Roy’s neon sign in Amboy should be relighted in mid-November

The neon in the iconic Roy’s Motel and Cafe sign in Amboy, California, will glow again in mid-November, according to a roadie who contacted the complex’s manager.

Frank Gifford posted the news on the route66 yahoogroup a few days ago:

According to a phone conversation with Roy’s manager Manny Lopez, the sign will be re-lit in a ceremony Saturday November 16. Plans are to keep it glowing all night from then on, recalling the glory days of Route 66 through Amboy. That era ended in 1973 when I-40 opened on a distant new alignment, leaving Roy’s bypassed and hidden by miles of desert and mountains.
The sign work is part of an effort to gradually re-open parts of the Roy’s complex. Only gas and snacks are available now (along with restrooms and shade from the pump canopy). Lopez says water system upgrades should allow Roy’s motel to re-open next year.

Gifford said he snapped a photo of the neon tubing, ready to be installed, on the motel office floor.

The sign also was repainted last month (shown above).

Gifford said the sign was installed in 1959. I’m not sure when the neon went dark. I’ve explored Route 66 for nearly 20 years, and the neon there didn’t work at that time.

As for the motel, it likely still was operating in the late 1990s (I remember a roadie trying to organize a get-together there), but that portion closed not long after that. The six cabins nearest to Route 66 probably wouldn’t take long to rehab, given their small size and Spartan amenities.

Juan Pollo restaurant chain owner Albert Okura bought the entire town of Amboy in 2005. Roy’s cafe building reopened as a convenience store, and the gasoline pumps work after being idle for many years.

Roy’s in Amboy opened in 1938 through owner Roy Crowl. But the most well-known owner of Roy’s was Buster Burris. By the late 1940s, Roy’s garage, motel and restaurant were open 24 hours a day to serve Route 66 travelers.

The property’s business declined after the opening of Interstate 40, and Burris retired in 1995. Burris died in 2000.

(Image of the repainted Roy’s Motel Cafe sign in Amboy, California, by Sam Fiorella)

4 thoughts on “Roy’s neon sign in Amboy should be relighted in mid-November

  1. Thank you Albert!!! I can’t wait to see it again in all it’s glory. You had said something about fixing the sign up several years ago when I met you at the McDonald’s museum and now you’re making it happen. Thank you again for saving Roy’s!

  2. Let’s hope Mr. Okura doesn’t decide to sell the neon sign to a collector! It would be the most desirable artifact from Route 66, hands down.

  3. The motel rooms were open up until at least March 2001. Two buddies and I stayed there as a base camp for a weekend motorcycle ride on the East Mojave Heritage Trail. We rode from Amboy to Needles and back.

  4. We always travel rt 66 when we can. Even tho the motel isn’t open have you thought about offering spaces for RVers to park overnight IF they are totally self contained. You could charge a minimal fee ($20-25/nite) for parking only, no hookups available. It might be a way to increase your revenue stream & you could bank that money to use for future motel restoration.

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