s Packard. The hood ornament on this car was one that was featured in the earlier posting of a collection of them.

While many of the vehicles are restored to their original condition, some, like this very cool 1951 Studebaker Pickup, have been heavily customized.

The last car on this visit is, according to Internet research, a 1905 Cadillac.

The Martin Auto Museum has a motto of ‘Please Touch the Cars’. That alone makes it a great visit, but coupled with the low admission cost, great collection and spacious setting makes it a must for any auto enthusiast who is in the area.