The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III

short line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

that was a subdivision of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railway. ParkSierra Railgroup was purchased in January 2002 by shortline railroad holding company

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it t ...

. The

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

shortline railroad holding company purchased RailAmerica in December 2012. ARZC's main commodities are petroleum gas, steel, and lumber; the railroad hauls around 12,000 carloads per year.

Route

Cadiz, California Cadiz (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Cádiz'') is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located just south of the Marble Mountains (San Bernardino County), Marble Mountains near ...

, the railroad begins in the interchange with the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

and continues southeast across the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, then east to cross the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

Arizona/California state line at

Parker, Arizona Parker ( Mojave 'Amat Kuhwely, formerly 'Ahwe Nyava) is the county seat of La Paz County, Arizona, United States, on the Colorado River in Parker Valley. The population was 3,083 at the 2010 census. History Founded in 1908, the town was named a ...

. The railroad continues southeast to

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

near

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

then northeast to Matthie (near

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...

). At Matthie, ARZC has trackage rights over the north-south BNSF line that connects

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

to BNSF's mainline at Williams. It also had a branch that runs from Rice south through Blythe, terminating at Ripley. Arizona & California operates over of track, consisting of the following segments: * mainline between Cadiz, CA (BNSF interchange) and Matthie, AZ (BNSF interchange). * spur at Rice, CA for railcar storage, formerly part of the abandoned Rice-Ripley branch. * loop at Utting, AZ for Rose Acre Farms' Lone Cactus Egg Farm. * of trackage rights over the BNSF Railway between Matthie, AZ and Phoenix, AZ (UP interchange).

History

Arizona and California Railway

Parker-Arizona and California Railroad Bridge-1908

The mainline now used by ARZC was originally constructed between 1903 and 1910 by the Arizona and California Railway. The line between A&C Junction, AZ, and Parker opened by June 1907. The Colorado River bridge near Parker was completed in June 1908 and the track connection in Cadiz, California was made on June 10, 1910; service to Cadiz commenced on July 1. In 1909, the Arizona and Swansea Railroad that connected

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

from Bouse was completed. On November 22, 1921, a rail motor car carrying Santa Fe officials derailed north of Wickenburg, with five killed and four injured. A&C Junction was renamed Matthie in honor of the Albuquerque Division superintendent William Matthie. As late as 1937, there were several daily passenger trains on the line: #170-117 and #118-181 operated daily between

Phoenix Union Station Phoenix Union Station is a former train station at 401 South 4th Avenue in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. From 1971 to 1996 it was an Amtrak station. Until 1971, it was a railroad stop for the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads. ...

and Cadiz, with connections to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

; mixed trains #210-233 and #234-209 operated daily between Phoenix's Mobest Yard and Parker; and mixed trains #25 and #26 operated daily except on Sunday or Monday connecting at Rice for Blythe. Trains #170-117 and #118-181 as of June 1954 were hauled by Santa Fe's only

ALCO RS-2 The ALCO RS-2 is a B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) from 1946 to 1950. ALCO introduced the model after World War II as an improvement on the ALCO RS-1. Between 1946 and 1950, 377 examples of the RS ...

, and shortly after were supplanted by a motor car; the trains were discontinued effective October 1, 1955.

Rice to Ripley branch

AT & Sta Fe California Southern Railroad - Ripley Branch

In 1914, the California Southern Railroad (not to be confused with the earlier railroad linking Barstow and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

) was incorporated to build from a town then known as Blythe Junction (now

Rice, California Rice, formerly named Blythe Junction, is a former town in the Rice Valley and the southern tip of the Mojave Desert, and within unincorporated San Bernardino County, southern California. Although it is still on many maps, the only things remain ...

) to Blythe. The first spike was pounded on August 23, 1915 by Floyd Brown. The

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

reported the line as the longest built in the country in 1915. The first train to Blythe arrived on August 8, 1916 and the branch was extended to Ripley in 1920. Santa Fe leased the line in November 1921 and completed its acquisition in 1942. Blythe passenger service ended shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, according to Santa Fe agent Ruben Gonzales. On March 12, 2009, citing declining revenues and worn out track structure, the ARZC petitioned the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...

to abandon all but the first four miles of the Ripley branch line. In its petition, the ARZC said no trains had run over the line since late 2007 and the cost to repair the branch line would be significant. On June 30, 2009, the Surface Transportation Board granted the ARZC petition. A Blythe area committee formed to oppose the petition had found a customer willing to purchase the line, the owner of the

BG&CM Railroad The BG&CM Railroad or Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad located in North Central Idaho. Summary The BG&CM operated a line between Spalding and Cottonwood, along the former Second Subdivision of the ...

of Idaho. By January 14, 2010, the Surface Transportation Board terminated the offer of financial assistance for the railroad. The rail line was scrapped in 2011 beyond the first four miles from Rice.

Rolling stock

The diesel roster during ARZC's early years included five

EMD GP20 An EMD GP20 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between November 1959 and April 1962. Power was provided by an EMD 567D2 16-cylinder turbocharged engine which generated . EMD was initially hesi ...

s, one GP38AC, three GP38Ms (former GP40s), and two MP15DCs. The railroad acquired GP30s and GP35s to replace the GP20s. In May 2001, the railroad received four SD45Ms (two rebuilt

SD45 The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty-cylinder engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As of 2022, mos ...

s and two rebuilt SD45-2s with

SD40-2 The EMD SD40-2 is a AAR wheel arrangement#C-C, C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, EMD from 1972 to 1989. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's ''EMD Dash 2, Dash 2'' series, competing against the ...

specifications and bigger cooling systems) from VMV Paducahbilt. In 2022, the railroad received four GE C44-9W's and one

GE Dash 8-40B The GE Dash 8-40B (or ''B40-8'') is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between 1988 and 1989. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives. A total of 151 examples of this locomotive were built for ...

to replace its aging fleet of

EMD SD40-2 The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's '' Dash 2'' series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepowe ...

's and

EMD SD40M-2 EMD may refer to: Finance and commerce * Emerging market debt * Earnest money deposit, in the United States, a security deposit, especially for real estate Medicine * Electromagnetic diaphragm * Electromechanical dissociation * Emergency me ...

's. The railroad also owned or leased freight cars including twenty five Gunderson double stack cars, and possesses a former Santa Fe crane. The railroad also owned the former

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

''Apekunny Mountain'' observation car, followed by former Santa Fe official car No. 58 which is on display in the

Western America Railroad Museum The Western America Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Barstow, California. The museum collects, preserves and shares the history of railroading in the Pacific Southwest. It is located on the east side of the Harvey House Railroad ...

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the I ...

References

External links

Official ARZC Webpage

BNSF Railway Shortline Partner ARZC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona California Railroad California railroads Arizona railroads RailAmerica Spin-offs of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Mojave Desert Transportation in San Bernardino County, California Transportation in Riverside County, California Transportation in La Paz County, Arizona Transportation in Maricopa County, Arizona