olram30
Not That Kind of Engineer
I think I'm done for a week or two. We have family coming down for my daughter's graduation.
But this is like treasure hunting. I have a few more I'm definitely going to get to soon.
CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons
- Thread starter wayoflife
- Start date
I think I'm done for a week or two. We have family coming down for my daughter's graduation.
But this is like treasure hunting. I have a few more I'm definitely going to get to soon.
olram30
Not That Kind of Engineer
Had some free time today, so I set off into the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. A little town with the population of 240 called medicine bow. Only 60 miles east of Rawlins. This is by far the best one I've found.
All I had was my cell phone, so pictures aren't the best.
All I had was my cell phone, so pictures aren't the best.
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OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
That is awesome Marlo!
olram30
Not That Kind of Engineer
Thanks, I was very surprised to see it was in good shape considering the weather and vandals.
olram30
Not That Kind of Engineer
Thanks to you and Cindy for sparking my interest in these. Hard to believe these are still out there after all these years. I've talked to people who've lived in Wyoming their whole lives and never seen or heard of these.
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 7
It's hard to imagine that Cindy and I have been going out and looking for these concrete arrows and airway beacons for about two years now and still finding new ones to visit and explore. In fact, thanks to a tip that Linebacker posted up a while back, we recently made a stop over at Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum at the Grants-Milan Airport to see the wonderful beacon and arrow display that they have there. While this wasn't the original location for much of what you see, the tower and buildings are in fact original structures from the Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) route that was laid out by Charles Lindbergh back in 1929 and were donated to and restored by the Cibola County Historical Society. This is the one place you can visit and see what an airway beacon, it's tower, concrete arrow and supporting buildings would have looked like back in its prime.
Unfortunately, it took us a bit longer to get out here that we had hoped and showed up just as the sun was setting.
As luck would have it, we ran into someone to great us too.
A couple of shots of the tower and generator shed.
Apparently, this 1929 beacon tower originally stood near Williams, AZ.
The 1929 generator shed originally came from Bonita Canyon which is located 10 miles to the south of Grants-Millan up in the Zuni Mountains.
Unfortunately, the concrete arrow is a replica but understandably so.
This is the actual 1953-73 Grants Flight Service Station. As you can see, it has been fully restored and now houses the museum.
They even have a standard Stevenson Screen enclosure or what was also known as a "weather box" that housed sensitive weather instruments and protected them from the elements.
Last but not least, there's even a memorial here dedicated to a Ford Trimotor that crashed and killed 8 people back on September 3, 1929.
You can see a lot more photos and read all kinds of great information about the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum by clicking on the link below:
http://www.cibolahistory.org/aviation-heritage-museum.html
It's hard to imagine that Cindy and I have been going out and looking for these concrete arrows and airway beacons for about two years now and still finding new ones to visit and explore. In fact, thanks to a tip that Linebacker posted up a while back, we recently made a stop over at Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum at the Grants-Milan Airport to see the wonderful beacon and arrow display that they have there. While this wasn't the original location for much of what you see, the tower and buildings are in fact original structures from the Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) route that was laid out by Charles Lindbergh back in 1929 and were donated to and restored by the Cibola County Historical Society. This is the one place you can visit and see what an airway beacon, it's tower, concrete arrow and supporting buildings would have looked like back in its prime.
Unfortunately, it took us a bit longer to get out here that we had hoped and showed up just as the sun was setting.
As luck would have it, we ran into someone to great us too.
A couple of shots of the tower and generator shed.
Apparently, this 1929 beacon tower originally stood near Williams, AZ.
The 1929 generator shed originally came from Bonita Canyon which is located 10 miles to the south of Grants-Millan up in the Zuni Mountains.
Unfortunately, the concrete arrow is a replica but understandably so.
This is the actual 1953-73 Grants Flight Service Station. As you can see, it has been fully restored and now houses the museum.
They even have a standard Stevenson Screen enclosure or what was also known as a "weather box" that housed sensitive weather instruments and protected them from the elements.
Last but not least, there's even a memorial here dedicated to a Ford Trimotor that crashed and killed 8 people back on September 3, 1929.
You can see a lot more photos and read all kinds of great information about the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum by clicking on the link below:
http://www.cibolahistory.org/aviation-heritage-museum.html
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
Super cool!
boardsurfer
Active Member
Headed out to Southern Colorado for some much needed camping and get away time. This here is Airway Beacon #48, on the El Paso - Pueblo route. According to the NGS data sheet, it was "first observed" in 1945 which seems a bit late considering the main purpose of the beacons. I dont think that is the original build date.
Anyway, here's the lonely shack in the middle of nowhere.
A little closer. No tower present, concrete slab is non-existent.
A peek inside.
Found one single indicator of the tower, this was buried solidly in the ground and I nearly missed it in the brush
Thanks again, Eddie for giving these little bits of history some attention.
Anyway, here's the lonely shack in the middle of nowhere.
A little closer. No tower present, concrete slab is non-existent.
A peek inside.
Found one single indicator of the tower, this was buried solidly in the ground and I nearly missed it in the brush
Thanks again, Eddie for giving these little bits of history some attention.