Western Railroad Discussion > Current Sunset Route traffic levels

The current traffic levels on the Sunset Route was inquired the other day.  Tucson, AZ is the busiest location on the Sunset Route between Colton, CA and El Paso, TX.  The following are all the scheduled road trains through Tucson:


•intermodal (112 a week / 16 a day on avg)

IDICA Dallas DIT, TX - Calipatria, CA Su
IKCPX Kansas City IM, MO - Phoenix, AZ daily
ILAMQB East Los Angeles, CA - Mesquite, TX We
ILBDI Long Beach ICTF, CA - Dallas DIT, TX daily
ILBDIB Long Beach ICTF, CA - Dallas DIT, TX Mo, We, Fr, Sa
ILBEW Long Beach ICTF, CA - Englewood IM, TX Su-Fr
ILBNS Long Beach ICTF, CA - Shreveport, LA (KCS / NS) Mo, We, Fr
ILBSI Long Beach ICTF, CA - Santa Teresa IM, NM Su, Tu, Th, Sa
ISILB1 Santa Teresa IM, NM - Long Beach ICTF, CA daily
ISILB2 Santa Teresa IM, NM - Long Beach ICTF, CA daily
ISILB3 Santa Teresa IM, NM - Long Beach ICTF, CA daily
ISILB4 Santa Teresa IM, NM - Long Beach ICTF, CA daily
ZAILC Shreveport, LA (KCS / NS) - Los Angeles LATC, CA daily 
ZCIG2 City of Industry, CA - Global 2, IL daily 
ZG4CI Global 4, IL - City of Industry, CA daily
ZLAMN East Los Angeles, CA - Marion, AR Th-Su
ZLAMN2 East Los Angeles, CA - Marion, AR Tu
ZLAMN3 East Los Angeles, CA - Marion, AR We
ZLAMQ East Los Angeles, CA - Mesquite, TX Fr-Su
ZLAMQ2 East Los Angeles, CA - Mesquite, TX Tu
ZLAMQ4 East Los Angeles, CA - Mesquite, TX Th
ZLCAI Los Angeles LATC, CA - Shreveport, LA (KCS / NS) daily 
ZLCMQ2 Los Angeles LATC, CA - Mesquite, TX Tu
ZMNLA Marion, AR - East Los Angeles, CA Mo, We-Sa
ZMNLA2 Marion, AR - East Los Angeles, CA Tu 
ZMQLC Mesquite, TX - Los Angeles LATC, CA Tu-Sa

*notes:
IKCPX exits the Sunset Route at Picacho, AZ.  Also, IKCPX only hauls manifest and autoracks west of Tucson.


•manifest

MEWTU Englewood, TX - Tucson, AZ daily
MEWWC Englewood, TX - West Colton, CA daily
MEWWCB Englewood, TX - West Colton, CA daily
MHNTU Herington, KS - Tucson, AZ daily
MPXTU Phoenix, AZ - Tucson, AZ daily
MPXTUB Phoenix, AZ - Tucson, AZ daily
MTUCBB Tucson, AZ - North Council Bluff, IA daily
MTUPX Tucson, AZ - Phoenix, AZ daily
MTUWC Tucson, AZ - West Colton, CA daily 
MWCBS West Colton, CA - Big Spring, TX daily
MWCEW West Colton, CA - Englewood, TX daily
MWCLI West Colton, CA - Livonia, LA daily


*notes:  
1. MEWWC, MEWWCB, MPXTU, MPXTUB, MTUPX, MTUWC, MWCBS, MWCEW, MWCLI all run the Sunset Route west of Tucson.
2. MPXTU, MPXTUB, MTUPX enter / exit the Sunset Route at Picacho, AZ.
3. MEWTU, MEWWC, MEWWCB, MHNTU, MTUCBB, MWCBS, MWCEW, MWCLI all run the Sunset Route east of Tucson.


The following are the scheduled train counts for the Sunset Route through Arizona:

1. Between Yuma and Picacho: 21 (15 intermodal, 6 manifest)
2. Between Picacho and Tucson: 25 (15 intermodal, 10 manifest)
3. Between Tucson and San Simon: 22 (16 intermodal, 8 manifest)


•The following manifest trains do not run on the Sunset Route, but they run in and out of Tucson:

MNGTU Nogales, AZ (FXE) - Tucson, AZ daily
MNGTUB Nogales, AZ (FXE) - Tucson, AZ daily
MTUNG Tucson, AZ - Nogales, AZ (FXE) daily
MTUNGB Tucson, AZ - Nogales, AZ (FXE) daily

Andrew



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/20 10:10 by florida581.

Andrew,
Here is the IKCPX-10 with a few containers that was on the Phoenix sub in Gilbert, AZ.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 09:17 by RailFanAZ.

---

Great info, thanks Andrew.

Are the locals still running to Casa Grande and Wilmot?   Any online business on the Nogales line anymore? 

RailFanAZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew,
> Here is the IKCPX-10 with a few containers that
> was on the Phoenix sub in Gilbert, AZ.

Could that be mis-routed containers?  Do they have working lift equipment in Phoenix any more?

mapboy

mapboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RailFanAZ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Andrew,
> > Here is the IKCPX-10 with a few containers
> that
> > was on the Phoenix sub in Gilbert, AZ.
>
> Could that be mis-routed containers?  Do they
> have working lift equipment in Phoenix any more?
>
> mapboy

To be honest, I am not sure what they have in Phoenix.  There were in Phoenix for a 1.5 days and then left.  There was another IKCPX that had only one doublestack on it a few days later at the headend and went back to Tucson about two days later.  I remember them closing the Intermodal Ramp back in March 2018 from one of their notices.  Unfortunately, my few contacts that worked Phoenix are Off of Work due to the low volumes, so I never got that question answered.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 09:47 by RailFanAZ.

Here is that notice from 2018.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

---

Thanks Andrew!

Interesting, two daily PXTU. Don’t remember that being the case ever before. Same with two daily TUNG/NGTU. Maybe it was always that way, but didnt think so.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 10:11 by bbcc.

bbcc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Andrew!
>
> Interesting, two daily PXTU. Don’t remember that
> being the case ever before. 

The Magma was officially abolished. Now UP runs an MTUPXB and MPXTUB in addition to the MPXTU and MTUPX. Pretty much the same thing, but no longer considered a local or hauler symbol.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

I heard there was a ISILB2 that left Santa Teresta yesterday with about 253 loads, 15,000 tons and 14,000 feet...

Allen

Posted from Android

The Phoenix Express was a "paper ramp", meaning there was no rail intermodal service to Phoenix. It served as a drop-off/pick-up point and UP handled all the dray to/from Tucson. I'm not sure when UP or maybe even SP closed the Phoenix ramp: sometime in the 90s? 

Bruce

Utterly Pathetic at its best!

StStephen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Phoenix Express was a "paper ramp", meaning
> there was no rail intermodal service to Phoenix.
> It served as a drop-off/pick-up point and UP
> handled all the dray to/from Tucson. I'm not sure
> when UP or maybe even SP closed the Phoenix ramp:
> sometime in the 90s? 
>
> Bruce


Thanks for the update on that one Bruce.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I heard there was a ISILB2 that left Santa Teresta yesterday with about 253 loads, 15,000 tons and 14,000 feet...

ISILB2 24 is just coming into Tucson now around 6PM local time
257 loads, 15108 tons, 14853 feet
2x2 (cut ins)

ISILB2 23 had 251 cars, with 89 of them empty. 14787 feet.

Looking closer the ISILB2 from the 21st to the 24th all were right around 14800 feet long.

Thanks for posting Andrew. I wonder how many "non-scheduled" trains run the Sunset daily, on average?

Posted from Android