Traveling to Arizona and Washington DC. A few Questions.

[railroadyoshi]

Hello everybody. Before I go further, I did try to find Arthill's similar topic, to no avail.

Next week i'll be traveling to Arizona. I'll be staying in Tucson, and making a day trip up to Scottsdale. I'll defenitley be planning to visit the Stillman Rail Park.

My questions:
Where are some good railfan spots in these two cities? I looked at topo maps and it looks like their is a nice yard in Tucson, but I defenitley need some pointers. Are there any good spots near the interstate route between?

Are there any clubs having open houses/shows happening on and between Feb 17 and Feb 23?


Later in the week after next, i'll also be visiting DC. I'll be staying near Dulles, but we'll be visiting Washington and Baltimore.
My main question here-Are there any railfan spots I should see? I doubt i'll have time for clubs/shows, but if there are any i'd also like to know those.

(Edit) I forgot! Are there any hobby shops that you'd recommend I stop at in these areas?

Thanks so much for your help.

[topgun3208]

when u come to baltimore yoshi, u make sure u try some of marylands crab cakes

[MidlandPacific]

If you're out near Dulles, there's an excellent model railroad club in an old railroad station in Vienna - the NoVa MRs. Follow the link below.

http://home.comcast.net/~Potomac_NMRA/

Also, Howard Zane's layout up in Maryland is worth a visit - I think he opens house on Wednesdays. Google "Piermont Division" and you can get his email from the site.

The National Museum of American History in DC has a beautifully preserved PS-4 Pacific and a Baldwin 8-18C narrow gauge 4-4-0. And the B&O Museum up in Baltimore has an excellent collection (indoors and out) of B&O, C&O and regional motive power and equipment.

And if the weather moderates and you like physical exercise, go out to Leesburg and walk the old Washington and Old Dominion bike trail out to Purcellville - some of the prettiest country in the Virginia piedmont.

And if you only have a little time, go see Union Station (you can get a decent lunch there).

[railroadyoshi]

Topgun, I am vegetarian, but thanks.

Rob, Thanks for your help. The NoVa looks great! I just wi***hey had their open house 1 week later! I was reading about Howard Zane's layout in the Feb 2004 issue last night, it looks like a fantastic line. I'll defenitley look into those museums, and i'll research more on the trail. I'll be taking the Acela back home to Boston, so Union Station seems like a pretty easy place to stop! Thanks again.

I forgot to add, are their any hobby shops I should stop at in these places?

[cacole]

The Union Pacific yard runs right through downtown Tucson, so there are ample opportunities to get close to it on some of the side streets. Twenty-Second street, which is a main East-West thoroughfare, crosses over the yard on a high bridge with a pedestrian walkway from which you can see practically the entire yard.

If you're traveling by automobile from Tucson to Scottsdale, you'll be driving alongside the UP mainline from Tucson to Casa Grande, where the tracks then turn westward toward Yuma and California. There is still a line from Casa Grande to Phoenix, but it is very lightly travelled and is quite a way from I-10.

[railroadyoshi]

Cacole, yes, I was reading on the local NTrak club's site about the Yard in Tucson. Also mentioned was Picacho, where the lines split. Have you had any experiences there?

[canazar]

Yoshi,

Tuscon is a much better spot to rail fan than Phoenix. Pretty boring up when it comes to rail activity.

Not sure how long you plan on stayinf up in Phoenix (Scottsdale area) but if you need to know anything let me know. I live in Phoenix and know Scottsdale pretty well. No open houses that I know of, but if I am in the garage, then its open house here.. Have fun on your trip!

[Anonymous]

Also on the N Trak site is the Cieniga Creek area. Take a look. It is a good place to watch the trains, and there is a pretty steady flow.

[jrbarney]

Railroadyoshi,
I'm sure others will mention other shops, but near Washington you might want to check out Granddad's Hobby Shop in Springfield, VA, just off the beltway:
http://www.granddadshobbyshop.com/grandmap.html
They charge full MSRP. In Baltimore, try M.B. Klein, Inc. at 162 North Gay Street:
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/images/map.gif

Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

Yoshi,

Another great hobbyshop in Maryland is Peach Creek Shops in Laurel, only ~ 1mile off of I-95 between DC and Baltimore. They sell at ~25% below MSRP, and they are 100% model trains - no R/C, military models, or anything else.

An excellent place for railfanning on the CSX mainline is the [former] St. Denis station platform in Relay, MD - this is the spot where the Old Main Line splits off from the Metro Branch. If you're interested I can try to do a MapQuest for you to find the place more easily.

[rockisland4309]

BNSF is twice as busy in Phoenix compared to U.P. if you take Grand Ave. through the northwest part of town you'll follow BNSF's mainline to it's Transcon. And there are several spots you can pull over and get pics. The U.P.'s bridge over Tempe Town Lake is a good spot to railfan U.P. Tucson has tons more action for U.P. than Phoenix.

The only decent hobby shop here in Phoenix is An Affair With Trains. I do mail order for getting my model though.

[cacole]

Yes, the Cienega Creek site is a railfan's favorite in SE Arizona and is located approximately 20 miles East of Tucson from the Vail Road exit. The frontage road, which is named Marsh Station Road, is a portion of the old, original 2-lane highway across Arizona. At Cienega Creek you have one UP mainline crossing over the other on a tall bridge. Cienega Creek is a Pima County nature preserve and you must have a permit to be there, even for just watching or photographing trains. Getting caught by the park police without a permit can result in a $250 fine.

[railroadyoshi]

Thanks so much everybody.

MBKlein was one of my must stop places. My question about them is, how much of their internet stock do they carry in store?

Cinega Creek Looks like a great place to stop, and cacole, thanks for reminding me about the permit, i'd rather spend that $250 on trains!

Ken, thanks for the Hobby Shop recommendation. This railfan spot looks near the 195 and 895 interchange. Is that correct? I'm slightly confused as to its location.

Rock Island, Is the BNSF traffic sizable? From what I have heard, there is very little UP presence in Phoenix, so i'm wondering how big twice the UP presence is. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railroadyoshi
MBKlein was one of my must stop places. My question about them is, how much of their internet stock do they carry in store?

ALL of it, as far as I know. Their warehouse is upstairs.

QUOTE: railroadyoshi
Ken, thanks for the Hobby Shop recommendation. This railfan spot looks near the 195 and 895 interchange. Is that correct? I'm slightly confused as to its location.

Yoshi, I made a Mapquest JPEG image with directions - follow the purple-outlined roads until you get to where the red star is at. You'll be heading northbound on I-95, then exit at I-195 (the BWI airport spur). Avoid I-895 - that's the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, no exit until the other side of the Patapsco River![:O]

[rockisland4309]

Railroadyoshi,

I would say BNSF runs around 6 to 8 trains a day not counting their local called the "Sidewider" which literally creeps side to side down the streets of South Phoenix to switch local industries. BNSF runs trains during all times of the day especially since they have new AC4000's and the new GEVO's. It used be during summer time they ran at night because it was cooler for crews because of the older un-airconditioned units.

Also, if you drive up to Wickenburg, AZ you'll catch the Arizona & California coming in from Parker, AZ to interchange with BNSF. Evidently they have trackage rights on BNSF to Phoenix but, I have never seen AZ&CA in person.

BNSF also has a small intermodal yard right beside Grand Ave. and they have a container train and pig train which originates from their yard heading either to Barstow, CA or Winslow, AZ. Most of the traffic is general merchandise or autoracks. I hope I answered your question. If you have more about BNSF let me know.

[mokenarr]

As said there is not a lot of train activity around the Phoenix area. There is a great shop in Mesa called Roys Train World on Country Club just north of Route 60. Roys also has a location at the Railroad PArk in Scottsdale but last time I was there it was not as stocked as the one in Mesa.

[railroadyoshi]

Ken, thanks for the picture. Another question, would it be better to go to the station itself or could I really just stay at the crossing? My thought was that i'd probably have a better warning of an approaching train at the crossing, and I wouldn't confuse MARC engineers.

Rock Island, thanks so much for the info! Are there any paticular spots you'd recommend watching this BNSF action from?

Mokenarr, thanks for the advice.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railroadyoshi

Ken, thanks for the picture. Another question, would it be better to go to the station itself or could I really just stay at the crossing? My thought was that i'd probably have a better warning of an approaching train at the crossing, and I wouldn't confuse MARC engineers.

Yoshi,
The road itself is on a bridge going over the R.O.W., and that place I led you to is actually a parking area directly across from the station platform. There is a pedestrian crosswalk going over the 3 tracks. And I wouldn't worry about confusing MARC engineers, if St Denis is on their schedule they stop there regardless of whether there are passengers waiting or not. And they're probably quite accustomed to seeing railfans there - it is a very popular train-watching spot. There may even be other railfans there when you arrive.

[rockisland4309]

Yoshi,

The best place to catch BNSF is on Grand Ave. which follows the mainline from downtown Phoenix northwest through Peoria, El Mirage, Surprise and Wickenburg. There are several places where you can pull the car over and shoot pics. BNSF's main yard is just west of downtown underneath I-10. The yard isn't very big but, when a train comes in from the north they have to cut it in half and double the train in to get it to fit.

Have fun and let me know if you get any good pics. Happy railfanning!!