Old Sizzler in east Blythe

This abandoned former Sizzler building on 8960 E. Hobsonway is in the eastern edge of the structured area of Blythe, by Hobsonway and the Baja Fresh. The restaurant was constructed in 1966 or 1967. (Palo Verde Valley Times Jan. 5, 1967)  A PVVT picture published circa 1970 views the assembly of the sign, which had the two cattle logo and reads "SIZZLER FAMILY STEAK HOUSE." The sign was reportedly the first and largest erected by the company, and other locations would get similar signs, so the Blythe sign was briefly the biggest Sizzler sign ever. This Sizzler's manager was Ed Coatney. This was during the time Hobsonway was the main highway for Blythe, two years before the arrival of Interstate 10's new alignment. 

According to another PVVT article from January 2007, Terry and Janet White bought the Sizzler in 1977, and used the building until 1986 when because they needed bigger facilities such as the kitchen, they relocated to the other side of town. The Whites owned the Blythe Sizzler at the current west Blythe location until 2015. This 20th anniversary of ownership article includes a picture of the old restaurant with the tall sign.

I found information of two different restaurants taking the 8960 E. Hobsonway address. A 1990 newspaper advertisement shows Jimmy's Bar & Grill as located here, and a little article from 1995 shows Johnny's Restaurant, while saying it took the place of Jimmy's, but not mentioning Sizzler. The building appears to be already abandoned during December 2007 according to Google Street View. The message in the sign was still there, but faded (includes the name "JOHNNY'S" in the top?); the sign is now empty. The lot was fenced during December 2007, but today there's no fencing.

Empty block by Union Bank and Hobsonway

There is this patch of empty land near Union Bank, Suesites, and Hobsonway. This used to be where several businesses reside in different attached buildings. I believe there was an indoor parking space in this building. The only business I remember was a barber shop, with an example of the familiar barber's pole with it. There was a TV inside, and some unknown orange stuff in the back near the ceiling. And courtesy of Victor Green, there was an automobile repair place named Rolos Auto Body that had inside parking, and a bar in this lot.

The building in this block were damaged by a fire on November 11, 2007. Me and family members witnessed the blaze and the firefighters' battle. The Union Bank had to be evacuated. Unfortunately, the fire led to the block being wiped out of everything, leaving no building left in the lot. I believe it's the most significant loss of a building in Blythe in the past decade. There could still be at least one business in this lot if the building still stands.

Abandoned building at 316 West Hobsonway

This is an abandoned building in the center of Blythe with a rich history. It neighbors Teddy's Donuts and a clinic, the latter being an attachment. The walls extend south to the alleyway behind the building. In fact, there is a section with no structure or part of the building between the walls, so the building might have been shortened. 

While I have no knowledge on the date of construction, according to the PVVT March 30 1990 edition the building had the first Safeway location in Blythe. The federal government probably used the building for more than one purpose. According to this document titled "Palo Verde Diversion Project" by Lara Bickell of the Bureau of Reclamation, the building at this address served as the office for the Palo Verde Diversion Dam project from August 1955 to an unspecified date. But as of one Christmas season in a photo dated 1959 posted by Markus Freitag (a great way to view Blythe's Hobsonway/US 60 & 70 in the past), the building is seen as a reserve center for the United States Army or Navy. The hanging sign on top features the words "MARK IV" and what may be "automotive" above and "air conditioning below". This possibly automobile place may be a neighboring business.

A business directory in the newspaper in 1979 has a business called Les Jeck's Carpets in this building.

The building was home to Carr's Western World, a store welling western apparel (If that is true, according to a friend) and livestock goods. According to other PVVT newspapers they had entry forms on local livestock competitions, and sponsored other events in the Blythe area such as one for fiddle. Another issue lists somebody in the business as a buyer of livestock (in an auction?) in 1989. This business that occupied the building appears to be the best in terms of remnants; there is a faded sign on the eastern side visible from Teddy's Donuts where you can see the faded name.

Today the building is one of the countless of abandoned examples in Blythe. The boarding of the front windows and maybe the door is kind of recent, as I remember broken glass in its place. However, as of August 2016, there is a hole in the front door, presumably so homeless people can access the place. There is exposure in its roof in the western side too. This building has kept its architecture style similar to some other buildings, and I believe it should have a new use if it gets rehabilitated.

Blythe and the Movie Premiere

The city of Blythe holds a special connection to the Walt Disney Company. That is, it's one of the few cities on the where one one of its movies made its world premiere. Walt Disney himself picked four Colorado River cities to premiere Ten Who Dared in 1960. This movie is about a group of men who trekked the Colorado in an expedition.

A grandeur Palo Verde Valley Times ad published in October 12, 1960, and another one either in that date or another one, announced the first-of-its-kind event in Blythe to occur in October 20 to 22 in the Hub Theatre, and October 23 and 24 in the Rancho Verde Drive-In. It says that there is "a distinct honor and privilege to show this film for the first time, anywhere!" The premiere came with the scenic musical short "Grand Canyon Suite," and the documentary "Arizona Sheep Dog" in some showings. The ad includes complements from such businesses as Claypool & Co., Shepwell's, Sinnock's, Hayward Lumber Co., and Security First National Bank.

A newspaper note says the mayor proclaimed October 20, 1960 as Walt Disney Day in Blythe.

I will name the other cities that premiered the film when I find them.

Abandoned building at 425 West Chanslorway

This is a lonely abandoned building near where the railroad track used to be, and north of the R&R Mini Mart. I couldn't figure out what the building functioned for exactly, but I found details relating to it.

In the December 26, 1957 PVVT issue, it features the opening of a chemical fertilizer blending plant owned by Arical Co. and built by Robert Bruce, Inc. (In a 1987 Santa Fe Railway CLIC Book, the rail siding for or near the facility is for "Agri-Cal") It's said to be the first of its kind built in the area, and the materials for the fertilizers were shipped in by rail. The picture shows a portion of the currently abandoned building in question, and a series of chutes, hoppers, and bins (or whatever they are) with two towers, one or both them taller than that building, and what looks like a transportation belt behind the tall tower. The plant could reduce the prices of dry fertilizer for the local farmers by $6 to $9 a ton. The address is said to be 425 West Chanslorway, but it was at least shared with a business called Clarter's Glenda Pet Grooming, according to an internet search. 

As of May 1961, the area with the chutes, hoppers, and bins was either covered or replaced 
with a building extension of the now-abandoned building. The site of R&R was still inhabited by large trees. 
The area north of Chanslorway and around the railroad line was still home to a series of industrial 
businesses. In thirty-five years later (June 1996) most buildings were still there, and probably 
still had use, but the building appeared to have no more extensions. In May 2002 the area 
appeared to look abandoned, some buildings already lost. But by August 2006 the abandoned 
building that stands as of ten years later became the lonely remnant of this industrial zone of 
Blythe. (USGS and Google Earth aerial views) There are still a couple of industries south 
of Chanslorway. In May 2015 according to a Facebook group, there was a fire in the building,
 and sometime more recently, vegetation nearby were eliminated.

Blythe's lost tourist attractions

A couple of interesting uncoverings in the Palo Verde Valley Times made me realize that Blythe had special tourist destinations other than the intaglios, specifically a tourist center and a riverboat, in the past. I don't know why they vanished, but here they are.

In January 1954, Burbank-based California Safety Stations Inc. opened a 163 ft long "greeter station" three and a half miles west of Blythe. This was the first facility of its kind in the state, and it functioned primarily as an informational travel center and a tourist aid stop. Services included a car inspection, a lounge, a coffee break, and a circular of the state's attractions. The facility had movie props on display, with RKO studios being the source. Movies such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Captain Kidd, and The Rains Came were where those props were seen in the silver screen. Kurt James the manager said the facility will install a spotlight with its light seen as far from Desert Center and Quartzsite. CSS also proposed to open other locations near other California entries such as Barstow, Yermo, and Yuma. (PVVT January 14, 1954) You can also read about it in the Desert Magazine.

In 1974, the Colorado River got a new paddle wheeler called the Queshan Belle. In the Blythe Marina it was launched in the afternoon of Wednesday. It was owned by Marith Tours and designed by Carl Davis. (PVVT April 25, 1974) It was built in a Los Angeles shipyard and was inspected and approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Queshan Belle was 50 feet long, with a 40 ft hull and a 10 ft wide at least paddle wheel. Both components plus the 180 HP diesel engine and others were assembled together to build the boat in Queshan Park. It could carry up to 49 passengers on daily river cruises, including Saturday night dinner trips, and as planned overnight trips to Martinez Lake. Either Smith or Dave Marlowe was the captain. (Unknown PVVT 1974 issue) (Yuma Daily Sun, November 10, 1974) It officially launched in June 1974. There is a picture of the vessel, with an old-styled banner displaying the words "QUESHAN BELLE" and to below "PORT OF BLYTHE" on the railing of the upper deck, above the paddle wheel. (PVVT January 2 1975) The link to the Yuma newspaper includes more pictures of the vessel -- they can be seen in detail if you are a subscriber of Newspapers.com.

In early 1975 Blythe was supposed to get a new tourist information facility by Interstate 10 at the California-Arizona border. It got delayed to Spring at one point. It was going to be a renovation of the agricultural inspection station by Santa Ana-based Carter Industries and an installation of an electronic information system, a feature found in rest stops though California. It would include an interactive map with narration about the points of interest in the state, and provide information on services such as lodging and food. There is mention that Carter will maintain the restrooms, indicating that this would be part of the facility. (Unknown PVVT 1975 editions) I don't know if it was ever implemented. Maybe not. (The nearest I-10 rest stop from Blythe is few miles east of Ehrenberg)

Then I remember the city promoting plans for a five million dollar welcome center located after the inspection station. It would be located next to the recently-built east Hobsonway exit. It would include a fountain; there was a model of the planned fountain inside the city hall as of the early 2010s and/or earlier, probably removed from the public today. I read somewhere that promoters or something else, of Coachella Valley, were proponents of the welcome center, as it would promote their attractions. One PVVT news article about the new exit says the plan for the welcome center is pretty much dead.

Snow days of the Palo Verde Valley

As I'm typing this in the scorching summer of 2016, the heat that dominates Blythe may give us the imagination of snowfall. It's a chilly opposition to summer weather, but it happened before, despite that the mean annual snowfall of Blythe for thirteen years (maybe somewhere in the 1950s and 1960s) was 0.0 inches. (Worldwide Airfield Summary". U. S. Navy, 1969.) Here are some reports of snow in or near the Palo Verde Valley.

1932: Snow fell in Blythe totaling four inches. (The Blythe and the Palo Verde Valley book published by Arcadia Publishing) Sorry, can't find the exact date.

December 1968: On an early Friday, a rain storm turned into snowfall in some areas, while temperatures reached to a low 30 degrees. Blythe received 0.15 inches of rain but officially obtained no snow according to the "California Division of Forestry" Blythe station. Lots of snow were reported in Eagle Mountain and Needles. The late afternoon of that Friday saw reports of snow in the southern part of the valley due to lower temperatures. The rain in Blythe flooded some major road intersections, including Hobsonway and Main; a picture caption says vehicles floated across the intersection. (PVVT, December 26 1968, a Thursday)

January 1979: A Monday in late January (January 29?) hosted short-lived areas of snowfall after the morning radiation fog's fade. Snow was reportedly found in Eagle Mountain, Vidal, Parker, the Black Rock mesa, and the Dome Rock Mountains (the most prominent snowfall). Blythe received rain, however. There was snow in Ripley too, but not so much, it was "unmeasurable." There are at least two pictures of the snow in the January 31 1979 PVVT edition, including one from Hobsonway.

December 2014: Snow was found in the end of the year or the beginning of the next one, on the mountains east of Ehrenberg and other areas near Quartzsite and Salome, Arizona. Newspaper picture

(The) Palo Verde Valley Route to (the) Land of Wonderful Opportunity

This is a history of the abandoned Rice to Ripley branchline owned and operated by three railroads: the California Southern, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Arizona and California. I made another history at Abandonedrails.com, but it contains errors and the webmaster couldn't get to update it soon (as of early 2015 at least). The history here is more complete and contains sources.

The Rice to Ripley branch line was constructed by the California Southern Railroad (unrelated to the National City to Barstow railroad) in 1915-1916 from Rice to Blythe. It was the only railroad built out of a group of dream railroads that would serve the Palo Verde Valley (World War I stymied those efforts). The Southern Pacific proposed a branch to the area from Glamis, but the plan dropped. The constructed line was surveyed to cross an opening between the Little Maria Mountains and the Big Maria Mountains, where the line's summit is based. The first train to serve Blythe came on August 8, 1916. A load of hogs was the first shipment out of the valley, bound to Los Angeles (Palo Verde Historical Museum and Society; I am a visitor and a volunteer); overnight passenger service to Los Angeles soon followed. This railroad line was necessary to conquer the remote access of the Palo Verde Valley. In 1921 Santa Fe began leasing the CSRR's 50-mile (or 49-mile) rail line. Santa Fe built a depot for Blythe in 1925-1926 by the request of a newspaper editor. (Myrick, Pg. 239) Dieselization was announced to the line's "Alkali Special," on the first run of regular diesel power on February 16, 1951. This was preceded by the use of streamlined diesel sets that pulled long produce trains, as recorded back in June 1949.

In 1920 (or 1921), the extension to the new town of Ripley, named after Santa Fe Railway president Edward Payson Ripley, was completed. This extension was built either to serve this town or as progress for an incomplete San Diego shortcut. (Glischinski, Pg. 30) The extension to Ripley saw struggles to keep it feasible, but it survived until the demise of the line in 2009-2011. The year of 1922 happened to curse the town forever by a disastrous flood; it never recovered and grew to a resort location afterwards. The Ripley extension was rebuilt late that year. In February 1934, it was reported that declining revenue led the Santa Fe to schedule discontinuation of service to Ripley on March 4. It was ironic for that to be planned when the town honored a railroad president, but ultimately, it wasn't the time the railroad extension to Ripley was given up.

For most of its existence, the line sourced outstanding levels of traffic carrying produce and other agricultural products from the valley. For example, an Interstate Commerce Commission report from 1956 states that the seasonal perishable train (The PVX), bound to Chicago, "averaged 69 cars," longer than the usual length of the GFX trains from California's Central Valley (although the PVX was seasonal and the GFX was year round). One week in the spring of 1954 had seen 191 carloads of lettuce, the majority percentage shipping to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The three weeks prior to approx. April 8, 1954 saw 708 carloads of lettuce shipped. In the summer of 1959, cantaloupe shipments reached 2333 cars in the growing season. In 1970, a derailed train primarily hauling lettuce had 77 cars, with at least one of the cars appearing in the picture being a newer and longer SFRC car as opposed to a 40 ft SFRD car. And the railway agent of the Blythe yard once recalled "as many as 135 cars" at one unspecified time. But as of 1977 the train length might be 35 cars "on a good day." Off-season reefer traffic cars were dropped off to Rice or Cadiz to be picked up by other trains, while the PVX trains ran directly to the transcon line between Los Angeles and Chicago. White ice was produced in Blythe and had been shipped to Winslow, Arizona in the summer of 1949 for the reefer trains stopping there.

Grain and livestock traffic was heavy too. The Blythe-Ripley included the Union Feed Yards south of Blythe, which at one time was the largest feed yard in the country. There was a nearly four-mile spur originating from the curve near the valley's northern edge that served Riverview Farms to the east from 1954 to 1982. (Myrick, Pg. 240) Information referring to this spur is extremely scarce. You can see big pictures of those feed yards in the Palo Verde Historical Museum. Many pictures of these cattle farms are inside the Union Bank in Blythe, albeit in an employee area.

Furthermore, the line had freight traffic from the town of Midland's United States Gypsum board plant (established in 1925) located near the aforementioned mountain opening. Almost everyday a train hauled water inside several tank cars from Blythe to Midland. More on that can be read in one of my forum threads at Trainorders. The plant closed in December 1966, and Midland, which depended on its mining industry, was shortly abandoned. The plant was demolished, some houses were relocated to Parker, Arizona, and 22 of them in Midland were burned down for firefighter training. However, the 1987 ATSF CLIC book that covers the line displays two sidings in Midland; they served the Figueroa Brothers pit.

In Inca Siding, few miles south of Midland, was the site of a grinding plant where gypsum from the Utah Construction Company mine was processed and shipped as agricultural gypsum to the Fresno area; this was the plant the large bin standing as of February 2015 was part of. Mining in the UCC mine began in 1947 by the American Gypsum Company, and UCC acquired an interest with that mine in 1948; it was closed in 1950. (Gypsum in California, 1952) In 1952, the Blythe Manganese Company completed its mill in Inca where manganese from the Blackjack and Arlington mines were processed onsite before shipment. Both facilities in Inca Siding also required water from tank cars. It is unknown when the manganese mill was abandoned, but it was as of January 1980. (Skillings' Mining Review, October 8, 1988) Between 1979 and the late 1980s, the Fannin Superior Gypsum company (or Superior Gypsum) ran the old UCC mine and resumed gypsum haulings. (Mineral Commodity Report -- Gypsum -- 1984) The company's siding in Inca is seen in the same 1987 Santa Fe CLIC book. There is a mention of a manganese mill near Ripley as of several years before 1934, and 1953. (Mineral Information Service, December 1, 1953)

For 25 years, the Santa Fe also ran a piggyback train or trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) service terminating at Blythe that carried perishables from the valley and the nearby Yuma, Imperial, Parker, and Coachella areas. Right before it ended, it seemed to be the only rail service in the line carrying perishables. The shutdown of the piggyback ramp occurred in August 1989, due to a decline of profit, the train switching environment (Gustafson & Serpico), and outdated circus-style flatcars that it only utilized. (CPUC) The discontinuation of piggyback service triggered a backlash from the economy of Blythe and local politicians. According to Don Edmisten of the California Public Utilities Commission, trains served the line two times a week (as of late 1989), and believed the railroad wants the piggyback customers to utilize major facilities in cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles, due to higher capacity and lower loading costs, a less affordable option for the customers. There were even rumors of Santa Fe abandoning the railroad in Blythe, which never happened. Despite of CPUC ordering the railroad to reverse their action, the railroad never reopened the piggyback ramp.

Santa Fe sold the line to David Parkinson in 1991. When the newly-formed Arizona and California started operations, they revitalized the Rice to Ripley line by re-initiating service with old customers and creating new service. The railroad proposed restoring operations on the piggyback ramp in 1991, but something else feasible was picked. (I don't know if they revived piggyback trains) They converted an old perishable facility into an intermodal container loading facility in order to haul Sudan grass from the valley to the Port of Long Beach, to feed cattle in Japan. About four miles of unused tracks in Blythe were ripped up in the process. (Pacific Railnews Jan. 1993) The Sudan grass belonged to Toshin Trading, which inaugurated in Blythe in 1986. The ARZC leased 25 new Gunderson Husky-Stack cars in 1993 to carry these containers double-stacked in the entire rail trip. Image descriptions from railcarphotos.com say that these cars were no longer ARZC property in 1998. Intermodal service in the line persisted, however. I have memories of well cars parked on the sidings north and south of Hobsonway. The railroad line even continued to be a source of gypsum, especially from Inca, with the freight bound to Bakersfield. (Myrick, Pgs. 256, 260)

One known movie filmed in this line is Joseph Kahn's Torque; a train consisted of streamlined equipment visited the line and Blythe in October 2002, and filming occurred south of Midland. In 2010, Justin Lin's Fast Five's train scene was filmed in the line close to Rice.

May 2, 2006 saw the destruction of the Blythe depot caused by fire, possibly from electric sparks. Inspectors of the line were alarmed by the poor state of the line, down to three customers as of May 2007 due to declining rail business, and trains ran up to 10 miles per hour. An embargo was applied a week before Christmas 2007. This was when the last train departed from Blythe, which pulled the remaining freight cars out of the line. The embargo was briefly lifted in December 18-21, 2008, but no trains came. The railroad filed a petition for abandonment on the entire line in March 12, 2009, with the intent to keep the first four miles for freight car storage. The Surface Transportation Board ruled in favor of the ARZC over the "Committee For Preservation of the Rice-Blythe-Ripley Rail Line", composed of the city and former customers, on June 30, 2009. According to a case document, over a week later the owner of the Bountiful Grain & Craig Mountain Railroad from Idaho arrived at the scene to purchase the line. Despite his effort to submit documents for the purchase of the line, an offer of financial assistance was ultimately dropped after an agreement couldn't be reached between BG&CM and ARZC on the December 18, 2009 deadline, preventing any further hope to restore the line. There are STB documents about a company called San Pedro Trails acquiring the line from the ARZC for interim trail use. Company listings and other sources suggest that it was also a subsidiary of the railroad's parent company, RailAmerica.

The tracks beyond the first four miles from Rice were pulled into rail and tie piles in Memorial Day weekend, 2011. Its vandalized crossing structures were chopped off in November that year and were trucked away as of December. The track materials departed starting in November/December and continued for months. These rails and ties went to such locations as (possibly) A&K Railroad Materials retail yards, the Blythe Ace Hardware (Inland Builders Supply) inventory (ties), or New Mexico to build a temporary railroad line where train scenes from Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger were filmed. A Blythe city meeting agenda in June 2011 mentioned interest to spare a 300 ft portion of the line, just north of the former station site and south of Hobsonway. A&K donated this track portion, and the crossing infrastructure in Hobsonway, to the city in June or July 2011. The track, complete with remains of a turnout and a switchstand, is intended to display at least one railcar, but it is empty as of July 2016. Satellite images from Google Maps reveal that the last 0.4 mile of the line in Ripley and few sidings in southern Blythe have been spared by their respective land owners. In March 2015, the middle Hobsonway crossing signals received "Exempt" signs, so large vehicles such as buses no longer stop for them.

Some niche surviving rail equipment relevant to this railroad line include the Torque train locomotive (An EMD E8 built as CNW 5022, now in the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler AZ), a speeder at the Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow (owned by actor Michael Gross at some point), and one of the locomotives for the Midland narrow gauge railroad in the Colorado Railroad Museum according to here. But Blythe, given its rich railroad history as proven here, deserves to one day join the ranks of the many places displaying railroad equipment.

Other resources include: 

David Myrick's Santa Fe to Phoenix - Railroads of Arizona Vol. 5

Steve Glischinski's Santa Fe Railway (1997)

Testimony of D. A. Baumgartner, Interstate Commerce Commission on Transcontinental Divisions. Sep. 5, 1956

Surface Transportation Board

Palo Verde Valley Times (Feb. 15 1934, Jun. 16, 1949, Jul. 14, 1949, Feb. 22, 1951, Apr. 8, 1954, Jun. 25, 1959, Mar. 26, 1970, Aug. 25, 1977, Nov. 10, 1989, Dec. 1, 1989, Mar. 2, 1990, Jun. 19, 1991, May 5, 2006 and May 25, 2007 issues)

Movie-trains.com

Cinemareview.com

Vredenburgh.org

Parkerpioneer.net

Joc.com

Houston Chronicle

Lee Gustafson and Phil Serpico's Santa Fe Coast Lines Depots: Los Angeles Divsion
barstowrailmuseum.org

(This post's name comes from the words in a CSRR logo found in a timetable letter Serpico shared with me. There are parentheses in the title because the "the" is left of the two unparenthesized sets of words, which diagonally branch off. The "to" is in the right side, seeming to be where the unparenthesized words lead and merge to at the other side of the logo, but including "to" after "opportunity" is uncertain. I do not know the intended way to say the words in the logo. The same logo can also be seen in his book mentioned here. There is another CSRR logo found in the a document in the Palo Verde Historical Museum's railroad filing folder)