After eating at the Road Runner Cafe in east Gallup I am off with the family to find where the past stories of Gallup’s frontier days reside.
On the north east side of the tracks and I have to lean over the fence to get any of the photographs for my later paintings. The 1930’s Chevrolet with the hay forks lies just out of reach along with all of the trucks in the neighborhood.
There was on line of trucks behind one fence, so close yet so far away.
The next stretch we take as much of the old Route 66 as we can find from Gallup to Holbrook. Once again plenty of beautiful trucks lying just out of my reach beyond fences and with a few dogs to keep people at a distance. I find a red Chevy that has been taken apart amongst the countryside, resting below a blue sky scattered with pillow clouds. The family waits patiently while I run circles around each vehicle I spot , taking pictures from every angle possible.
Stopping at a place that sells Petrified Wood I am able to capture a flatbed Chevy that looks to still be in working condition and ready to help when asked.
We are going to be staying at the Wig Wam Hotel in Holbrook as part of the expedition to find the work horses of the highway, resting comfortably now watching the rest of the world pass by.
The Wig Wam has kept two trucks as part of their vehicle fleet to greet visitors while spending the night. One is an orange Ford with a bed for gravel work, maybe work that was done on old Route 66, the other is a Studebaker dressed in a faded Red, White & Blue, colors we all now and love and they just need a little attention to give them the shine they once had.
Most of Holbrook’s past lies south across the tracks and the river. Behind the fences of the local wrecking company a place close by holds one of the tow trucks waiting for someone to restore it to the beauty it once was.
On this side of the tracks one can clearly see that the initial route went through this side of town and was abandoned long before Interstate 40 came through.
We head through Joseph City and make one stop to see and record a beautiful Red Dodge Duel Cab awaiting work. You could see the hood had been replaced and with the coming year there may be the extra time around the shop this year to complete the restoration.
As we pull through Winslow on the west bound side of old Route 66, 3rd St. I spot a Mixer and companion Dump Truck a once mighty team together now spending their retirement years in the hot Arizona sun.
I have the kids wondering why we are turning around the whole time and asking when are we going to get to Flagstaff. I stop at quite a few of the old tourist locations even the legendary Jack Rabbit. We are running a little tight on our schedule and I pass the Meteor City turn off only to see what looks to be three trucks. We have to continue west for 5 miles before there is another turn off and I make the decision to turn around back once again at the kids dismay. They are being used as modern day wagon displays selling coffee and being used as part of some creature habitat of a by gone era.
We are staying Flagstaff for a few days so I ought to be able to find the best of what the Capitol of Northern Arizona has to offer.
I find that everything south of the tracks is where the items of yesterday have been put. From there I travel east to find the fruit that is ripe for picking and think I find it a little past Steve’s Dr. on industrial. No such luck on getting in their yard due to insurance, but I do get a lead that sends me to the far edge of the influence of Flagstaff east on Route 66 turn right past Mary’s Cafe and then left on Leupp for about a mile or two. There on the left side of the road lies both Vintage Salvage and Pacific West Recycling two of the best yards in the area. I do find more and more trucks that are in the final stages of life being pieced apart for someone’s winter ambitions.
I travel back the same general route taken on the way to Flagstaff, this time I am able to look at the other side of the highway. We do not cruise the old route much at all on the way back through and this allows us to stop in Winslow at the Historic Trails Museum and catch a great number of relics from the area.
I get some images from the west end of town in front of Cragun Diesel and then we head back on I-40 it is in finding the next truck opposite Geronimo that we spot as the best contender for the long lost worker award.
Neil Hannum - April 2007
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