Western Railroad Discussion > Arizona (and California) trip report-conclusion

Here’s the second half of the trip to Arizona last month. I left off after chasing the A&C train west on Sunday March 16and then we returned back to Parker, AZ for the night. The good thing about staying in Parker is that it’s nearly impossible not to hear trains in the night and the A&C came back east around 1AM. I flipped on the scanner (keeping the volume low) to hear what the train would do and they said they had to wait for a westbound BNSF at Bouse. It arrived about an hour later and after some switching, left around 02:30, I think the eastbound A&C departed shortly after that. We left Parker the next morning (Monday the 16th) and near Salome we heard the BNSF dispatcher clear the A&C train to come west at Mathie, so we did the usual wait at Aguila since the tracks leave the road there.

1) When the A&C arrived at Aguila it was 10:10. The power was the same as the day before with only 29 cars. 

2) The ‘go-to’ shot at Hope. After that, we decided to cut it short and head up to the BNSF main line, then back to Kingman. We took AZ 95 from Parker through Lake Havasu connecting to I-40 a few miles east of Needles.

After lunch in Lake Havasu City, I happened to look at the Kingman railcam and saw a train had just passed there with a KCS and CP, coming our direction. This changed our plans to go to Kingman and we went west toward Needles. The chase could have gone a little better, we didn’t know the area very well and the train had some delays, but it was still worth it.

3) Crossing into California, we waited for the train on the Park Moabi Road overpass in very strong winds. KCS 4799 and CP8109 were the power on 80 empty covered hoppers bound for Cemex in Victorville (we know this because the train was parked there when we passed through the next afternoon).
 

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4) There were lots of trains backed up in Needles, where the train finally departed at 16:30.

5/6) Now out at Klinefelter with different focal lengths. At least the winds had died down.
 

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7) We followed the KCS out to West Goffs but it went in the siding so several trains could run around him, one was BNSF 7536 which had another KCS in consist. Clouds came in so we gave it up and drove back to Needles, where we spent the night.

Thanks to a tip from SPgoletablock, the next morning (Tuesday, March 17) was spent just across the Colorado River at Topock. There was still a lot of track work going on so the trains were sparse.

8) The old railroad bridge at Topock still painted for Santa Fe.

9) Just after arriving trackside, BNSF 3853W came around the corner.
 

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10) Eastbound BNSF 8041 leads an eastbound manifest into Arizona.

11) Best train of the day award went to BNSF 8408. The SD70ACe leads a westbound maritime stack train at 08:23.

12) Final shot, while at Topock there was this interesting warning sign on a dead end spur. Probably left from the Santa Fe days, maybe a loading dock was once located here?

That ended our trip, there were a few more trains along the way home but nothing of note. The A&C still has a few new places left to try, maybe next fall after it cools off. And as for the BNSF, not much of interest with them right now, hoping maybe something good will start showing up. Possibly next trip we’ll revisit some of the other Arizona shortlines, time will tell. It was just fun to be able to get away. Special thanks go to Mike for driving and thanks to everyone for looking.

OYW
 

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Nice images; looks like the weather cooperated, too!
GK

Great set!  Thanks for sharing.

texchief1

Another fine bunch of photos.
JB

Some great shots. No. 2 is pure train porn....

Pic #2 is Nice and all the pictures at Topock Rock!

Great trip.  Really like #1 as well.  Nice catch on the KCS.
Brian Stevens

I saw these units going north at Colton in the consist of a MWCLBAR on March 25th



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/26 15:28 by SD70M.

I should’ve went with you guys, next fall count me in. Actually my favorite is the 8041 crossing the Colorado river eastbound.

Thank you very much for both Part 1 and this report!

As always, great write up, and of course the photos, trains and scenery.

Very nice shots, especially the A&C train. You did well on your trip.

Tom

Fantastic series!!

Nice shots!!