Salt Lake City & Pheonix

[FThunder11]

I have a question for all you that are in Salt Lake City...I'm flying to Pheonix and my connection is in Salt Lake City, and I was just wondering if when landing or taking off there is any tracks or anything intresting to see(involving trains) out the window?I'd rather take the train to phoenix(even thought the last leg would be by bus) but i cant...So any input is appreciated, and also for my stay in pheonix is there any mainlines through there that I can go see?

[daveklepper]

Salt Lake City has a light rail system, planning an extension to the airport but not there yet. Two lines are one south of the city, and one to the east. Diesel freight still uses the south end of the light rail line. Should be able to see the old and very beautiful UP station from above, and the old D$RGW station too!

[FThunder11]

Thanx, now what about Pheonix?

[dldance]

many times weather conditions are such that the approach to SLC is from the south. When that happens, you can see the Bingham open pit copper mine out of the left side windows. if the plane approachs SLC from the north across the Great Salt Lake, you may see the RR causeway across the lake.

dd

[Anonymous]

Sky Harbor airport is to the east of Phoenix; aircraft normally approach from the east or the west. UP does not have much of a yard in Phoenix visible from Sky Harbor on approach. BNSF had (or has) a line running from the north of town into the center of Phoenix along Grand Avenue (the direct road to Vegas from Phoenix). You might catch a glimpse of rail operations there. It is about two blocks west of the state capitol.

Erik

[Anonymous]

I hear the RR causeway is being dismantled.

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance
the approach to SLC is from the south.

The UP (former WP) main runs east-west near the southern boundary of the SLC airport.

[Anonymous]

Does BNSF go by Salt Lake City? I do know that UP does and what is one of the best areas to watch the trains go by in Salt Lake City?

QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper

Salt Lake City has a light rail system, planning an extension to the airport but not there yet. Two lines are one south of the city, and one to the east. Diesel freight still uses the south end of the light rail line. Should be able to see the old and very beautiful UP station from above, and the old D$RGW station too!

[dknelson]

There is a Railroad museum north of Phoenix - can't remember the name of the town at this time. When I railranned Phoenix years ago there was a lot more active railroading than I understand there is now. South of the city I found a weird old cemetary and nearby -- a cemetary for old freight and passenger cars!
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

BNSF has trackage rights from Denver to Salt Lake City and to Stockton, Calif., as part of the "2-to-1" agreement of the 1997 UP-SP merger. They at present run perhaps two trains per day to Provo, beyond which Utah Railway is their agent in the Salt Lake Valley. BNSF runs occasional through trains between Salt Lake City and Stockton.

OS

[dldance]

there are actually two parallel causeways across the Great Salt Lake. The first one was a timber trestle and that one is being dismantled for the wood. The second one was built in the 1950's and is earthfill. It is still in use. You can see both from the plane if approach conditions are right.

dd

[John Liebson]

Arizona Railway Museum is in Chandler.

Web Site: http://www.azrymuseum.org/

[Anonymous]

We moved back to the Phoenix area eight months ago. We lived here before in the early 1980's, and rail freight traffic is up quite a bit since then. Back in the 80's the Santa Fe ran one daily manifest and one small piggyback train (not sure it was even daily). Now BNSF seems to run twice as many trains, including solid intermodal and autorack trains. Business is so brisk over on the UP, they are planning on raising freight rates into Phoenix as high as 100% to chase away some of their business. One of the reasons UP is so congested: They've mothballed the old SP mainline west from Phoenix, forcing all traffic onto the Phoenix-Tucson line.

[jcavinato]

Mothballing....wasn't that just great forward thinking?! I can hear it now in the V.P. of Finance office: we need to cut more assets in order to cut our next quarter's costs and raise asset utilization of what is left . What wasn't said to th minions was both he and the CEO got bigger bonuses for every one of those cuts that they put on the table before the Board of Directors.