Nostalgia & History > Friday Night Bytes-Super Bowl Edition

It's hard to believe that its been 19 years since the Super Bowl first came to Arizona, which was Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ. The BNSF merger had taken place the previous fall, and to show off the new railroad the new BNSF ran a Super Bowl train from Chicago to El Mirage, AZ full of dignitaries to enjoy the week in (normally) sunny Arizona. It was a cloudy February 1, 1996 when the train came down the ex-Santa Fe Peavine line from Ash Fork led by brand-new SD75M's 8258 and 8257 leading both Santa Fe and BN officer cars. The first shot is approaching Castle Hot Springs, where they will meet an eastbuond. Number 2, I caught up with the train at Wittman; the sun is starting to come out a little bit. Last shot is a roster of the 8258 as they stop to drop off the train at the El Mirage auto facility. The guests will then be transported by bus to their hotel thanks to BNSF. More to follow.

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Three shots of the equipment used in the special train approaching Castle Hot Springs. I am not too proficient in the passenger car department, but it looked like a mix of Santa Fe and BN officer cars. Shot number 2 is the Cyrus K. Holliday. More..

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Last shot of two immaculate GP35's 2888 and 2852 putting the train away into the El Mirage auto facility. Thanks for looking back with me,
Tom

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Nice photos, Tom. Man those SD75s looked sharp! And so to did those GP35s :-)

Thanks for sharing,
~Ryan