Arizona Rail Passenger Association

by Gary Thorne, et al

As of mid October there has still been no construction activity at the long-delayed Maricopa site. The railcar which was to be placed at the site is still being refurbished, and is not yet ready to be transported.

Williams Junction, the long-awaited stop on the SOUTHWEST CHIEF, is open. The city of Williams and the Grand Canyon Railway first proposed this stop in 1991, with ARPA’s support.

The station at Willcox has been upgraded, but Amtrak apparently has no plans to serve the station at this time.

Benson, which is the site of the recently opened Kartchner Caverns, is hoping to see quite an influx of tourists. Amtrak’s SUNSET LIMITED/TEXAS EAGLE serves Benson four times a week.

Reports indicate as many as six freight trains a day now traverse the Phoenix East Line between Phoenix and Picacho. Meanwhile, the Phoenix West Line seems to be well used with shiny rails as far west as the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, but west of that point, it is not clear how often UP is presently using the line.

Union Pacific has completed the installation of welded rail on the “Tempe Branch” south of Tempe Junction, and part of the Phoenix Line east of Phoenix has seen welded rail laid. West of Phoenix, however, the 1950′s jointed rail is still the rule.

[Recent news, about light rail in the Phoenix metro area, is] not convincing. Twelve years after ValTrans was initiated, we’re still mired in vacillation about rail transit – indeed, about transit in general. Los Angeles started planning Metrolink about the same time as ValTrans, but Metrolink has been operating – and expanding -since 1992. It now operates 126 trains each weekday on 416 miles of six routes, serving 46 stations. Two light-rail routes and a subway supplement Metrolink. [source: June 1999 TRAINS magazine] Rail passenger transit systems, including light-rail, have also been established in several other states during this decade, while some older systems have been expanded or improved. A few months hence, we’ll know if Phoenix voters will help fund the initial 13-mile light rail system from their downtown to east Apache Blvd. in Tempe. If not, forget the whole idea. If so, we may have, by 2005, some light rail vehicles traversing Washington St., a Rio Salado bridge, assorted streets in downtown Tempe and a mile or so of Apache Boulevard. If Mesa is ever served by this system, the first cars will arrive 20 years after the ValTrans proposal. Discouraging, isn’t it? In the meantime, maybe this disjointed and indecisive region can conjure up a scheme to lay another track near the Union Pacific – Superstition Freeway commuters might be interested.

Gary Anderson of Marshfield, Wisconsin writes:

“I attended the Wisconsin ARP meeting [October 31] at which Mr. Donavan Pepper of Amtrak Intercity SBU was a speaker. During the Q & A session I asked him if there were any discussions, proposals or plans at Intercity to start up the Superliner production line. The answer was NO. He said Intercity does expect to get some equipment from the NEC and the West as they put new train sets into operation on the corridors.

“I also asked Mr. Pepper if Intercity had any plans for route expansion. Again the answer was NO, but that there was a comprehensive study being conducted. When advised that I had seen information on the internet about a new route in Oklahoma, he apologized for neglecting to mention that and emphasized that this new service largely was a result of funding which the State of Oklahoma was providing…

“So, as many of us had already deduced from Amtrak’s business plan, there doesn’t appear to be any emphasis on, or even interest in, expanding the national system. Corridors seems to be the current buzz word at Amtrak.”

– Bill Lindley

November 4 started quite chilly in Sedona, with temperatures dipping towards the 20s. By mid-morning in Clarkdale the temperatures had risen to a more comfortable level (at least to this Phoenix dweller) and my ride on the Verde River Canyon Train began. Starting in Clarkdale, the rail line joins the Verde River and runs alongside it, offering spectacular views of Arizona scenery, birds, animals, and plant life. Ospreys, mergansers, and several eagles were seen on this trip. Other sights included rocks with appropriate names like Elephant and Turtle, as well as caves and American Indian ruins. As the train passed each of these, the crew pointed them out.

The train this morning had eight cars full of people, plus sightseeing gondolas, a gift shop in a converted boxcar, and a power-generator car. There were two first-class parlor cars. All were well filled with passengers enjoying a view of Arizona which is very different from the desert landscape often associated with the state.

Thanks to Rita Gardner and everyone at the Verde River Canyon Excursion Train for a most enjoyable trip.