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The Arizona and California Railroad (reporting mark ARZC) is a short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (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 RailAmerica, the current owner of the ARZC.
ARZC 4003 on the Cadiz Wye
At Cadiz, California, the ARZC begins with an interchange with the BNSF and continues southeast across the Mojave Desert to Ripley, then east to cross the Colorado River Arizona/California stateline at Parker, Arizona. The railroad continues east to Matthie (near Wickenburg, Arizona). At Matthie the ARZC has trackage rights over the BNSF line to Phoenix. The ARZC trackage rights are over the north-south BNSF line that connects Phoenix to BNSF's mainline at Williams. It also has a branch that runs from Rice south to Blythe and then terminates at Ripley.
The ARZC is 297 miles (478 km) long consisting of the following segments:
- 190 mile (306 km) mainline from Cadiz, CA (BNSF interchange) - Parker, AZ - Matthie, AZ (BNSF interchange).
- 57 miles (92 km) of trackage rights over the BNSF Railway from Matthie - Phoenix, AZ.
- 50 mile (80 km) branch line from Rice - Blythe - Ripley, CA.
On March 12, 2009, citing declining revenues and worn out track structure, the ARZC petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon all but the first four miles of the Ripley branch line. No trains have run over this line since late 2007 and the cost to repair the branch line would be excessive. The Surface Transportation Board ruled on June 30, 2009 to grant the ARZC petition.[1] A Blythe area committee formed to protest the petition had found a customer for purchasing the line, in which is the BG&CM Railroad.[2]
[edit] History
The ARZC was originally constructed between 1903-1907 by the Arizona and California Railway. The line between Matthie, AZ, and Parker opened in June 1907. By 1910 the line reached Cadiz, California.
As late as 1937, there were several daily passenger trains on the line: #170-117 and #118-181 operated daily between Phoenix Union Station and Cadiz, with connections to Los Angeles and San Francisco; mixed trains #210-233 and #234-209 operated daily between Mobest Yard and Parker; and mixed trains #25 and #26 operated daily except Sunday or Monday connecting at Rice for Blythe.
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