A Chase of the Arizona and California's New DASH 9s

railfanjunctio...
In January I headed out to the Needles area to capture the (at the time) new AZRC DASH 9 engines they had received secondhand from BNSF. For some godforsaken reason the folks at G&W decided to rush the units into service without their nose stripes and logo applied, meaning that the noses of the engines were entirely plain, which hopefully will be resolved soon. I chased the train from Aguila all the way to Parker before hitting the road back up to Needles, most of the road's length in Arizona that was accessible by road.

[@xCharjx]

Always cool to see a small railroad get BIG power.

[@RailfanJunction]

Yeah, I'm sad to see the SD40M-2s go and would prefer to see these units in green and cream paint but they look nice!

[@mpaulk2023]

I just found one of the G&W painted A&C units in Eugene, Oregon attached to the Central Oregon & Pacific consist on Sunday, June 25th....the locomotive consists on the rail line up here is getting borderline ridiculous these days. Lmfao!
Two former Providence and Worcester SD70M-2's, two CSX SD70M's, a California Northern GP38, and a C&A SD4-2....and I saw two more G&W inspired EMD's rolling in on a southbound UP hauler earlier today! 🤣😂🤯

[@lashendawest7509]

Great horn show from the arzc crew

[@minnesotarailfan11]

they got rid of the old units i'm guessing. its sad to see all the old power on shortlines are starting to disappear. The shortline that i live by finally got EX BNSF SD70macs but its also cool to see big power.

[@lashendawest7509]

Great catches awesome chase and excellent video

[@KofaAvenueAnimations]

As of July 2023, they still haven't applied the nose stripes or heralds.

[@fadedexile]

all the way to Parker but you didn't a shot of it going over that beautiful train bridge at the colorado river less than a mile away from the end of the video? i think i'm going to cry.

[@RailfanJunction]

Yeah I wound up needing to get food with the assumption that it would cut off an engine and switch for a bit but they just changed crews and left. Every other time I've chased it they've spent at least an hour in Parker but not this time!

[@alco251b9]

Whats the status of the SD40-2s and 45s?

[@RailfanJunction]

Most have been shifted onto other G&W roads I believe.

[@darrelgibbs4898]

Great Video Fantastic Beautiful

[@RailfanJunction]

Thanks!