Pheonix Railfanning

[FThunder11]

Does any body know if, in Pheonix, there are some railroad tracks near a small ice rink, not the one the Cyotes play at, more of a rink that amature hockey is played at??? Thanks a lot, KEVIN

[canazar]

Kevin,
I live in Phoenix AZ.. Actually, I live over in Gilbert. Where are those tracks you are thinking of? I can think of a spot over in Mesa, around Alma School and Broadway where the UP main lin into Phoenix passes by a hockey rink.[8D]In fact, that is the tail end of the small UP yard that sevres the east valley industy.

Talk to you soon Nice to see a local on the board.[:D]

[Anonymous]

It's been five years since I've lived in Phoenix. The Veteran's Coliseum near Grand Avenue (just north, I believe, of McDowell Road) was within a mile of the BNSF line paralleling Grand Ave. Before the Coyotes were playing, Phoenix had a minor league hockey team called the Roadrunners- it's possible you might be thinking of that area.

I did a lot of railfanning in that area. It was a really rough section of town (most rail yards are.) Ernesto Miranda (of Miranda rights fame) was arrested within sight of those same Santa Fe tracks... and he was killed, six weeks after his release, two blocks away from the tracks. The people are younger, but they are better armed and much more predatory.

You might be safer following the tracks out of town along Grand Avenue towards Sun City and Wickenburg. The right of way is raised above highway level and back far enough so that you can park safely and take good pictures without trespassing on railroad property.

Erik
PS Does BNSF still have the ancient blue and yellow road switchers there around the UP-BNSF interchange? Or have they all been repainted?

[canazar]

There are still a lot of blue and yellow [:D]down here. They have the BNSF patch under the cab window but thats it. Also, fairly common sight to see some green and black to of the BN[:p] fame. You can see the switchers working along Grand and in town.
In fact, a year ago, I saw a couple of engines along Grand in the Peoria area in the primary blue color with no war bonnet yellow. With UP, it is still very common to see old SP units and the occasional Cottonbelt GP... if ya know were to look [;)]

Best Regards
John Kanicsar

[Anonymous]

I just moved to the Phoenix area. Live in Sun City West adjacent to the BNSF main. I'm trying to find out how many trains run daily between Phoenix and Williams Junction. I think it comes down to about three round trips daily including a manifest, an intermodal, and an autorack train. Does anyone know for sure? Also interested in how many daily trips the UP runs between Phoenix and Tucson.

Just an aside: Did anyone else see the article in the Feb 10 AZ Republic, where UP is planning on raising freight rates up to 100% to chase off Phoenix business? UP is recommending freight be shifted to trucks! This is UP's answer to congestion in its Phoenix train yard?! Hopefully, BNSF will step into the gap UP is creating so we won't have more trucks on our already congested roads!

[FThunder11]

Canazar, I'm going down there for my brothers Ice hockey tournament, I'm not sure where the ice rink is, and I know I'm not gonna be able to make the trip to tracks so I was hoping the tracks would be near the ice rink.. If you wanna talk to me more, you can give me and email at [e-mail] Thanks , Kevin