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A freshly painted "Kodachrome"
GP35 is shown here in the Phoenix yard on Oct. 19, 1986. |
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The Coolidge turn is headed south at
Picacho, just leaving the Phoenix line for the "big main" on Nov. 28, 1987. |
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A westbound freight at Picacho late in
the evening on Nov. 28, 1987. |
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One of several slugs built by the SP is
shown here at Tucson on Jan. 16, 1988. |
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Here a westbound has just passed through
the Maricopa Mountains at Shawmut on May 8, 1988. |
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Here an eastbound train is just getting
underway after clearing Amtrak No. 2 at Picacho on May 14, 1988. |
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Very late in the evening at Casa Grande
is this eastbound on May 14, 1988. |
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NEW! A westbound at
Shawmut, AZ with the SP 7246 on the point - this engine is now the
Copper
Basin 304 after having been rebuilt by MEI from
ICE 4207. May 15, 1988. |
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Here is a nearly new GP60 at Picacho on
Oct. 1, 1988. |
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This late afternoon westbound is
climbing the hill into Mescal on Oct. 15, 1988. |
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This was an Operation Lifesaver (Officer on the Train) that ran between
Phoenix and Higley on Feb. 25, 1992 in a pull-pull configuration. |
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This eastbound train is at Shawmut in
the late afternoon on March 28, 1992 under ominous skies. |
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This westbound is at Dragoon on June 19,
1992. |
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Here is a view of an early morning
westbound from one of the highest peaks at Shawmut. This train was less than 2 hours from
derailing! (see photo below). June 27, 1993. |
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Here is an eastbound taken about 180 degrees from the above
shot. June 27, 1993 at Shawmut. |
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And here is the train mentioned above in the bush at
Mohawk. Due to extreme heat this day, the track developed a sun kink and these auto racks
went sideways in the cut. Air temp was about 120, so the surface temp was probably quite a
bit higher. June 27, 1993. No one was hurt...the units and first few cars did not derail. |
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This westbound train at Shawmut has a varied consist. Sept.
26, 1993. |
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Here is a westbound train late in the
afternoon near Irene (east of Tucson) with the eastbound (No. 2) track below. April 16,
1994. |
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Just west of Benson is a really good
area to photograph, as shown here by this westbound just starting up the hill into Mescal.
This area is now double-tracked, with the new track about where the service road is in
this picture. April 16, 1994. |
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A couple of weeks later the ocotillo
plants are in full bloom as this westbound Union Pacific train (auto parts to Mexico)
train crosses on the high bridge east of Tucson at Irene. April 30, 1994. |
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One of the best features of the No. 2
track east of Tucson between Vail and Mescal was the group of lower quadrant (*real*)
semaphores! On April 30, 1994 this eastbound is just passing a double set of blades at
Cienega Creek, powered by solar cells...quite an odd contrast between the old and new. |
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At Shawmut on May 29, 1994 is this set
of brand new C44-9W's, headed westbound. |
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On a hot Aug. 20, 1994 morning this
eastbound train is just leaving Red Rock after meeting a westbound. Picacho Peak is in the
background, and it is the remains of an extinct volcano. |
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A rare sight in Arizona is this SD70M,
headed west at Shawmut on Nov. 1, 1994. Most of the time these units were assigned to the
I-5 corridor in California. |
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Nov. 5, 1994 finds this eastbound train
passing a set of slightly leaning blades east of Tucson on the No. 2 track. All of the
semaphores are now gone, victims of the double-tracking project. |
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Another victim of time is this coaling
tower at Mescal. It was torn down in March of 1998. Shown here on Nov. 5, 1994 with an
eastbound train just starting down the hill towards Benson. |
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The same train as shown above is almost
to Benson...again, this is now double-tracked, with the new track to the left (south) of
this track. Nov. 5, 1994. |
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Another eastbound at the same spot as
above, but on the other side of the tracks with the afternoon sun. Nov. 5, 1994. |
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On Nov. 10, 1994 the SP ran this special
business train east towards Tucson. Here it is just east of Shawmut. |
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On Nov. 27, 1994 I got this eastbound late in the afternoon
at Dragoon, AZ., which is a few miles east of Benson. |
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The same train in the photo above is meeting this westbound
at Dragoon's overhead signal bridge, somewhat of a rarity on the SP. Nov. 27, 1994. |
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It used to be that the area just to the east of Tucson was
well known for its semaphore signals of which there used to be 10 of them on the No. 2
track through the Cienega Wash area. Here an early morning eastbound is passing a solar
powered set of blades on Dec. 17, 1994. |
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We then beat the train to this set of blades a few miles
further east. These blades would all be gone within a year, having fallen in Nov. of 1995.
This shot was taken on Dec. 17, 1994. |
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Here is an afternoon westbound just a few
feet from the summit of the grade between Benson and Mescal. The old coaling tower is no
longer there, having been torn down in March of 1998. This photo was taken on March 25,
1995 at Mescal. |
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Sometimes it does pay to get up really early to get a
certain photo! On this day I got up a couple of hours before sunrise to be able to get
here just at sunrise. Here the sun is splitting a set of semaphores at Dixie, AZ., just to
the west of the Phoenix area. April 1, 1995. |
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This unit is at Magma Jct. on a warm summer evening of June
12, 1995, with the full moon above the engine. The exposure was made with 2 No. 25B
flashbulbs on Kodachrome 64 film at f 5.6. Flashbulb lighting by John Sharp. |
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This late afternoon westbound has just left
Estrella and is headed downgrade towards Gila Bend. The low light of the afternoon really
lights up the forest of cacti! It was well over 100 degrees on this June 18, 1995, but
this is the only time of the year that the sun is far enough to the north to make this
photo possible. |
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Here is an early morning eastbound passing the old water
tank at Red Rock, AZ on Oct. 28, 1995. You can see the remnants of an old volcano
(Picacho) in the background. |
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Never did I think
I'd ever see another Algoma Central lokie, especially out here in the
deserts of Arizona, but here on January 14, 1996 was this westbound at
Shawmut with 2 Wisconsin Central SD45's, as well as a SP SD40. |
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The original paint
on the engine (ex ACR 187) is well worn, but not all that bad considering it
is 23 years old when this shot was taken. |
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The 187 likely
never traveled as fast as it is here...speed limit here is 70 mph, and the
highest on the ACR was 40 or 45 for the SD's. |
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And of course I had
to chase the train west, and lucky for me there was a signal problem at Gila
Bend, so I had a chance to get ahead of the train and take more photos! This
run was quite a change for the 187, from bouncing along on 90 lb jointed
rail at 30 mph or less in the frozen wasteland of Northern Ontario, to the
high speed Sunset Line across the deserts with 136 lb rail and 70 mph
running. |
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Here is a mid afternoon westbound at
Shawmut, Arizona on Aug 29, 1999. Certainly a varied consist! |
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This is one of the few SP GP60's with
the white numberboards. Aug. 29, 1999 at Shawmut, AZ. |
