Arizona & California Railroad in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts: 30 Years of ARZC
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- In this video, C. Vision Productions takes you to the Sonoran and Mojave deserts to view train operations on the Arizona & California Railroad. We document the railroad's mainline from one end to the other, with coverage over 30 years between 1992 and 2022. We'll see ARZC trains powered by classic EMD locomotives grinding up mountain grades, racing through the desert, and performing a little switching along the way. Rebuilt SD45s and SD45-2s wearing the attractive Arizona & California paint scheme were our primary focus in this production, with a supporting cast of GP38s, rebuilt GP20s, and RCPE SD40-2s also featured. Other visitors include CEFX SD40M-2s, MRL GP19-1 151, and a pair of BNSF road units. Genesee & Wyoming colors appear in this program as well, as many of the long-term ARZC locomotives received fresh coats of G&W orange in recent years. Arizona & California’s mainline travels through beautiful desert country for most of its length, with magnificent mountain landscapes visible along much of the route. The railroad encounters a true mountain pass between Harcuvar and Vicksburg, Arizona, known as Granite Wash Pass. This steep 1.6% grade is where battles are fought and won by ARZC crews, and is where our coverage of the railroad begins. From Granite Wash Pass, we’ll head east to the BNSF interchange at Castle Hot Springs, located on BNSF’s Phoenix Subdivision. Commonly referred to as the “Peavine”, this route accommodates the interchange of trains between BNSF and ARZC. After our coverage of the Peavine concludes, our focus shifts back to Arizona & California’s mainline. On our westward journey, we’ll visit the railroad’s home base of Parker, Arizona, before crossing the Colorado River into California. From there, we’ll head into the Mojave Desert on our journey to Cadiz. We’ll pass through several ghost towns as we explore the desolate west end of the railroad, all with fascinating histories. Once we arrive in Cadiz, the Arizona & California is seen interchanging freight with the Santa Fe. During the interchange process, a high-stepping eastbound hotshot passes by on the mainline powered by a quartet of ATSF EMDs. Mountains, wide open desert, unique small towns, and of course, classic locomotives operating on a unique shortline railroad. It’s all here for you to enjoy in this C. Vision video presentation.
Original Music:
Erik Shicotte
Locomotives commonly seen:
ARZC 4001
ARZC 4002
ARZC 4003 (ARZC 3996)
ARZC 4004 (ARZC 3997)
RCPE 6414 (ARZC 3998)
RCPE 6434 (ARZC 3999)
Thank you for watching. Stay tuned to C. Vision Productions for more railroad content produced just for you. Links to additional videos can be found below:
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That K5L on the geep was so awesome and unexpected!!! I always wondered p this railroad and I now have my answers about it. Afterall I was born in 1992 and all I know is CSX and Norfolk Southern being that I'm from Florida lol but anyway I anticipate your content more than any other UA-camr and it's worth the anticipation
We thought that horn was pretty awesome as well. Someone on that railroad may have been a horn enthusiast… And, we very much appreciate the kind words. It’s our goal to bring you videos that you’ll enjoy for many years to come. Thanks again from the C. Vision team.
I remember seeing an Arizona&California emd with a nose mounted bell in Omak, WA
Very neat! We’re assuming it was a GP15-1 lettered for California Northern? Those units are awesome…
Now they have Dash 9s on their trains. Good lord I’m now old. Many of the BNSF Dash 9s are as old as me.
Thanks for the information, Alex. We’re hearing rumors that some of ARZC’s EMDs are being shipped off to RCPE. We’ll see if that happens.
I love your stuff!!!
Thank you very much! We appreciate having you as a viewer.
Nice Video many greetings Form Germany
Thank you!!! Greetings from Minnesota!
My favorite railroad.
We can see why! ARZC’s route is incredibly scenic. And those remote areas out in the Mojave Desert between Rice and Cadiz are simply magical. It’s a great line to ride, from what we hear. Thank you for checking out the video.
Woah.
Thank you!!!
You really set the standard for quality. Amazing locations and footage. Great transitions. Sad this will never get as much recognition as the lame iPhone videos that are put out lately.
Thank you for the kind words. We try to put the maximum amount of effort into these projects. As for our viewership and exposure, we’re just grateful to have the audience we have, regardless of size. 50,000 views per video would be nice, but that’s probably not realistic on this highly competitive platform… We’ll just keep doing what we do and see where it takes us. Thank you for being a viewer.
Believe me, I'll get a proper camera eventually since the IPhone mic quality's so gross.
@@alexpaumen3937 it goes silent after the horn or train starts to pass lol. Like way down. I absolutely hate it
@@CVisionProductions1 You will get there one day. Your content is top-notch. It will catch on, just keep at it.
No complaints on this end, Drayton. We basically resurrected a dead channel in 2020 that had only been used for previews in the decade previous. With that said, there’s not much else we could ask for. We never expected to get as far as we did with this initiative. The support from our audience has been incredible, especially as we transitioned from DVD/Blu-ray releases to UA-cam.
Very well done.
Thank you very much! We appreciate the feedback.
Truly a documentary. Enjoyed every minute of it.
Thank you!!! We very much appreciate the kind words. This video took many years to complete, so it’s great to hear that it is being enjoyed.
Have you heard the new ARZC’s new dash 9’s recently replacing the emd engines you saw? Dash 9’s were former BNSF engines and the paint scheme now still has no logos at all. I recommend you check those out if you haven’t yet.
Thank you very much for the heads up. Sorry to hear that ARZC’s EMDs have been exiled…
Enjoying and relaxing image 😊
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it.
Loved that ARZC video! Very informative. I've off-loaded along that way between Cadiz and Parker. Very desolate and yet very cool at the same time. Loved seeing some of those vintage Santa Fe locomotives at the end.
Thank you very much! We’re glad that you enjoyed the video. It’s great that you know this area well. We absolutely love spending time out along the west end of the railroad. The Mojave Desert is a very special place. By the way, we appreciate you noticing the classic footage from Cadiz.
@@CVisionProductions1 I have heard that Cadiz may be the location of some future railroad museum/interactive experience, but I'm not certain what the status of that is right now. It's cool how you have Amboy, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs, Homer, Ibis, et al., all the way to Needles. (Missing a few in there), but I like the alphabetical symmetry. Keep those videos coming! I enjoy watching them.
Love the video! Nicely done. Love the commentary. 😎👍🏻🎥🚂💯
Thank you, Brandon! There was quite a bit of research and writing for this video… We appreciate you noticing.
@@CVisionProductions1 of course, you’re welcome!
Wow
Thank you, Paul!
Excellent! Closer to old time railroading!
Thank you so much! Time seems to stand still in the desert. Love it out there…
@@CVisionProductions1 I was raised in Arizona, so that's my old stomping grounds. Love Flagstaff and the pea-vine as well. Saw my first steam Locomotive in Flag at about the age of six! Lot's of logging back then!
Thank you for sharing that, sir. Steam on the Santa Fe would have been something to see… We’re thankful you were able to witness it. And yes, that entire region is incredible. We hope to get back there someday. More classic Santa Fe footage will be released in the future, so keep a good eye out for it if you’re interested.
Very enjoyable. . . great job!
Thank you very much for watching and also for the kind words.
Great work, well done!
Thank you so much! We appreciate you viewing and commenting.
Very nice! That was an enjoyable watch. Very well done.
Thank you very much for watching! We’re happy that it was worth your time. Hopefully it brought back some good memories for you as well.
@@CVisionProductions1 Most definitely worth it! Makes me want to take a few days and spend them in the desert.
Good company lots units in their roster
Yes, sir! We thought their roster was quite interesting. They’ve since added GEs to their fleet.
@@CVisionProductions1 yep ex bnsf h2 units I miss them in bnsf livery
Those GEs are starting to show up on many G&W properties. Hopefully they live up to expectations. The SD40s will be missed.
@@CVisionProductions1 yeah hope sew u soon
I love this train video c vision productions send me santa fe train video
Thank you, Chris! Expect some Santa Fe in the future…
Awesome video, y'all!
Much appreciated! Thank you for watching.
@@CVisionProductions1 thank y'all for uploading! Do you guys know if ARZC runs any intermodal traffic nowadays? And...do the BNSF intermodal trains take the AZRC main the whole way into Cadiz or split off somewhere else?
Yes, sir. ARZC still runs those “repo” trains for BNSF between Matthie and Cadiz, which is the entire length of Arizona & California’s mainline. They are symboled as baretable trains due to the trailers and containers being empty. It’s a much easier move for BNSF to route them over ARZC vs running them all the way up to Williams Junction to access the Transcon. They’d also pop out onto the Seligman Sub facing east at Williams Junction, which wouldn’t work very well… That’s also the reason for ARZC’s overhead freight traffic. The freight trains that operate over the Arizona & California are essentially Phoenix to Barstow and Barstow to Phoenix manifests.
10:26 that’s the first time I’ve EVER seen that irl
It’s pretty neat to see, especially when those tumbleweeds are the size of small vehicles. When you get into the arid and semi-arid climates of the Southwest, seeing tumbleweed rolling around on windy days becomes fairly common. Also, thank you for the precise “timestamp” in your comment. It was spot on.
As I understand it, the scenes shot by Dan Hadley in 1992 were used in the Pentrex releases, "Arizona's Shortline Railroads" and "Santa Fe's Mojave Mainline".
Yes! Right on, Andrew! You know your video history very well.
@@CVisionProductions1 Thank you.
You’re welcome.
Looks like thoes crossing had 7 INCH gate lights!
If those truly are seven inch lights, that’s pretty darn cool! Thanks for pointing that out!
@@CVisionProductions1yes those are 7 inch gate lights those are extremely rare to find now days!
The Montana Rail Link Back in their state must be devastated if they heard about #151 wreckage. Very sad. :(
It’s a real shame that MRL 151 was wrecked. It was a neat (and unique) unit.
Absolutely phenomenal! Great work! Will this be available to purchase on DVD in the future by any chance?
Thank you so much!!! We appreciate the kind words. Most likely, this will only be available here on UA-cam. Thank you for your inquiry.
I really liked the original colour of the Arizona and California diesels (green and white). How did the Montana Rail Link unit end up here?
We did too, MJ. That was a very attractive color scheme. The rumor we heard was that MRL 151 was testing on ARZC to see how it performed for them. We don’t have confirmation of that, but it sounds plausible.
Love the footage, I have always wondered, when a company like G&W Or WATCO takes over one of these bigger railroads, how badly the employees get it?
Thank you, Mark! To answer your question, it varies. Often times, current employees are offered jobs with the new company, but at a lower rate of pay.
@@CVisionProductions1 yes, that's what I thought. Crappy isn't it
The 'S' in the BOUSE sign is upside-down at 19.31!
Railroads do the darndest things… Thank you for pointing that out!
In my opinion we need more Class 2 & Class 3 Railroads in North America.
Sure, the Class 1's will service all the major cities and big industries, however, they should let the smaller Class 2's and Class 3's to service all the smaller industries and smaller towns that don't have access to the Class 1's, or at the very least, only have acces to One Class 1 railroad.
It certainly would be nice to have more of these smaller railroads today. They can offer much more personalized (and often better) service to customers. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Seems like all the branch and short lines in the US are now owned by G&W. I figured it would happen eventually to the old Parker Sub, and as predicted, locomotives are showing up in that G&W orange "Reese's Cups" scheme.
Yes, you predicted correctly! G&W orange is pretty darn common these days. G&W and Watco seem to be in competition over who can buy the most shortlines… So far, G&W appears to be winning. Thank you for watching and commenting.
The 1992 scenes included deleted scenes from PENTREX'S SANTA FE MOJAVE MAINLINE & ARIZONA'S SHORTLINE RAILROADS. Courtesy of famed professional videographer Dan Hadley.
Yes, sir! Mr. Hadley’s footage was a great addition to this video, in our opinion. We’re always looking for those unused scenes on his raw tapes. Thank you for watching and commenting.
@@CVisionProductions1 Same here. I do hope he manage to make raw VHS tapes separate from the ones he did for PENTREX which included the deleted scenes. If so, I'd like a few copies for me & my dad.
Roger that, Colin. We can tell you’re into the nostalgia of it all. So are we!
@@CVisionProductions1 That's because compared to today's railroading scene, the 90'S & Early 2000'S were the best times for railfanning. For theirs less graffiti work on the rolling stock, more variety in engine models, & let's not forget the vast array of paint scheme & colors polishing the rails depending on where you are & when.
That era was pretty fantastic. There wasn’t much to complain about, that’s for sure!
"49" miles an hour. Typically 49+6. Once riding on the left side of 4003 I saw 61 as the brakes were cut loose coming off of Harcuvar headed westbound. This was in 2008 though.
Wow! We appreciate you sharing your experiences on ARZC. As you may know, G&W keeps tabs on speed a little more than RailAmerica did… As for Granite Wash Pass, there isn’t much room for error while descending that grade. Stalling while climbing the grade eastbound doesn’t sound like a good time either. Thank you for checking out the video.
I no longer work there, but I do still have the track charts that I was issued. The maximum descending grade headed west bound was 1.60%. At the time we were limited to 10mph through the pass and headed west we would set our footage counter as we exited the last curve at about milepost 58.5. Speed through the pass was held with Dynamic brakes only. When the last car cleared the curve, we would start coming off the dynamics and let the train accelerate on it's own. I misspoke earlier when I said 49+6, we were actually "allowed" 4mph, so a max of 54mph. The entire trip west from milepost 58.5 to about milepost 70 was all down hill with a max descending grade of 0.60% occasional minimum sets of the air would keep the train stretched and the speed in check. At about milepost 68 or so we would start feeding in the dynamics again to start slowing for the 40mph section starting at milepost 70 (Utting.) I miss working there, but glad I got out before GW took over and started painting everything that horrible orange. The Park Sierra colors (Green/Cream) was beautiful, especially when the Locomotives were washed (which they were weekly).@@CVisionProductions1
Thank you for sharing these operational details! It’s always nice to get a railroader’s perspective. It was good to see the railroad being maintained to such high standards. The 40 mph jointed rail on ARZC was pretty neat. Do you happen to know if that was re-lay rail from somewhere else?
good video Do u miss RCPE DME Colors Now G&W colors Do u when all orange RCPE Will be relesed
Thank you. We enjoy seeing both paint schemes. As for the all orange, later this year.
@@CVisionProductions1 I hope you guys have a scene Of RCPE at Downtown Rapid city In the all orange rcpe
How often do trains run on this railroad?
When we were filming this show, ARZC’s Parker to Cadiz turn ran Sunday through Thursday in the afternoon. Upon arrival of this job back in Parker, the night crew (usually on duty very early morning) ran east from Parker to Castle Hot Springs Monday through Friday. This job would interchange with the BNSF local out of Phoenix, then return west to Parker. It seemed that both ARZC turn jobs often worked 11-12 hours (or more). BNSF “repo” trains were operated as needed.
@@CVisionProductions1 ok thanks!
You’re welcome!
What a shame it’s all in G&w colors. I love the old AZ and CA paint scheme
We love the original ARZC paint scheme as well. It looked incredible out in those beautiful desert landscapes. Even those repainted EMDs in G&W colors were tolerable, but it sounds like GEs have taken over. Thank you for watching the video.
Good job C Visions love the video I didn't know the Arizona and California railroad still existed but it's a crying shame that Genesee and Wyoming owns them now they have the ugliest paint scheme of any Short Line company known to man
Thank you very much! We’re glad that you enjoyed the video. We really thought the old ARZC paint scheme looked sharp. Sorry to see it go…