Western Railroad Discussion > Part Two of recent A&C trip

About a week ago, I posted "Part One" from a trip to the Arizona and California Railroad that a friend and I took last month.

After chasing the train west from Parker, AZ to Milligan, CA on Sunday (Mar 24), we spent the night back in Parker and our plans were to chase the train on Monday, March 25. During the night at 2:47AM, I heard the train coming back from Cadiz and could see its silhouette from the hotel window. It stopped for about 10 minutes and then departed. The timing was very similar to our last two trips where, both times, we wound up getting shut out due to the westbound trains going dead on the law at Aguila, AZ, without a chase. So this time we defined insanity by doing the same thing again, getting on the road about 7AM and following the tracks east until we hopefully met up with the train coming west.

Exploring locations along the way, we were taking our time when around 8AM, we started hearing a “fred” chirping on the radio. At first I didn’t think much of it until we went around a corner and saw the rear end of a train heading east, it was the train we saw in the night and was only moving about 20 MPH. Not what we were expecting but a nice surprise, now we had something to follow east.

1) We caught up to the head end coming into Salome. Due to some highway construction, we settled for a shot at the first crossing in town at 8:20AM. It was the same three A&C units with 4402 now leading an approximately 45 car train.

We soon caught up as the train continued the slow pace, making for a super slow chase. The only thing we could figure was after we saw this train pass the hotel in Parker, it must have tied down east of town, waiting there several hours until a new crew came on duty to take it into Castle Hot Springs. In the past the train would continue east during the night but maybe the delay with the BNSF at Castle has gotten so bad that the A&C goes on duty later so it can make it back to Parker without the crew dying. Just guessing but it makes sense?

2) Continuing the slow chase, a shot at Andersen Road between Salome and Wenden.

3) Passing the old station sign at Wenden.
 

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4) In Aguila, there was a parked BNSF intermodal train cut in two sections with a unit on each end. Here is the 4402 passing the west facing unit, BNSF 4298.

From here we explored the Wickenburg area but couldn’t figure out how to get to Mathie. We did find an OK crossing with a little elevation on the BNSF mainline in Wickenburg called Vulture Mine Road. While waiting here for the train, we befriended another fan who we would eventually follow the train back to Parker with.

5) It seemed like it took the train forever to get here, he finally got a warrant from Mathie to Castle around 11:15AM, passing our location 15 minutes later.

After hearing the dispatcher tell the A&C the BNSF “shuttle” hadn’t got to Castle yet, we gassed up and grabbed some lunch to be ready for the chase west. Once both trains had arrived Castle, things started happening very quickly, I would guess the interchange of trains took less than 45 minutes. The BNSF dispatcher had an eastbound getting near but he held it at Mathie and let the A&C through first. Hearing this on the radio, we hurried back to the Vulture Mine Road crossing.

6)  Looking the other way from the same location as #4, less than two hours later the westbound A&C train with 4403 now leading. Once again we met up with our friend here as well as two other local fans who gave us a nice heads up on that eastbound BNSF train that was stopped at Mathie.
 

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7) They told us it had BNSF 766, a Warbonnet leader, so we figured we had better wait here. It took about 20 minutes and by 2PM we were back on the chase for the A&C.

8) We were surprised how far the train got ahead of us, barely beating it to Aguila for another shot passing BNSF 4298.

9) Next are a couple of shots from the hill at Hope, first a telephoto view…
 

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10) …and a wider look. We knew the sun angle wouldn’t be quite right but wanted something different anyway.

11) It was now 4PM and the afternoon light was starting to kick in as the train slowed at Rose Acre Farms, near Bouse, to make a pick up.

12) I found a few wildflowers in bloom at Main St in Bouse.
 

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13) Probably our best light of the day was in the hills east of Parker.

14) The obligatory “broadside from the window of a moving car” shot.

15) Nearing their arrival in Parker at the Shea Road crossing
 

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16) Arriving in Parker at 5:52PM, the train made a very quick crew change.

17) Our final shot of the trip was taken at Big River CA, about five miles west of Parker at 6:12PM. We headed for home while the train continued on its journey through the vast Mojave Desert to Cadiz, under the stars.

Apologies for the long windedness and the excessive volume of photos, I’m by no means an authority on their operations but I hope this report provided some interest and a little help to those who head out to the A&C themselves. The massive Genesee and Wyoming Inc may own them but the A&C still has its own personality and is still a lot of fun to chase.

Thanks again,

OYW
 

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OYW,
Thanks for sharing a really colorful series.  Great light in that last shot...well done!

Kent in CArmel Valley

You did good for sure again!

texchief1

Outstanding photos and a great write-up from your trip. Lots of IOTD candidates in there. I hope you'll get one.

Mike Derrick

Posted from Android

thanks for the great effort to make that trip and share those outstanding desert images with us.

much appreciated.............

66
 

Great bunch with lots of nice lighting and angles...

JG

Very enjoyable part 2 series!!

Larry

More than a few keepers in that bunch, nice work Bob.
—Mac

Great set.
Probably a lot more fun to chase out there than it is here in CA.  Some terrific scenery.

Excellent series and you did very well on the less well covered east end.  I really think your timing couldn't have been better and I'm jealous that we weren't as lucky on our trip to Wickenburg.  I think Mathie is a walk in/fly in location.  The long segment where the tracks are away from the highway west of Wickenburg burned us when we were there; we did end up catching up to the train (westbound) but could have done much better!

I have pretty much written this RR off with the new power, but your shots here are definitely giving me second throughts!

Andy

Wow what a cool trip. Rendered some very nice shots of the activity you missed on the previous trip
Brian Stevens

Posted from iPhone

Man, Killer light (and clouds) in that series! Most Excellent:}

Great job brother, and Mike. You know what I am out there after, but that railroad definitely has my number. I will be back out for sure.

oyw Wrote:
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> 10) …and a wider look. We knew the sun angle
> wouldn’t be quite right but wanted something
> different anyway.

Love it when you include shots that don't get all the lighting... yet you got some great lighting at all other locations.

Totally worth waiting for Part 2! Thanks for the great sequel to Part 1. 

Pretty much outdid yourself on Round 2, spectacular work!

Out