WILLIAMS — At approximately 7:30 p.m., Williams Police and Fire units were dispatched to a reported vehicle fire at the Zipline in Williams. Before they arrived, it was reported that the vehicle fire was extinguished, but WFD responded to ensure that it was out.
The vehicle was the red 1961 Thunderbird that is used as a display when the Zipline is open. The owners were attempting to start it when a fire occurred in the engine. The owner quickly extinguished the flame with a fire extinguisher the Zipline has on hand. Their quick action prevented the vehicle from becoming a total loss.
The Williams Fire Department responded to ensure the fire was completely out and stayed on hand for safety.
There were no injuries.
Williams Fire Department called in to make sure fire extinguished.
Another RV tries and fails to zip under the Zipline sign.
WILLIAMS – This morning at about 7 a.m., another RV attempted, and failed, to get under the Zipline signage. There is no safety issue with the Zipline ride.According to a witness, the RV attempted to go under the rails and got stuck. It backed up and attempted to go in-between the sign posts and a white van. The witness stopped the vehicle while calling the Williams Police Department. The damage was minimal.
WILLIAMS — The Brown’s Amusement carnival returned to Williams and began setting up Tuesday. The Zipper and other rides along with the Zipline will be available throughout the weekend.
The carnival is set up along Railroad Avenue (Route 66) in the train park across from I-40 Fleet Services and the Goldies Route 66 Diner. The Zipline is in the Visitor Parking lot across the street from Saya’s Gas and Convenience Store.
The carnival opens Thursday April 23 at 5 p.m. and is set to close at 7 p.m. on Saturday the 25th. Advance discount tickets may be purchased at the Williams Visitors Center
UPDATE: The Zipline began operation on Wednesday, June 12.
WILLIAMS—The Historic Route 66 Zipline across Grand Canyon Blvd appears near completion.
For fifteen twelve-dollars, one can now ride a seat up to the towers set up by the community stage. There they can travel the ten-seconds, or so, back down to the starting point.
The travel will give you the opportunity to take in the scenic view of Grand Canyon Blvd and the city dumpsters.
You might want to rethink parking in the city parking or the Visitor Center parking. If you do, remember that the car wash is only a couple of blocks down and on the left on Railroad Avenue.
WILLIAMS—At the City Council meeting March 28th, Mike Brown of Western Destinations proposed the instillation of a ride called Zip Line perhaps in the area of Cureton Park. The proposed cost of rides would be approximately $39 with a re-ride costing half of that. Williams residents would get a discounted price.
The ride, Mr. Brown indicated, could provide as many as forty jobs in Williams. Local residents would be trained to conduct the ride safely and the ride would be insured for $5 million.
Councilman Don Dent considered what affect such a ride would have on the Route 66 image that Williams has built up. Joplin Missouri and Branson Missouri have theme parks along, or in the area of, Route 66 both trading off on the Route 66 name. Knight’s Action Park operates in Springfield, Illinois along the Mother Road.
Blog BatesLine by Michael Bates of Tulsa Okalahoma asked: Wouldn’t it be cool to restore Crystal City on Historic Route 66 as an amusement park, right next to a restored Red Fork Main Street?
Dwayne the canoe guy commented:
This is great news. There is a small amusement ‘park’ on Route 66 in Joplin but it would be great to have a good sized park like Bell’s rockin & rollin on the Mother Road. Especially with a minigolf with 66 icons (wigwam motel, round barn, gemini giant, cadillac ranch)
Right here in Williams, Napolitano approved a special taxing district for a theme park in Williams that never developed. That action even caused the County Board of Supervisors to raise property taxes for a short time. So you now know what a “special taxing district” is.
Flagstaff operates a smaller version of the Zip Line ride at their Extreme Adventure Course near the fairgrounds as seen in the following video.
There are currently Zip Line rides in Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Hawaii. For the longest and fastest Zip Line in the world, you will need a ticket to South Africa.
Mr. Brown indicated that the ride would be “low impact” meaning that it could be easily removed leaving no marks if it did not do well. However, the engineering in the videos presented does not appear to bear that out. It appears that Williams would have to build a large tower to make the ride. It is also unclear how the project would impact softball and little league games at the park.
While the project does not seem appropriate in the indicated area, it could be an interesting compliment to the Bearizona drive through wildlife park. Another area of possible interest might be the Williams snow play area.
According to a witness, the RV attempted to go under the rails and got stuck. It backed up and attempted to go in-between the sign posts and a white van. The witness stopped the vehicle while calling the Williams Police Department. The damage was minimal.
