Resource Type
Years
Engine #12 Stillman Ranch 1971
Guy’s Last Train party in 1974
The City of Scottsdale completed a $2.5 million makeover of the railroad park. A new, two-story, 5,000-square-foot replica of the 1913-vintage Clifton Station in Clifton, Arizona was built to serve as a park headquarters and provide a souvenir shop, and was named Stillman Station. A new train-loading platform was constructed to allow staff to operate a longer train and to help reduce wait times. New restrooms and a clock tower were also built. The Snackstop food concession, new carousel and playground were also relocated, as were several other park amenities. The rededication ceremony was held Friday, October 10, 1997. Mayor Kathryn
“Sam” Campana, City Manager Dick Bowers, Patricia Stillman and Bill Soderquist representing the Scottsdale Railroad and Mechanical Society spoke at the dedication. At the time of the renovation and re-dedication, Bob McNair was the city’s manager of the park. Within two months of reopening the park, attendance and revenue were up as much as twice that of November 1995.
DATE: October 10, 1997
The Scottsdale Live Steamers (once the Maricopa Live Steamers club) was established in 1972 and has been growing as the park opened in 1975.
DATE: November 10, 1994
#10 Steam engine
In 1967, 100-acres of land was donated to the City of Scottsdale by the McCormick’s. Also at this time, Guy Stillman, a local businessman, announced he will turn over his miniature railroad as a long-term lease – purchase agreement with Scottsdale. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler McCormick had operated an Arabian horse ranch for many years upon these many acres. Guy Stillman donated his steam engines and rolling stock, with hopes that everyone could enjoy trains for years to come. This was indeed the start of something magical for Scottsdale.
DATE: February 25, 1974
The French Gratitude (Merci) Train carried more than 3,200 gifts from the people of France in appreciation of American generosity in the postwar years. This boxcar was moved to the park from the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum north of Phoenix by the 259th Engineering Company of the Arizona National Guard. It arrived in need to total refurbishment, but was welcomed at a public ceremony on Saturday, November 7th, 1987 at the park where Mayor Herb Drinkwater, French consul Claude Prosnier, Arizona National Guard Commander Major General Donald L. Owens and chief champion and fundraiser for the restoration Zina Kuhn each spoke.
In addition, after years of fundraising and getting help with restoration, community volunteer Zina Kuhn was proud to have the French Gratitude/Merci Train car dedicated at McCormick Railroad Park on Veteran’s Day, Saturday November 11, 1989. French Consul-General Gerard Coste was an honored guest at the dedication ceremony. In conjunction with the dedication of the French Gratitude Boxcar, Zina Kuhn started an annual City of Scottsdale tradition – hosting a Veteran’s Day Ceremony in front of the historic boxcar, where veterans, residents, students, as well as local government officials gather to pay tribute to Scottsdale’s veterans, past and present.
Zina Kuhn passed away August 15, 2005 at the age of ninety-one.
In 1989, the Scottsdale North Rotary Club donated $3,000 for a ramada to shelter the Gratitude Train Car at the park. The City matched the club’s donation. Club members also donated labor to build the ramada.
DATE: November 11, 1949
To add a YouTube video to the archive, go to https://www.youtube.com and find your video. A window will pop up, at the bottom, click the word EMBED. Look at the code inside the iframe, copyy the text inside the quotes following src= For example, https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iln6n7F9qz8 . You do not need the quotes or any of the other iframe code.
On this admin page, under Item Type, select Video. The section for “Videos” will show below it. Click on the dropdown under videos and select YouTube. Then paste your embed link into the input space that appears. The link in that space should look similar to https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iln6n7F9qz8 and include the word embed, if it doesn’t, it won’t work properly on the site.
DATE: