Several (GP7) helper engines assigned to trains negotiating the steep Sierra Prieta grads occupy the siding at the Skull Valley depot in 1961.  The freight powered by F7 No. 282 and others on the main track is headed for Prescott, the next crew-change point and the terminus of the helper district.  The helper district has been gone since April 1962, but even to day Skull Valley sees nearly a dozen trains a day as a part of BNSF’s Phoenix Subdivision.          Bob Knoll

 

A Salt River Express (SRX) carrying perishables from the Salt River Valley, having just passed Entro (P&E Junction), winds its way through the beautiful “Granite Dells” area north of Prescott.  Unfortunately, the lone passenger trains on the route (No. 42 and No. 47) almost always traversed this breathtaking scenery at night.     Bob Knoll