Scottsdale's Rail Yard

Aboard the Scottsdale Ltd

The waiting people shift and crane their necks as the engine bursts into view around the final curve, proud and shining in the midday sun. Its cars, painted in vivid oranges and yellows and greens, follow like a disjointed caterpillar. Smoke billows from its silver smokestack. Its whistle wails again, dueling with the calliope music from the carousel and the laughter of children. Two-year-old Spencer Vaughan jumps up and down. "Train, Mommy! Train!" he cries. David Vaughanpicks up his son and puts him on his shoulders so he can see over the heads of the other children. His mother, Stacy Vaughan, laughs. “He loves the train,” she explains. “It’s just his size. It brings it down to his level.”

The pull of McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park feels irresistible whether one is young in years or simply young at heart. This oasis of fun and memories nestles smack-dab in the middle of Scottsdale.

The 30-acre park was founded in the early '70s by Guy Stillman, who made a deal with his mother and stepfather, Anne and Fowler McCormick. They would donate part of their ranch to the City of Scottsdale, and he would donate his trains. Today, a bunkhousefilled with model trains remains the only building from that working ranch. Until he died in 1995, Stillman was hands-on, coddling and protecting his park and the people who worked there.

When the park was first proposed, some considered it a gamble. People wouldn't go that far north, the naysayers predicated. But they did, and still do. “We have hundreds of thousands of contacts a year,” says Bob McNair, senior recreation coordinator.

“I used to go with my friends,” says Leesa Otis, who remembers the park fondly from her teenage years. “It was like a fantasyland with the carousel and the train.

The miniature steam-powered train with its shiny black engine is the most popular attraction with more than 290,000 people a year riding its rails. Another ride, however, hotly vies for the “most popular attraction” title. Calliope music enchants like no other, and the park's colorful carousel, with its great galloping horses with arched necks, flaring nostrils and flying manes, proves a sensory delight. Ten-year-old Amanda Smith likes its Disney-themed music. “It’s fun to guess the movie the songs are from,” she says.

Over at Western Town, a kid-sized playground replicating an Old West town, a would-be driver hangs perilously off the side of the bright-red stagecoach with its yellow trim and wheels. “Here come the bad guys,” he yells. “Bang! Bang!” His pint-sized sidekick scampers across the top in an effort to save the strongbox of gold. Good, of course, triumphs and wins the day. The two heroes raise their arms in victory. Western Town includes a bank, jailhouse with barred windows (great for snapping pictures), sheriff's office, depot and Wells Fargo office.

Close by, happy shouts and laughter permeate the air as children climb, crawl, swing and slide on brightly colored play equipment, all coated to be cool to the touch in summer. An awning helps the cooling process, and a mister system draws the little ones like a backyard sprinkler during warm months.

Nearby, folks with growling stomachs queue up at the concession stand housed in an old Southern Pacific caboose. Here hungry visitors purchase sandwich combinations with names like Train Robber Special and Box Car Special. If the mood begs for something a little more exotic, Hartley's General Store with its gourmet coffee and hand-dipped ice cream fills the bill. You'll also find model trains and souvenirs, plus Thomas the Tank Engine and Brio railroad toys.

The kid-oriented park also has a side that appeals to adults. For railroad buffs, old train cars stand on display around the grounds.

The Magma Locomotive #6, built in 1907, was used by mining operations until 1961. Attached to it are two cars that house the museum. The first, a Santa Fe car built in 1914 as a dining car, was converted to transport baggage during World War II. Here history nuts “ooh” and “ah” over railroad memorabilia, including many old Fred Harvey Co. items.

The second car, one of six specially built by the Pullman Company and named after famous explorers, is the Roald Amundsen Pullman. Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower used it as a land-bound Air Force One. These days, visitors squeeze down the narrow aisle, inspecting the living quarters, a rear lounge and the brass-trimmed rear platform indispensable to whistle-stop politicking.

Among the park's points of pride, the French Gratitude boxcar, stands in solitary splendor. “France was grateful to the Gls for liberating them from the Nazis,” says Spencer's grandfather, WWII buff Stuart Vaughan, as he leans on the fence that surrounds the car. “They gave one of these cars to every state in the Union.” The cars were pulled through the streets of France with the doors open, and people threw in gifts to be delivered to the Americans.

The 5,200-square-foot brick Stillman Station resembles the historic train depot in Clifton, Arizona. Inside it are the gift shop and the administrative offices. Model trains that once belonged to Guy Stillman circle the walls.

Outlying areas of the park sport a quieter attitude. People picnic on hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and homemade potato salad under several tree-shaded ramadas, while children nap on blankets or roll with glee in the grass. At the east end of the park, Navajo hogans hunker like sleeping beasts amid an arboretum displaying native plants. Nearby, energetic young bodies spike volleyballs over stretched nets.

A stately gazebo accommodates weddings and free summertime concerts with local bands performing everything from country to '70s to disco. A Jimmy Buffett-type night is especially popular, says McNair. “We get a couple of thousand people for that and it's just very relaxing.” Special events draw crowds. Exclusively Little, for children 6 and younger, remains a favorite. Unhampered by big kids, little ones scamper among a teddy bear contest, a petting zoo, arts and crafts and face-painting booths, games and entertainment. Penny Hallas, who attended the event with her 2-year-old daughter, Rachael, says, “It was just so cool. There were kids everywhere, but it didn't seem crowded, and everything was free. Rachael loved the moon bouncer and watching the great entertainment.” As with any self-respecting attraction of some years, the park boasts its own ghost. “We don't think Guy ever left,” McNair says. There are reports of doors opening and closing by themselves. And on the second anniversary of his death, one of his model trains came to life and started running around its track. AH